The reality is that several Days of our Lives cast members will look back at the episodes that streamed this week on Peacock when they are choosing reels for next year’s Daytime Emmy awards. Among them will be Martha Madison, who shined as her character, Belle Black, eulogized her late father, John (played by the late, great Drake Hogestyn).
Belle is the living embodiment of one of DAYS‘s greatest love stories – the one between Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) and John Black. Before Belle even stepped up to the lectern, she had us teary-eyed as she grasped her mother’s hand for one last supportive boost.
John Black was a larger-than-life character. To many in Salem, he was a secret agent extraordinaire, a problem solver, and a romantic legend. Madison, as Belle, reminded everyone he was also the best dad in the world.
“There’s been a lot of talk about my dad being a hero and he was,” Belle began her eulogy. “To me, he was a super-hero. When I was a kid, I always knew that my dad could keep me and my family safe from anything.”
“I’m sure that every little girl feels that way,” Belle continued. “But I never outgrew it even as an adult. I always knew that I was the safest when I was with my dad.”
The DAYS writing team armed Madison’s Belle (and all the characters mourning John) with touching and heartfelt dialogue for these emotional scenes. It wasn’t just the characters saying farewell to John – we also saw Madison and all the actors bidding adieu to Hogestyn.
John wore many hats and had many titles through his nearly 40-year run in Salem. He was “The Pawn,” Roman Brady, Forrest Alamain, Ryan Brady, a priest, a hero, a spy, the owner of Basic Black, a husband, a friend, and a father.
Madison’s Belle brought it all down to earth and painted the picture of John being her dad. She recalled one time when he headed off to Europe to help keep his son Brady (Eric Martsolf) from Stefano DiMera (Joe Mascolo). (Huge kudos are due to Martsolf, who, as Eric, made John’s mourners laugh through their tears by imitating John’s voice and his trademark eyebrow look.)
“My dad said, ‘I can’t sit around here and do nothing, right?’” Belle recalled her dad saying as she embraced joy and heartache simultaneously. Madison convincingly played a memory that Belle experienced before she took on her part. “Yeah, come on, Mom!” Belle recalled saying. “Daddy’s the man! He’ll come through.”
“And he did. He always came through,” Belle added.
Anyone fortunate enough to have met and known Hogestyn in real-life would likely agree that some of Belle’s sentiments also applied to John’s portrayer. So, we weren’t just watching talented actors playing how their characters felt about John. We were witnessing how the actors felt about Hogestyn.
“He wanted to raise everybody’s spirts and make them smile,” shared Belle in a sentiment that could be applied to both the character and the actor. “In his honor, I am going to try not to cry all day. I think that’s how he would have wanted it. For the record, Daddy, you are still the man.”
Days of our Lives, Weekdays, Peacock