Joseph Mascolo

Joseph Peter Mascolo (March 13, 1929 – December 8, 2016) was an American actor and musician born and raised in West Hartford, Connecticut, to Anna Mascolo (née DeTuccio; 1910–2010) and Peter Mascolo (1901–2008), immigrants from Naples, Italy. He had one sister, Marie LaVoie. After graduating high school, Mascolo attended the United States Military Academy before enrolling at the University of Miami. To finance his education, he studied acting under Stella Adler in New York City. His early training was in classical music and opera.

Mascolo's stage career spanned from 1955 to 1973, with appearances in several Broadway productions. He played Kazar in the 1962 production of Night Life, also serving as understudy to Neville Brand. In 1966 he appeared in Dinner at Eight as Ricci, and in 1969 he took on the role of Blick in The Time of Your Life. He also appeared in Camino Real and starred in Breaking Legs. His final theatrical credit was the 1972 production of That Championship Season, in which he played Phil Romano.

His film work began with a role in the 1968 western Hot Spur, in which he played Carlo. He subsequently appeared in the 1972 neo-noir crime film Shaft's Big Score! as Gus Mascola, followed by The Spook Who Sat by the Door in 1973 and Jaws 2 in 1978, where he played Len Peterson. Later film credits included Sharky's Machine in 1981 as JoJo Tipps, Yes, Giorgio in 1982, and Heat in 1986, in which he played Baby, his final film appearance.

Mascolo built his most prominent public profile through television, particularly in daytime drama. He appeared in early soap operas Where the Heart Is and From These Roots before taking on the recurring role of villain Stefano DiMera on NBC's Days of Our Lives. He first played the character from 1982 to 1985, returned briefly in 1988, appeared again from 1993 to 2001, and continued making appearances from 2007 until Stefano's on-screen death in 2016. His final appearance aired on February 9, 2017, two months after his death. The role earned him three Soap Opera Digest Awards. He also played a Stefano-like villain named Nicholas Van Buren on General Hospital and Carlos Alvarez on Santa Barbara. His primetime television credits included All in the Family, Lou Grant, The Rockford Files, and The Eddie Capra Mysteries. In October 1979 he appeared in The Incredible Hulk as Mr. Arnold, and a decade later he played Albert G. Tendelli in NBC's The Trial of the Incredible Hulk. He appeared in an episode of Hart to Hart on January 3, 1984, as villain Mr. Rhodes.

Beginning in August 2001, Mascolo portrayed Massimo Marone on CBS's The Bold and the Beautiful. He chose not to renew his contract with that series in July 2006, citing a lack of storyline, and returned to Days of Our Lives, where Stefano DiMera was resurrected after a six-year absence.

In his personal life, Mascolo married Rose Maimone in 1953. They had a son, Peter. Maimone died in 1986. Mascolo married his second wife, Patricia Schultz, in 2005. In January 2016, he disclosed to Soap Opera Digest that he had suffered a stroke in the spring of 2015. Mascolo died on December 8, 2016, in Santa Clarita, California, at the age of 87, following years of battling Alzheimer's disease. He was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.