Drake Hogestyn
Hogestyn married his childhood sweetheart Victoria. The couple have four children: three daughters, Whitney, Alexandra and Rachael; and one son, Ben.
John Black (Days of Our Lives)
On January 24, 1986, daytime newcomer and former minor league baseball player, Drake Hogestyn joined the cast as The Pawn without his bandages, who would later assume the alias John Black. As The Pawn (Glen Vincent, then Robert Poynton) was introduced onscreen in November 1985, the casting department at "Days of Our Lives" had been searching for an older actor to portray The Pawn when Hogestyn wandered into the NBC casting offices to meet with Doris Sabbagh, the head of the casting department at Columbia Pictures about a guest spot on "Crazy Like a Fox". Instead, Sabbagh brought Hogestyn in to audition for "Days". Hogestyn later admitted that he didn't know anything about the role and he thought he had auditioned for ABC's "One Life to Live". Hogestyn was a fan of daytime soaps and his agent had passed on several soap roles "but Drake wanted this one." He watched some episodes and then went to the audition. Though everyone seemed to love him, Hogestyn almost missed out on the role because he was so young. However, it was his screen test with Deidre Hall that put Hogestyn over the top. Hogestyn was chosen out of five other actors and signed a three-year contract.