Drake Hogestyn  Donald Drake Hogestyn ( (born September 29, 1953) is an American actor best known for his long running role as John Black on the American soap opera "Days of Our Lives". Hogestyn was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he graduated from North Side High School. He attended the University of South Florida in Tampa on a baseball scholarship, majoring in pre-dentistry. He graduated with a double major in microbiology and applied sciences. He was then drafted by two professional baseball organizations: the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees. Hogestyn signed with the Yankees and played third base for one of their farm teams until he was injured in 1978. Hogestyn began his acting career by entering a Columbia Pictures talent search that included 75,000 people. Hogestyn was among the 30 selected, and his first starring role was on the prime time series "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". After a few minor roles (one as Kort, leader of the Micro Workers in the episode 'Princess Metra' on the 80s television series "Otherworld"), Hogestyn joined the cast of "Days of our Lives" in 1986. He initially played a mystery man referred to simply as "The Pawn." However, it was soon revealed The Pawn was the presumed-dead Roman Brady. Hogestyn quickly became a fan favorite and enjoyed many pairings, the most popular of which was with longtime co-star Deidre Hall. In 1998, while starring on "Days", Shelley Long enlisted Hogestyn to join her for the upcoming series "Kelly, Kelly". He was set to star in both until the filming of the pilot episode of "Kelly, Kelly" conflicted with his schedule on "Days", and the role went to Robert Hays. In 1991, Wayne Northrop agreed to return to "Days" to reprise his role of Roman. In order to keep both actors on the show, Drake's story was retconned, and his past rewritten. Despite this change, Hogestyn remained one of the show's most popular actors. The pairing of John Black and Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) is one of the show's enduring supercouples. Drake's John Black character was "killed off" the week of October 15, 2007. It was rumored the character was officially dead and would not be back, but—true to "Days"' reputation for "killing" many characters off and eventually bringing them back—it turned out that John was not really dead at all, but had been abducted by long-time nemesis Stefano DiMera.