Days of Our Lives fans know there has been some of the behind-the-scenes tragedies that affected actors on the NBC soap, from Tyler Christopher (former Stefan DiMera) to Suzanne Rogers (Maggie Horton Kiriakis), Linsey Godfrey (Sarah Horton), Drake Hogestyn (John Black), and more.

Francisco San Martin’s Tragic Passing: A Days of Our Lives Alum

Francisco San Martin played Dario Hernandez on Days of Our Lives. If you don’t remember, that was Gabi Hernandez‘s (Cherie Jimenez) brother. Francisco San Martin originated the role in 2011.

And it was later taken over by Jordi Vilasuso. After Francisco’s stint on Days of Our Lives, he got a gig on The Bold and the Beautiful. And then he got to be on the hit Prime Time series Jane the Virgin.

That was a very good show, but then, out of nowhere, on January 16th, 2025, tragedy struck, and the ex-Dario actor took his own life. Francisco San Martin died at his LA home. And the coroner confirmed that his cause of death was suicide by hanging.

He was just 39 years old and had been on Days of Our Lives back when he was in his 20s. The whole thing was just senseless and tragic.

Lisa Robin Kelly: From Days of Our Lives to a Tragic End

Now we’re going to talk about Lisa Robin Kelly. Back in 1996, she debuted as Jill Stevens on Days of Our Lives. And Lisa’s character, Jill, was hired to break up Bo Brady (Peter Reckell) and Hope Brady (Kristian Alfonso).

This was back at the time that Billie Reed (Lisa Rinna) was kind of in Bo’s orbit. After leaving Days, Kelly found prime-time fame on the hit show That ’70s Show. She was a prominent character, the main character’s sister.

And it was while working on That ’70s Show that the first tragedy struck, that led to greater tragedy because Lisa got pregnant, and she lost the baby. She suffered a miscarriage. And she said after that, she just felt like she lost everything, and she began drinking, and then it turned into full-on abusing alcohol.

So, she was ultimately replaced on the show. And then that led to a whole spiral of arrests for DUI, assault, and other crimes related to her alcohol addiction. The ex-Jill actor decided that she was going to check herself into rehab to try and get her addictions under control, so she was doing the right thing.

But tragically, Lisa Robin Kelly died in her sleep in the rehab facility of an overdose that involved multiple drugs, according to the coroner’s report. She was just 43 when she died in 2013.

Tyler Christopher’s Battle with Addiction: The Stefan DiMera Tragedy

Another absolutely tragic behind-the-scenes situation involved Tyler Christopher. Days of Our Lives created the role of Stefan DiMera for Tyler Christopher at the end of 2017.

He had previously played Nicholas Cassadine on General Hospital, which is where he met head writer Ron Carlivati (former head writer), who, of course, had been a writer on GH before coming to Days.

Unfortunately, Tyler’s demons followed him from GH right over onto Days of Our Lives. The Stefan actor said that he took his first drink at age nine. And he struggled with alcohol addiction throughout his life.

Tyler confessed that it was his own fault that he lost the gig at Days of Our Lives because his addiction to alcohol spiraled out of control again.

After just a year of playing Stefan, the role that was created for him, the soap fired Tyler, and they recast him with another GH alumnus, Brandon Barash (Stefan DiMera). Tyler’s last air date was March 20th, 2019.

And two days later, we first saw Brandon in the role. Four years later, in 2023, after ongoing issues, arrests, troubling headlines, and several attempts to get clean, Tyler Christopher lost his battle with addiction and died in his home.

His cause of death was positional asphyxia due to acute intoxication, which basically means that Tyler was drinking. And he passed out in a position where he couldn’t breathe.

He was just 50 years old at the time of his death, not that long before his 51st birthday would have hit, and this tragic loss of the Stefan DiMera actor’s life still haunts fans to this day.

Freddie Smith’s DUI and the Car Accident: A Road to Recovery

Our next tragedy involves the actor who played Sonny Kiriakis (Freddie Smith) for nearly 10 years. Freddie Smith originated the role back in 2011 before Zack Tinker (Sonny Kiriakis) later took it on in 2022.

Freddie did top work as Sonny, who fell for Will Horton (Chandler Massey). And that spawned the most popular gay romance in the history of Days of Our Lives. But things were troubling behind the scenes.

In October 2014, Freddie Smith and his girlfriend Alyssa, who is now his wife, were in a horrific car accident. The Sonny actor lost control of their car and crashed it. Freddie initially said he fell asleep behind the wheel.

But his blood alcohol level was 0.93, astronomically above the 0.08 legal limit. And Freddie later pleaded guilty to felony vehicular assault in DUI. But that wasn’t even the real tragic part of it.

Freddy’s girlfriend, Alyssa, was seriously injured in the accident because their car flipped, and she was trapped. She was in critical condition and had to be airlifted to the hospital after they cut her out of the car.

Freddie Smith’s girlfriend recovered from her terrible injuries. And they later married, and they remain together today. The good news is, I’ve not seen any other headlines about Freddie being in trouble with alcohol. So, though this was a tragedy, it seems like it might have been a one-off. And it certainly could have been much worse than it was.

Suzanne Rogers’ Battle with Myasthenia Gravis: A Story of Resilience on Days of our Lives

Another real-life tragedy struck Days of Our Lives actress Suzanne Rogers. After she had been healthy most of her life. And had spent more than a decade playing Maggie Horton Kiriakis. Out of nowhere, her blood pressure skyrocketed to the point that Suzanne Rogers’ doctor said he was surprised she hadn’t had a stroke.

That led to a diagnosis of myasthenia gravis, which is an autoimmune disorder that affects the neuromuscular structures of your body. They started the Maggie actress on high-dose prednisone, which came with these drastic side effects.

She spent a lot of time at the hospital, and at one point, Suzanne’s throat closed up. She couldn’t swallow. It affected her voice to the point that she couldn’t continue playing Maggie, and then Suzanne had to have major surgery.

At least one doctor told her, she would never be in front of a camera again. But Suzanne took that as a challenge. One of the side effects of the medication, if you’ve never taken prednisone for a while, is you get this swollen, round face. It was very noticeable, and had fans concerned.

So Days of Our Lives decided to just address it and write it into the storyline. In 1984, they had Maggie develop the same disease that Suzanne had, myasthenia gravis.

And so the good news is both Maggie and Suzanne Rogers are doing much better and in remission, and this was another tragedy that could have gone much worse. But thankfully, it all turned around.

Linsey Godfrey’s Health Battles: Cancer, Accidents, and Resilience on Days of our Lives

Next on our list of Days of Our Lives tragedies is the actress who plays Maggie’s daughter, Sarah. I’m talking about Linsey Godfrey, who has faced a couple of really terrible health issues over the years.

At just 17 years old, the actress suffered an unspeakable tragedy when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. And the Sarah actress, who, of course, plays a doctor, was diagnosed at stage three just before her birthday.

And as she turned 18, she shaved her head and dove into six months of treatment, 12 rounds of chemotherapy. Thankfully, Linsey came through it and, as of 2007, was cancer-free. The tattoo on the back of her neck is Linsey’s mark of being a cancer survivor.

But that’s not the only tragedy she suffered. Before Linsey came to Days of Our Lives, back when she played Caroline on The Bold and the Beautiful, tragedy struck again in 2015.

Linsey was walking in broad daylight down a sidewalk in LA. And a car hopped the curb and ran her down on the sidewalk, trapping her under their car. Both of her ankles were crushed. It required surgery leaving Linsey wheelchair-bound for a while.

She even appeared on B&B in it. That tragedy was brought back to Linsey recently when Sarah was run down on Days of Our Lives and wound up wheelchair-bound. Linsey said the storyline gave her a bit of PTSD.

Then, she had to work in it, and it just reminded her of being stuck in it in real life, and she has now survived two life-and-death tragic occurrences.

Judi Evans’ Medical Ordeal: Horseback Riding Accident and COVID-19 Complications

Another Days of Our Lives actress who is lucky to be alive is Judi Evans (Adrienne Kiriakis and Bonnie Lockhart). During the pandemic, she suffered a terrible medical tragedy that came hot on the heels of a painful accident.

Judi was out horseback riding, and she took a tumble. She broke several ribs, her leg, her collar bone, and some vertebrae in her back. So, she was hospitalized with these serious injuries. And then she caught COVID in the hospital.

And although the Bonnie actress only had a mild case of coronavirus, she suffered blood clots caused by the virus, and doctors nearly had to amputate both of her legs.

Thankfully, after several weeks in the hospital, Judi was able to return home. And she recovered fully from this ordeal. But it was definitely an ordeal.

Wayne Northrop’s Alzheimer’s Battle: Remembering Days of our Lives’ First Roman Brady

Another tragedy that resulted in the death of a Days of Our Lives actor late last year was that of Wayne Northrop (Roman Brady), who originally played the role of Roman Brady. He passed away in late November 2024.

And in addition to appearing on Days as a fan favorite, Wayne also had a role on the hit Prime Time soap Dynasty, and it was in his early 70s that tragedy struck the ex-Roman actor. Wayne was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s.

His wife, soap actress Lynn Herring (Lucy Coe over on General Hospital), had been caring for him for years at their ranch home as long as she was able to. But as the disease progressed, the family had to move Wayne into a care facility.

It was there he passed away at age 77 on November 29, 2024, surrounded by love and family, and with a tragedy like Alzheimer’s, a peaceful passing with family there is a blessing.

Drake Hogestyn’s Farewell to Days of our Lives: The Legacy of John Black

Of course, we can’t talk about tragedies behind the scenes at Days of Our Lives without mentioning the one that fans and the actors and the characters are still going through now. Drake Hogestyn (John Black) lost his battle with pancreatic cancer last year, leaving his fellow Days actors and a legion of fans deeply saddened.

His final episode as John Black aired on September 9th, 2024, after more than 38 years of Drake playing the beloved character. And despite his character exiting in Fall 2024, Days of Our Lives still has John’s storyline going on now just because they have that six-to-eight-month tape-to-air delay. But it is getting close to wrapping up.

Drake’s Absence from DOOL

After Drake Hogestyn had been absent from work and from filming for nine months because he was bravely fighting this aggressive cancer, producer Ken Corday decided they needed to address his absence.

So, they decided to write a death exit for John Black with the promise that they would bring him back if Drake’s health condition turned around. And he was able to come back to work because he wanted to come back.

And Ken checked in with Drake on all this, and he signed off on them filming John’s final storyline and his character’s death while he was still alive. We are likely looking at a June 2025 funeral for John Black on Days of Our Lives.

But of course, any episodes we see him on between now and then, it’s only going to be flashbacks because less than three weeks after Drake’s final episode aired, he lost his struggle. And he passed away on September 28th, 2024.

This tragic loss of Drake Hogestyn’s life played out in real-time already. But Days of Our Lives fans are now bracing themselves for the tragic end of John Black as well.