“And I made the choice to, ‘OK, let’s tell the story.’ He hadn’t been on in nine months. We needed a reason [for John’s absence].” Corday, 74, reached out to Hogestyn before writing the script. “I wanted to make sure Drake signed off on ...

Days of our Lives star Drake Hogestyn knew his alter ego, John Black, would die, and he was “in favor” of it. When Drake died in September, it came as a shock to fans, but his cast and crew members knew of his pancreatic cancer battle the whole time.

As a result, the site noted, the soap filmed John's passing before Hogestyn himself died on Sept. 28 after battling pancreatic cancer. Corday explained: We were rolling the dice, because it’s difficult to tell a story of someone’s death or a character’s death while the actor is still alive;

Days of Our Lives Star Drake Hogestyn was able to approve and film the way his beloved character died on the Peacock soap before he passed away on Sept. 28. In a new interview, Executive Producer Ken Corday said he needed to explain to viewers why Hogestyn’s character,

Days of Our Lives will say a more permanent goodbye to the late Drake Hogestyn’s character, John Black, with upcoming death and funeral scenes that the actor approved before he passed away. In a new interview with Soap Opera Digest,

The late actor approved of his character's death scene, which will air in an upcoming episode of the soap opera

Days of Our Lives has had to say a painful goodbye to too many beloved actors lately - and their legendary characters. But due, in part, to the show's advanced shooting schedule, the onscreen and offscreen farewells tend to be very far apart.