Johnny Wactor, Wayne Northrop and More Soap Opera Star Deaths of 2024

The soap opera community mourned the death of several talented actors in the past year.

Days of Our Lives fans began 2024 grieving over the loss of Bill Hayes — one of the show’s longest-running actors — who died in January at the age of 98.

In September, fans said goodbye to actor Drake Hogestyn, who died of pancreatic cancer. Two months later, Wayne Northrop passed away after a battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

“My husband Bill Hayes, Drake Hogestyn and now Wayne Northrop. Bang, bang, bang, all coming down at once,” Days of Our Lives star Susan Seaforth Hayes told Us Weekly on December 1. “I think the show gives comfort and it certainly gives me comfort to come in and work with Deidre [Hall] and see that we are going forward and making the best of every hard situation.”

Amid difficult losses, Hall said both the cast and fans find comfort in their respective shows.

“I think they come to us in times of need, when they need comfort, they need reassurance, they need a sense of family that maybe is not in their house at the time,” she told Us. “Days of Our Lives is very good about providing exactly that for everybody.”

It’s a sentiment felt throughout the soap opera genre, who mourned the death of several other actors. Keep reading to honor the talented stars we lost in 2024: