Days of Our Lives Exclusive: Alison Sweeney Shares Her Memories of Drake Hogestyn, a ‘Hero’ and ‘Giant Man’
When Soaps.com spoke with Alison Sweeney this week, she as well as all of us was still reeling from the loss of her longtime Days of Our Lives castmate Drake Hogestyn, who died of pancreatic cancer at age 70 on September 28. “It was devastating news for us to find out that Drake had passed away on Saturday,” she said. “But no surprise to me was the outpouring of love for him and the reaction from the fans.”
Hogestyn had started at Days of Our Lives in 1986, first playing Roman Brady, then — surprise! — John Black. (Relive his adventures here.) Sweeney was cast as his stepdaughter Sami six years later. “He’s someone I remember meeting my very first day on set, teaching me the ropes and making us all feel at home,” she said. “Every person who’s ever met him or has had the pleasure to meet him felt what I felt has have been feeling for the last 48 hours.
“He was a hero, a giant man and wonderful and giving and thoughtful with every person he met,” she continued. “He was so kind to me when I started in ’93.”
No matter what else was going on, Hogestyn had an enviable gift for focusing and making everyone feel seen. “He still gave you his attention, he gave you his time, he looked you in the eye, he told you a funny story. I know the key elements of the conversation he had with you, because that’s how he treated everybody,” Sweeney said. “He made time, he gave himself to every person he spoke to — you just don’t meet people like that every day — and there’s always a good baseball analogy in there, too. Always, always. He’ll be missed.”
