“Days of our Lives will celebrate Suzanne Rogers and the 50 years since she originated the role of Maggie Horton Kiriakis on the daytime drama series.
Set to air Friday, August 18, the episode will include a series of flashbacks as Maggie looks back on her life in Salem, USA, including her time with husbands Mickey Horton and Victor Kiriakis, primarily played by the late actors John Clarke and John Aniston, respectively.
Courtesy of NBC via Everett Collection
First appearing on the show on August 20, 1973, when the character went by the surname of Simmons under the penmanship of the late William J. Bell, co-creator of “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful,” Maggie has been synonymous with “Days of our Lives” for 50 of the show’s current 57 years.
In 2003, Maggie was unceremoniously killed off as part of the Salem Stalker Murders storyline, which found several popular characters killed off in a major whodunnit. The characters were later brought back when the show’s then-head writer, the late James E. Reilly, revealed no one had died and that they were all just being held in a fictional town called Melaswen.
Rogers received the first-ever Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, winning the award in 1979. She won opposite such legends as Rachel Ames (Audrey Hardy), the late Susan Brown (Gail Baldwin, “General Hospital”), the late Lois Kibbee (Geraldine Saxon, “The Edge of Night”) and “Days of our Lives” co-star Francis Reid (Alice Horton), who passed away in February 2010.
To watch the on-air tribute, tune into “Days of our Lives” on Friday, August 18. Also, tune in to every episode after that as the people of Salem learn Victor Kiriakis’ fate.
Check out a photo from Maggie and Mickey’s 1986 wedding, which also took place alongside Melissa Horton (Lisa Trusel) and Pete Jannings (Michael Leon) — Melissa is Maggie and Mickey’s adopted daughter.
Courtesy of Columbia TriStar Television via Everett Collection
“Days of our Lives” airs Weekdays on Peacock.