Isabella Toscano

Isabella Beatrice Black (née Toscano) was a fictional character on the NBC soap opera Days of our Lives. The character first appears on a recurring basis on October 16, 1989 being portrayed by actress Staci Greason. Greason is put on contract in December 1989.^[1] Greason leaves the show in October 1992, after Isabella dies from pancreatic cancer. Greason reappears as Isabella's ghost in 1995, 2000, 2002-2003, and most recently in November 2010.

Storylines

Isabella was born on July 27, 1960, to Loretta Toscano and Ernesto Toscano. She had an older sister, Marina Theresa Toscano.^[2] Isabella was initially introduced in 1989 as an inmate in an asylum. Though Marina had forced Isabella into the asylum, Jack Deveraux, whose brother, Steve Johnson was being blackmailed by his first wife Marina, did not believe that she was insane. Therefore, Jack helped her escape and hid her in his loft. Together, Jack and Isabella found the Toscano family treasure and her mother's diary, for which Marina has been searching all along.

When Marina's dead body was discovered, Steve's wife, Kayla Brady was convicted in her murder. Unwilling to believe that Kayla was guilty, Isabella teamed up with Kayla's brother, Roman Brady. In a surprising turn of events, Isabella and Roman discovered that Isabella killed Marina, then blocked the deed from her memory. With this new evidence, Kayla was released and Isabella cleared on the grounds of self-defense.

In the summer of 1990, Isabella became a key figure in the infamous Cruise of Deception storyline when Ernesto Toscano, also seeking his late wife Loretta's diary, invited Salem's most prominent members aboard his yacht. Jack returned some of the diary's pages that he had stolen, and Isabella discovered that her biological father was not Ernesto but Victor Kiriakis. A furious Ernesto then kidnapped Isabella, taking her to a nearby island. Just before Ernesto succeeded in poisoning Isabella as he had her mother after he discovered Loretta's affair with Victor, Roman rescued Isabella. In the mayhem, Ernesto and Hope Brady were killed.

Returning to Salem, Isabella began a private investigation agency with her new-found brother, Bo Brady, and her relationship with Roman deepened. The couple become engaged and made plans to move in together when Roman's presumed-dead wife, Marlena, returned to Salem. A devastated Isabella assured Roman that she would not stand in the way of rebuilding his marriage with Marlena. However, she began to truly despair when she discovered that she was pregnant with Roman's baby.

Things came to a head when Roman and Marlena were confronted by a man claiming to be the "real" Roman Brady. Roman's mother, Caroline Brady, confirmed the latter's claim. Salemites were stunned to learn that the man that they called Roman for five years was an impostor. Devastated, the false Roman reverted to using his old name, John Black, and began a desperate search into his real identity. He also reunited with Isabella after she told him that she was having their child. On May 19, 1992, during the couple's marriage ceremomy, Isabella went into labor; she quickly gave birth to Brady Victor Black and named him in honor of the Brady family and Isabella's father.

The Black family's happiness was short-lived when Dr. Carly Manning informed Isabella that her back pain was the result of advanced pancreatic cancer. Telling John that she wanted to die in her "real" home, John and Isabella went to Venice where she quietly died in John's arms on October 16, 1992.

Isabella's afterlife

Isabella's memory continued to play a role in subsequent story lines. In 1993, Marlena and Roman Brady named their newborn daughter, Isabella, nicknamed Belle for short. In a not-unusual daytime plot twist, Marlena discovered that John was the father of Belle, not Roman. Isabella's ghost made several guest appearances: In 1995, as part of Satan's plot, and in 2000, while attempting to save Eric Brady. Later that year, Isabella appeared to John as her former husband prayed for guidance, unsure as how he could best help their angry, now college-age son, Brady. In 2002 and 2003, a ghostly Isabella again appeared to a now calmer Brady, who was struggling with his feelings for Chloe Lane. She also appeared to Brady on several occasions in 2010 while Brady had Vivian Alamain buried alive inside a sarcophagus that Vivian had intended to bury Maggie Horton alive in.

References

External links

• Isabella at soapcentral.com