| Macdonald Carey | |
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Carey in 1969. |
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| Born | Edward Macdonald Carey March 15, 1913 Sioux City, Iowa |
| Died | March 21, 1994 (aged 81) Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
| Years active | 1942–1994 |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Heckscher (1943-1969) (divorced) 6 children |
| Partner | Lois Kraines (1973-1994) (his death) |
Edward Macdonald Carey (March 15, 1913 – March 21, 1994) was an American actor, best known for his role as the patriarch Dr. Tom Horton on NBC's soap opera Days of our Lives. For almost three decades, he was the show's central cast member.
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Born in Sioux City, Iowa, Carey graduated from the University of Iowa in Iowa City with a bachelor's degree in 1935, after attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison for a year where he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi. He first made his career starring in various B-movies of the 1940s, '50s and '60s. He was known in many Hollywood circles as "King of the Bs", sharing the throne with his "queen", Lucille Ball.
A successful radio actor and stage performer whose credits included the hit Broadway show Lady in the Dark and the 1942 film Wake Island, Carey appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's 1943 movie Shadow of a Doubt, filmed in Santa Rosa, California. That year he joined the Marines; he stayed on active duty until 1947.
In 1947, Carey returned to Paramount in Suddenly, It's Spring. He continued with Paramount into the 1950s; by this time he had slipped into more noticeable character roles and transitioned to westerns for a time, such as Copper Canyon (1950), The Great Missouri Raid (1951), Outlaw Territory (1953) and Man or Gun (1958). Carey played patriot Patrick Henry in John Paul Jones (1959). He appeared in Blue Denim (1959), The Damned (known as These Are the Damned in the US) (1963), Tammy and the Doctor (1963), and End of the World (1977). Carey appeared in CBS's Appointment with Adventure and later portrayed Brother Ben in "The Incident of the Golden Calf" episdode of CBS's Rawhide. He also guest starred in the 1964-1965 sitcom The Bing Crosby Show on ABC.
In 1956 Carey took over the role of the kindly small-town physician Dr. Christian, a character created in the late 1930s by the Danish-American actor Jean Hersholt, who had performed the part on radio and in films and had co-written a Dr. Christian novel. Carey portrayed Dr. Christian on television for one season. Carey also played the starring role of crusading Herb Maris in the 1950s syndicated series Lock-Up. A total of 78 episodes (then considered to be only two full seasons) were made 1959–61, but apparently Carey did not appear in all of them.
For the remainder of his career, he played Tom Horton on Days of our Lives, from 1965 until his death in Beverly Hills, California from lung cancer in 1994. During this time, Carey suffered from a drinking problem, and eventually joined Alcoholics Anonymous in 1982.[1] A longtime pipe smoker, he was seen in many films and early episodes of Days of our Lives with it. He was ordered by his doctor to quit in September 1991 after having to take a leave of absence from Days in order to remove a cancerous tumor from one of his lungs. He returned to the show in November of that year.[1]
He is most recognized today as the voice who recites the epigraph each day before the program begins: "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the Days of our Lives". From 1966 to 1994, he would also intone, "This is Macdonald Carey, and these are the Days of our Lives." (After Carey's passing, the producers, out of respect for Carey's family, decided not to use the second part of the opening tagline.) At each intermission, his voice also says "We will return for the second half of Days of our Lives in just a moment". Since the Horton family is still regarded as the core of Days of our Lives, his memory has been allowed to remain imprinted on the show by leaving the voice-overs intact. He also served as voice-over for the very first PBS ident, in which he said "This is PBS ... the Public Broadcasting Service."
Macdonald Carey wrote several books of poetry and a 1991 autobiography, The Days of My Life. For his contribution to television, Carey has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6536 Hollywood Boulevard.
He was married to Elizabeth Heckscher from 1943 until their divorce in 1969. They had six children. Later, he dated Lois Kraines. The couple remained together from 1973 until Carey's death.[2]
Carey's six children are: Lynn, Theresa, Lisa, Steven, Edward Macdonald Jr., and Paul. Theresa is the mother of Survivor: Panama Exile Island winner Aras Baskauskas. Lynn Carey was a 1970s Penthouse Pet and well respected singer, providing music for Russ Meyer's legendary cult classic film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. He has a godson, Maurice Heckscher.
He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California, alongside a space already set aside for his daughter Lisa.
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