Exclusive: “He Was a Legend and a Hero,” Says Alison Sweeney of Drake Hogestyn
Fans and former costars have been mourning the recent death of Drake Hogestyn, who, since 1986, had played John Black on the long-running soap Days of Our Lives. Hogestyn died on Saturday following a battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 70, just one day before his birthday.
While discussing her next film, This Time Each Year (premiering Thursday, Oct. 24 at 8pm EST on Hallmark Mystery), former Days of Our Lives costar Alison Sweeney teared up remembering her onscreen stepdad.
“He was such an important person on the show and to the fans and to every person on set,” Sweeney shared of her longtime costar. “He was a legend in his own life and a hero.”
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“I thought of him as a father, and he was just a really special person,” she added. “And I want everyone to know that, because of all the love we’ve received from fans and people who knew him. I realized that every person feels the same way about him that I do.”
Since we were talking Hallmark, Sweeney also shared that Hogestyn was a big fan of the channel, and her films. “He loved Hallmark movies. He came to one of my Hallmark premieres a couple years ago with his wife beautiful, lovely wife Victoria, and they watched them together. And so he would always text me afterwards, and was proud of me, and he’s going to be missed. He was incredible.”
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June 2017
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