Thaao Penghlis

Infobox actor
name = Thaao Penghlis


caption =
birthname =
birthdate = birth date and age|1945|12|15
birthplace = Sydney, Australia
deathdate =
deathplace =
restingplace =
restingplacecoordinates =
othername =
occupation = actor
yearsactive =
spouse =
partner =
children =
parents =
influences =
influenced =
website = http://www.thaaopenghlis.com
awards =

Thaao Penghlis (born December 15, 1945 in Sydney, Australia) is an Emmy-nominated Australian actor of Greek parentage. He is best known for roles in the U.S. daytime soap operas such as "Days of Our Lives", "Santa Barbara", and "General Hospital", but he has also guest-starred on a number of crime dramas, such as "Kojak", "Cannon", "Tenspeed and Brown Shoe", "Hart to Hart", "Nero Wolfe", and "Magnum, P.I.". Penghlis has studied under Hollywood acting teacher Milton Katselas.

In the early 1980's, Penghlis was cast as the villainous Count Tony DiMera, the son of villain Stefano DiMera in the NBC daytime drama Days of our Lives. He was cast for the role of the Italian character largely for his swarthy complexion, despite his heavy Australian accent, and a real-life age disparity between him and co-star Joseph Mascolo of only 15 years.

This eventually became a double-role with producers created the more villanous character of Andre, Tony's look-alike cousin. The role of Tony was gradually downgraded to a nice-guy role.

Penghlis appeared in the 1980s revival of "", which was filmed in Australia. Thaao Penghlis' role in the revival was a counterpart to Martin Landau's "Rollin Hand" and Leonard Nimoy's the "Amazing Paris".

In 2003, Penghlis was nominated for the Soap Opera Digest Award for Favorite Return for his return to the cast of "Days of Our Lives". He left the show in fall 2005.

Penghlis returned to "Days" on May 24, 2007 to reprise the role of the dastardly Andre DiMera. He also began reprising the role of nice guy Tony DiMera on July 17, 2007. Penghlis was nominated for "Outstanding Leading Actor" at the Daytime Emmy Awards in 2008.

External links

* [http://www.thaaopenghlis.com Thaao Penghlis official website]
* [http://gfx.filmweb.pl/p/41724/po.65159.jpgFilmweb Graphics]
*tvtome person|65273
*imdb name|0671837