Did Days Of Our Lives Kill Stefano Dimera?

Even if you have not been watching the soap opera Days of Our Lives, and or DOOL as its fans often refer to it, for the past 20 to 47 years, you may still have heard about the Phoenix or Stefano Dimera, played by, Metropolitan Opera clarinet player, Joseph Mascolo being killed off of Days of Our Lives.

Joseph Mascolo has been playing the character since the 1980's. The fictional character was written to have 6 children, raised 2 people including a nephew that at one time was made to get plastic surgery to portray another dead relative that Stefano raised. All of those characters related to Stefano have long been gone, but Stefano until Monday, June 4, 2012, was still forging a head strong as a character. The Stefano character demise precedes the death of his daughter Lexie Carter who on the show is dying of an incurable brain tumor, a disease that Stefano found out before his death, he was indirectly the cause.

So why is Joseph Mascolo's character Stefano Dimera, the character that Soap Opera Digest calls the best villain of all times, being canned? According to Mascolo, the show's twist on the power and unity of his character's family was diminishing in an unfavorable way. Anyone that watches the show knows that the links of the character to his family was paramount. Another main character on DOOL, EJ Dimera was recently written in as not being Stefano's son. Also, his wife, Kate was written out as being divorced by Stefano after he set her up to be an unfaithful wife.

This two events and the writing of Stefano being the cause of his daughter Lexie's brain

tumor were just three events that left a bad taste in the actor's mouth for continuing to play the character. Mr. Mascolo is a mature man in his 80's now, but it has had no bearing on his desire to leave the show. He is in good health and even regularly performs with the Metropolitan Opera. Because of the fact that everything that seems to go wrong in Salem is the fault of Stefano Dimera may have simply played to a sorry storyline. By the time the writers were finished with all the changes with the Stefano character during the past few months, almost every character on the show wanted to see Stefano dead. As a result, currently there are about 8 major suspects to his death.

One of the main story lines to the Stefano character is that he seems to always raise from the ashes of what appeared to be his demise in previous story lines during the years of the fictional character on the show. Stefano has always been written to get out of whatever situation he would find himself in that was lawless. It is possible that although the character was shot from behind with a bullet that came out of his chest making Stefano appear dead, that Stephano will return as a ghost. Stefano Dimera of Salem, villains of all villains, dead. Television soap operas may never be the same without him.

Picture of Stefano Dimera on Flicker

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981446297 © 2012 Sharon L. West