Joseph Mascolo

Joseph Mascolo was born on March 13, 1929 in West Hartford, CT. He played the clarinet for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra while studying acting and made his Broadway debut in Dinner at Eight. In 1982, the head writer for Days of Our Lives wrote the role of inimitable supervillain Stefano DiMera for Mascolo after noticing him in his television appearance in The Gangster Chronicles. He remained on the show for 18 years, earning him the Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villain in 1984, 1985 and 1997. He left and returned to DAYS multiple times over the years, and during his Salem breaks, he portrayed Nicholas Van Buren on General Hospital in 1989 and Massimo Marone on Bold and Beautiful from 2001-06. Mascolo passed away on December 8, 2016, after a battle with Alzheimer’s, survived by son Peter and wife Patricia Schultz