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 Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...

'' Evil Dead II'' (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 (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

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 ...

on ABC's ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...

''. Other roles included Chelsea Reardon on ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

'' and Eve Donovan on

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 ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...

,'' 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 The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a div ...

. After her stint in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

, 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 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. ...

, 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 ''

'' (October 1986–January 1991). On Monday, November 29, 1993, she began portraying her most notable role, the part of Blair Daimler Cramer on ''

'', formerly portrayed by half- Asian 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 ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the longest-running American soap opera in production, and the second in American history after '' ...

''. 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 ''

'' as Eve Donovan. 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

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