Stefano DiMera is a fictional character from the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, played by Joseph Mascolo. Created by Pat Falken Smith, Stefano was introduced on January 18, 1982, as the father of Tony DiMera (Thaao Penghlis) looking to expand his criminal empire to Salem. Stefano's early storylines included his feud with Roman Brady (Wayne Northrop), playing his children – Tony and Renée DuMonde (Philece Sampler) against one another when he is presumed dead, orchestrating a series of murders with his son (then his nephew) and Tony's deranged look-a-like André, and replacing the presumed dead Roman with the brainwashed John Black (Drake Hogestyn).
Stefano returns in 1993 for a longer stint. He becomes obsessed with Roman's ex-wife and John's longtime love Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall), and accidentally causes her to be possessed by the devil. Meanwhile, Stefano tries to help his adopted daughter Kristen (Eileen Davidson) steal John from Marlena by fathering a child with her look-a-like Susan Banks (Davidson) and passing it off as John's. Stefano also switches Hope Brady (Kristian Alfonso)'s baby at birth and gives it to his daughter Lexie Carver (Renée Jones) to raise. He leaves town in 2001 when he is exposed.
An ailing Stefano returns in 2006 having sent his son EJ (James Scott) to impregnate Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) to harvest the baby's stem cells to save his life. Over the next decade, Stefano's past schemes catch up to him as several of his children meet tragic ends. Mascolo retired in 2016 and the character of Stefano is killed off by Hope Brady. From 2019 to 2020, Stephen Nichols played the role after Stefano's essence was transferred into Steve Johnson. During this time, Stefano's obsession with Marlena resurfaces and he also sets out to clone himself. Stefano became one of the most recognizable figures in daytime television and is considered to be one of the greatest villains in television history.
Casting and development In the early 1980s, then head writer, Pat Falken Smith created the role specifically for Mascolo after seeing his performance as real-life crime boss, Salvatore Maranzano on the NBC miniseries, The Gangster Chronicles in 1981. Mascolo first appeared as Stefano on January 18, 1982. He departed from the series on March 8, 1983, and returned a year later on March 2, 1984, before briefly departing on May 11, 1984, only to return on October 19 of the same year and depart again on February 22, 1985. Mascolo briefly returned to the series from November 4 to December 19, 1988. Actor Frank Fata appeared in the role of Stefano for two episodes which aired on December 3 and 4, 1991. Mascolo reclaimed the role on a contractual basis on September 17, 1993. He departed from the show on December 24, 1996, and re-appeared for a few episodes from February 7 to 13, 1997. Mascolo returned to the show full-time once again on June 13, 1997.
Controversial exit In February 2001, a post on Mascolo's official website revealed that contract negotiations were not going well and Mascolo was expected to last appear the coming May. However, a representative of Mascolo's took to the website to deny the reports. In April 2001, rumors of Mascolo's exit due to failed contract negotiations began to surface once again and the producers were apparently considering recasting the role. Days later, Mascolo was spotted at CBS's The Bold and the Beautiful; despite the reports, neither Mascolo, NBC or CBS would comment on the rumors. In May 2001, Mascolo took to his website to confirm the news: Though Mascolo seemed disappointed with the show's decision to write the character out briefly, executive producer Ken Corday revealed plans to bring the character back by the fall of 2001 whether Mascolo was available or not. Mascolo made his last official appearance on June 14, 2001. Though Mascolo initially denied the reports, he did indeed debut in the role of Massimo Marone on The Bold and the Beautiful in August 2001.
Return to Days and storyline-dictated exit In 2006, following Mascolo's exit from B&B due to lack of storyline, reports began to surface claiming that Mascolo was going to reprise his role as Stefano. The series' producers later confirmed plans to revive the DiMera family to stop a decline in ratings. A deathly ill, comatose Stefano began appearing on December 19, 2006. Though some sources list Mascolo in the cast credits for the episodes, neither Mascolo nor NBC have ever stated that he portrayed comatose Stefano. It was later confirmed that Mascolo would reappear in the role officially in 2007, along with costars Thaao Penghlis (Tony DiMera) and Leann Hunley (Anna DiMera). Mascolo made his first official appearance as Stefano on June 6, 2007. However, the stint proved to be short-lived with Mascolo last appearing on February 29, 2008, and the character of Stefano was written out to allow the writers to come up with more story for him. In May 2008, the tabloid Globe confirmed that Mascolo had been fired and Stefano was written into another coma. This decision did not sit well with Mascolo who gave a heated interview to Soap Opera Digest accusing the executives of "double crossing" him.
2008 Return, brief departure, and final exit In 2008, it was confirmed that Mascolo would once again reprise his role as Stefano in August 2008. Mascolo later revealed in an interview that his initial anger was fueled by emotion following the death of his father. Following his initial ousting, fans took to his website to express how much they missed the character. The fan fervor allowed for Mascolo's return upon a mutual agreement with executive producer, Ken Corday. Mascolo reappeared on August 5, 2008, just before Days went on hiatus for the Summer Olympics. In 2012, after breaking up the character's marriage to Lauren Koslow's Kate Roberts, making him responsible for his own daughter Lexie Carver's (Renée Jones) death and undoing his father/son relationship with James Scott's EJ DiMera, the character appeared to have been written into a corner. With nearly the entire town gunning for Stefano, several sources later confirmed that Stefano was indeed being killed off with Mascolo last appearing alive on June 4, 2012. Mascolo discussed his disapproval in an interview with Soap Opera Digest:
Every single thing that went wrong in Salem was Stefano's fault. Every single thing. He got blamed for everything. When Stefano got blamed for this business with Lexie illness, I got very angry. Stefano and his daughter had an absolutely pure relationship. I adore Renee Jones (Lexie). When she came to my dressing room and said, "I’m going to be leaving soon, and this is what is going to happen," I said, "Oh, no!"
It was very difficult. The bottom line Stefano is will always be about family. So when they wrote that, I couldn't figure it out. In all honesty, Stefano nor EJ would have had wanted it that way. As a matter of fact when James Scott (EJ) saw the business that Elvis wasn't Stefano's son, we both went, "No, that's wrong." We didn't want it that way.
On June 13, 2012, Mascolo departed following the character's funeral. Despite what was happening on-screen, certain sources reported that Mascolo could possibly reprise his role very soon. Following the change in head writers, it was confirmed that Mascolo was indeed on his way back; he made his first appearance on August 21, 2012. Mascolo discussed that the plan was always to have Stefano turn out to be alive, but he didn't agree with how the previous writing regime had scripted the story. With the return of former show runners Gary Tomlin and Christopher Whitesell, Mascolo seemed more "intrigued" with their plans for his character. Mascolo's return also coincides with Eileen Davidson's return as Stefano's daughter Kristen. Mascolo reappeared as Stefano on October 8, 2012.
Due to Mascolo's failing health, he departed the soap, last appearing on January 11, 2016. Mascolo made guest appearances on March 1, March 2, May 20, June 8 and July 7, 2016. Mascolo died on December 8, 2016, in Los Angeles, California at the age of 87 after years of battling Alzheimer's disease.
In early 2017, it was announced that Mascolo had filmed scenes prior to his death. Mascolo last appeared onscreen on February 9, 2017. However, it was later revealed that Mascolo appeared as Shane Donovan, who was posing as Stefano.
With all of Stefano's "deaths" and other departures, viewers and fans were inevitably treated with a scene of Mascolo returning as Stefano (particularly if he'd been gone for a while), proclaiming that it was "good to be back".
Storylines
1980s Stefano first appears on-screen in January 1982 with his son Tony DiMera (Thaao Penghlis), as a vaguely-Mediterranean "businessman" with dubious intentions, surveying the citizens of Salem. Stefano travels to Salem shortly after being introduced as the friend of Lee DuMonde (Brenda Benet) and it is soon revealed he is the father of Lee's daughter, Renée (Philece Sampler), which adds complications to her relationship with Tony. Stefano attempts to help Tony win back his wife, Liz Chandler (Gloria Loring) while Stuart Whyland begins blackmailing him and Stefano kills him. In 1983, Stefano was sent to prison thanks to Detective Roman Brady (Wayne Northrop). Before his death, Stefano's wife, Daphne (Madlyn Rhue), reveals that Tony is not his biological son. Stefano returns in 1984 with his nephew, André (also Penghlis) who has gotten plastic surgery to look like Tony. Together, they plan to frame Roman for a string of murders; meanwhile, Stefano discovers another daughter, Megan Hathaway (Cheryl-Ann Wilson). Her adoptive father, Maxwell, had access to the "Three Prisms" that could cure Stefano's brain tumor. In November 1984, in his quest to obtain one of the prisms, Stefano apparently kills Roman after pushing him off a cliff. In February 1985, Bo Brady's (Peter Reckell) wife Hope (Kristian Alfonso) is framed for Megan's murder and Stefano vows revenge on the entire family. He kidnaps Roman's twins, Sami and Eric, and Roman's widow Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) shoots him, apparently killing him.
Stefano resurfaces in 1988 to claim his son Benjy who is about to be adopted by Kayla Brady (Mary Beth Evans) and her husband Steve Johnson (Stephen Nichols), as well as to attempt to "reprogram" Roman, whom he had brainwashed in 1984–85, to serve as one of his assassins (Stefano actually got the idea about brainwashing his "agents" from former daughter-in-law Anna DiMera (Leann Hunley), who had hypnotized her own daughter Carrie into acting out against Roman as part of a plot to discredit him in the eyes of polite society; he further developed this method with the help of his henchmen Dr. Wilhelm Rolf and Ilya Petrov). He traps several of Salem's citizens on his island, but his plans for revenge are foiled, and he escapes. In this iteration, Stefano is presented as more of an international terrorist than a mobster or corrupt businessman.
1990s