Deidre Hall was a soap opera actress who had worked in showbusiness for decades.
The 78-year-old beauty is best known for playing Marlena Evans on the daytime drama Days Of Our Lives.
The star played the character for an impressive 45 years and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy three times.
Before that, Hall popped up on popular TV shows like The Streets Of San Francisco, Emergency! and Columbo. More recently, she appeared on Hacks.
The versatile actress made a rare appearance in Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon, the day before Thanksgiving, for the 2025 Thanks & Giving On Skid Row at Los Angeles Mission.
She was helping serve turkey meals to the homeless alongside Jodie Sweetin, Nicole Eggert, Blanca Blanco and Danny Trejo.
See how amazing she still looks today as she approaches her eighties.
The Wisconsin native who was raised in Florida moved to Los Angeles after attending Palm Beach Junior College.
That is where she began modeling and getting commercials. Then she got into acting on TV.
In 1976, she was cast as superheroine Electra Woman in Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, a live-action children’s show that aired on Saturday mornings.
Hall appeared on a number of shows, including Emergency! (as Nurse Sally Lewis in the first two seasons), and The Young and the Restless (as Barbara Anderson).
She then was cast on Days of Our Lives in 1976 as Dr. Marlena Evans.
In 1986, Hall began playing Jessie Witherspoon on the family drama Our House, which ran for two seasons. Shannen Doherty played her older daughter.
But juggling two shows at the same time became stressful so she left Days of Our Lives in 1987.
Our House was cancelled in 1988 and then she took some time off.
Hall made guest appearances on a variety of prime time shows until March 1991, when she made a return to Days of Our Lives.
She remained on contract with the show for 18 more years until January 24, 2009, when she was let go due to budget cuts.
In 1995, Hall produced and starred in Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story, a made-for-TV movie about her journey to start a family.
In 2010, Hall wrote Deidre Hall’s Kitchen Closeup. In 2011, Hall guest-starred on the season finale of Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva.
In 2024, Hall played a fictionalized version of herself on the HBO Max series Hacks.
She has been married four times: William Hudson (May 6, 1966 – 1970) Keith Barbour (1972–1977), a singer, Michael Dubelko (1987–1989), a producer and writer, Steve Sohmer (December 31, 1991 – 2006), an author and screenwriter.
Hall and Sohmer have two sons: David Atticus Sohmer and Tully Chapin Sohmer, born via surrogate.
In between her marriages to Barbour and Dubelko, Hall dated Louisiana State Senator Ned Randolph in the early 1980s.
The Mission event went off well on Thursday.
Los Angeles Mission and Hope the Mission partnered to offer the downtown LA community meals and services ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
About 2,500 turkey meals will serve those in need at the LA Mission on Skid Row.
‘This is 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Someone can come to the mission here, any of the Hope the Mission sites and start that journey from languishing on the streets to being in a place without hope, on their way to a job and moving forward in life, free of any addiction,’ Rowan Vansleve, Hope the Mission president, said.
‘It’s incredible work, and today is truly one of the highlights,’ it was added.
There were other things given out like clothing, free haircuts, manicures, and pedicures.
‘There’s been a lot of assistance needed, especially with the SNAP benefits being taken away at the beginning of the month.
‘We saw a huge need for groceries, which we were able to supply the community with. We got through that pretty well,’ Dennis Oleesky, LA Mission CEO, said.
‘Now we’re back on track for our regular programs.’
Together, both partnering missions offer more than 3,000 beds across LA County for men, women, and families, providing both immediate relief and prevention to help stop homelessness before it begins.
Los Angeles Mission strives to be a world leader among Missions that provide for the poor, restore the addicted and eliminate homelessness.
‘We see each individual as a spiritual person of worth and dignity and worthy of assistance in their journey,’ it said on the website.
‘ Our vision is to see individuals and families set free from addictions and homelessness, transformed by God to become physically and spiritually healthy; educationally equipped to participate in society and sustain housing; and encouraged to create relationships of love and service to others. We seek to help those who have been abused and neglected to find a better life. We seek to help those who have become addicted to understand their addictions, to expect physical healing and to live in ways that are healthy to soul, mind and body.’
