His twin sister is born stillborn, which prompts mother Meredith (Lynn Benesch) to suffer post-partum depression and seek help from Dr. Joyce Brothers (playing herself).

[3] In 1973, Daniel's mother dies[1][2] of a traumatic brain injury following a freak accident during an attempted robbery at the Lord estate Llanfair.

He dates shy Allison Perkins (Barbara Garrick)[11] briefly before she falls under the spell of Mitch Laurence (Roscoe Born).

The nefarious Michael Grande (Dennis Parlato) then seeks to woo Brenda, and rigs a medical malpractice case to get Dan was fired from the hospital.

He falls in love with Laura Jean Ellis (Neith Hunter), the estranged wife of one of the mob lieutenants of Carlo Hesser (Thom Christopher).

[12][20][24][25] In 2021, Wally Kurth revealed he had auditioned for the role "a few years" prior to his casting as Justin Kiriakis on Days of Our Lives.