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Stefano DiMera (alias the Phoenix) was a fictional character, a villain on the soap opera Days of our Lives, played by Joseph Mascolo from early February 1982 to March 1983, February to May 10, 1984, October 19, 1984 to February 22, 1985, November 4 to December 1988, October 17, 1993 to June 14, 2001, Frank Fata for a couple of episodes in December 1991, and an unknown actor in December 2006.

He has faked his death or been reported dead by others ten times during the series' history, coming back each time to taunt the citizens of Salem.

Fictional character history

Stefano DiMera first appeared on the scene in the fictional midwestern town of Salem in February 1982 when he relocated his family and the center of its business operations from Rome, Italy. Except for being vaguely Mediterranean, Stefano's specific European nationality was never confirmed, although in more recent years it has been mentioned that he spent much of his youth in both Italy and Ireland where his family had various unspecified business interests. The patriarch of the seemingly aristocratic DiMera family appeared to be dashing, wealthy, and charming, but in reality he headed a mysterious and powerful criminal organization. The Dumas DiMera organization, which at times seemed to have grown to Bond-villain proportions, has dabbled in such various enterprises as drug trafficking, art theft, forgery, political corruption, assassinations, kidnapping and false imprisonment, faking various people's deaths, brainwashing and mind control, infiltrating legitimate businesses and government agencies, building elaborate compounds on various uncharted Caribbean islands, raising private mercenary armies, and orchestrating guerilla wars in Third World countries. Stefano's son Tony has stated that his own personal goal for the DiMera family was total global domination, but the statement was made while he was busy trying to take over territories in Iraq, during a time when his own sanity was very much in question.

The DiMera family has engaged in both alliances and battles with various factions over the years, including rival criminal organizations such as that of Victor Kiriakis, and a fictional government agency called the ISA (International Security Alliance). Although not completely central to the show's storyline, there have also been hints of Stefano's involvement with political terrorism in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. But his most hated enemies, and the constant targets of his wrath, have been the blue-collar Brady family of Salem.

Stefano's hatred for the Bradys has evolved (and been retconned) over the years. Originally it could be easily explained in that the DiMeras were a crime family and the Bradys were a family of cops who were constantly meddling in (and thwarting) DiMera schemes. More recently, it has been alleged that the feud between the two families actually precedes family patriarchs Stefano DiMera and Shawn Brady, and has its origins in the Bradys' ancestral home outside of Dublin, Ireland. It's also been hinted that Shawn Brady not only knows the true history of the feud, but that the Bradys may not necessarily have been the "innocents" in its beginnings.

Stefano's character has also evolved over the years, from a mysterious charmer to a deadly and elusive terrorist to an omnipotent (and somewhat Gothic) supervillain. During different script-writing regimes, he has even been portrayed as a caricature of himself, and even went through a couple of incarnations where it appeared that Stefano may actually renounce his evil ways and become more of a legit character (much like his sometime-ally, sometime-rival counterpart Victor Kiriakis). But in the end, Stefano always returned to his villanous nature, manipulating the denizens of Salem for his own nefarious ends.

Stefano DiMera has a number of children, some illegitimate and some dead, including Megan Hathaway, Benji Hawk, Renee DuMonde, Elvis Banks (aka EJ Wells), Lexie Carver, and the current head of the DiMera family, Tony DiMera (the title is one Stefano purchased as a gift for his son). Tony's paternity is another retcon on the show; in the mid-1980s it was revealed that he was the illegitimate son of Stefano's common-law wife Daphne and their Greek gardener, "Enrico". However, by the mid-1990s, it was retconned that this information was the "rambling of a mad woman" and that Tony was in fact Stefano's biological son.

Stefano also fostered two children, Peter and Kristen Blake, who were the children of a woman with whom Stefano was obsessed, and whose father he murdered in a fit of jealousy. Although he fostered them, he never legally adopted the two, which paved the way to Kristen and Tony marrying later in life.

Stefano is famous for having faked his death several times, and always "returning" from the dead as the "Phoenix" he so often revered and adopted as his personal symbol (and later, family crest). In Stefano's last reported death, Tony claimed to have killed him in jealousy over Stefano's higher regard for his "Pawn", John Black (Tony's illegitimate half-brother by his mother Daphne DiMera), and to use his blood to help cure Tony's mysterious blood disorder. Tony Subsequently took over the family business and is currently in jail for a host of crimes.

In December 2006, however, John and Marlena found Stefano in an Italian hospital and confronted him, trying to learn why he had sent a young man named E.J. to Salem. His face obscured within an oxygen tent, Stefano revealed that E.J. is his son by Susan Banks.

Family

Stefano was the seventh son of the seventh son, meaning he has at least six older brothers that have never been named on-air. Through one of those brothers, he had a nephew, André DiMera, who died in the 1990s. In December 2006, the DiMera family crypt in Italy contained a plaque for Gino DiMera, but his relationship to Stefano is unknown.

Stefano had a number of children. With his common-law wife Daphne, Stefano fathered Tony DiMera. Tony was, at one time, believed to have been the child of the DiMera gardener, but it was later established that he was Stefano's son. With his former lover Celeste Perrault, Stefano fathered Lexie Carver (and through her became the grandfather of Theo Carver, Stefano's only known grandchild). He also fathered Renee DuMonde with Lee DuMonde, Megan Hathaway with an unknown woman, Benjy Hawk with Ellen Hawk, and finally E.J. Wells with Susan Banks. He also raised Peter and Kristen Blake after the deaths of their parents, but did not adopt them.

Stefano's "deaths"

This list includes times Stefano faked his death, was presumed dead, or was reported dead by others.

1983- stroke

1984- car plunged into the icy waters of Salem harbor during a police chase

1985- shot by Marlena and fell from catwalk as a fire broke out (He also had a brain tumor)

1991- fire and cave collapse. When he returned in 1993, he initially couldn't walk or talk due to a stroke. He was later told he had another brain tumor, but it seems to have disappeared.

1994- car exploded into fireball after being shot by John

1994- drowned near Maison Blanche

1996- plane explosion

1996- blown up and buried under collapsing tunnel during confrontation with Rachel Blake. This was his last depicted "death".

2002- injuries from car crash in Monte Carlo, according to Tony DiMera.

2004- When Marlena found a rotting, unrecognizable corpse, Tony claimed it was Stefano. Tony said he had killed Stefano by draining his blood so Tony could cure his own blood disease.

Source link

• soapcentral.com|DAYS Online
• Stefano at soapcentral.com
• Soap Opera Digest
• Dustin's DAYS Page
• http://www.bethsdayspage.com

• Days of our Lives characters
• DiMera family
• Soap opera villains
• Fictional Italian-Americans
• Past and Present Days of our Lives characters
• Soap Opera characters