Katherine Virginia "Kassie" DePaiva (née Wesley; born March 21, 1961) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Bobby Joe in the horror film ''

Evil Dead II ''Evil Dead II'' (also known in publicity materials as ''Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn'') is a 1987 American comedy horror film directed by Sam Raimi. It is considered both a remake and sequel (or "re-quel") to the 1981 film ''The Evil Dead'', and wa ...

'' (1987) and her work in American daytime

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

s. She’s also well known for her 20-year portrayal of

Blair Cramer Blair Cramer (raised as Blair Daimler; formerly Buchanan, Manning, Holden, McBain, and Clarke) is a fictional character from the American daytime drama series ''One Life to Live''. The niece of leading antagonist Dr. Dorian Cramer Lord of the C ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's '' One Life to Live''. Other roles included Chelsea Reardon on '' Guiding Light'' and

Eve Donovan A list of notable characters from the NBC soap opera '' Days of Our Lives'' that significantly impacted storylines and debuted between January 1, 1980, and the end of 1989, in order of first appearance. DJ Craig Donald Craig Jr., known as "DJ" ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's '' Days of Our Lives,'' receiving 2

Daytime Emmy The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (N ...

nominations for the latter.

Career

DePaiva began her career at 18 as a solo artist at the Grand Ole Opry. After her stint in Nashville, she attended both

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, studying theatre, dropping out before graduation to entertain

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

troops in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. She appeared as a contestant on the CBS game show

Body Language Body language is a type of communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use of space. Th ...

, teaming with

star

Catherine Hickland Catherine Hickland (born February 11, 1956) Note: Aged 51 on Feb.11, 2007 implies that she was born on Feb.11, 1956. is an American film, stage, and television actress, as well as a singer, author and cosmetics-company CEO and hypnotist. She ...

. DePaiva made her debut in daytime originating the role of Chelsea Reardon on '' Guiding Light'' (October 1986–January 1991). On Monday, November 29, 1993, she began portraying her most notable role, the part of Blair Daimler Cramer on '' One Life to Live'', formerly portrayed by half-

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

actress,

Mia Korf Mia Korf (born November 1, 1965) is an American actress best known for originating the role of Blair Daimler Buchanan in ''One Life to Live''. Early life and education Korf is the daughter of mycologist Richard P. Korf and Kumiko ("Kumi"), née ...

. She first appeared Friday, December 17, 1993, and was with OLTL for nearly 19 years until the series was cancelled. DePaiva's pairing with the character

Todd Manning Thomas Todd Manning is a fictional character from the American daytime drama ''One Life to Live'' (''OLTL''). Created by writers Michael Malone and Josh Griffith, the role was originated in 1992 by actor Roger Howarth. Todd was a college stude ...

struck a cord with viewers. In 2012, she reprised her role of Blair for several guest stints on ABC's daytime serial '' General Hospital''. In January 2014, ''

Soap Opera Digest ''Soap Opera Digest'' is a weekly magazine covering American daytime soap operas. It features onscreen and offscreen news about the series, interviews with and articles about performers, storyline summaries and analysis, and related promotional in ...

'' confirmed that DePaiva had joined the cast of the NBC serial '' Days of Our Lives'' as

. DePaiva made her debut on July 18, 2014. In September 2015, DePaiva was let go from the soap, with her last appearance on February 2, 2016; she later returned for several guest appearances in June and December of the same year. DePaiva returned full-time on October 27, 2017. In August 2017 it was announced that she would appear in the music film

Killian & the Comeback Kids ''Killian & the Comeback Kids'' is a 2020 American folk-rock musical film written and directed by Taylor A. Purdee. The film stars Purdee, John Donchak, Nathan Purdee, and Kassie DePaiva along with an ensemble cast that features Maddi Jane and ...

alongside former One Life to Live co-star

Nathan Purdee Nathan Purdee (born August 6, 1950 in Tampa, Florida) is an American actor, best known for his roles in popular soap operas. __TOC__ Personal life Purdee's father was an officer in the United States Air Force, and the family moved around many tim ...

Personal life

DePaiva has been married to fellow ''One Life to Live'' actor

James DePaiva James Paul DePaiva (born October 8, 1957) is an American soap opera actor. Career DePaiva is known for portraying Max Holden on the ABC Daytime soap opera ''One Life to Live'' from 1987 to 1990 and from 1991 to 2003. He made a brief return to th ...

since May 31, 1996, and gave birth to their son, James Quentin DePaiva, on May 12, 1997. She was previously married to Richard C. Hankins. In August 2016, DePaiva announced she had been diagnosed with

acute myeloid leukemia Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal cells that build up in the bone marrow and blood and interfere with normal blood cell production. Symptoms may inclu ...

the month prior.Kassie DePaiva battling leukemia"
nydailynews.com; accessed September 6, 2016.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links