Stefano DiMera is a fictional character from the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, played by Joseph Mascolo.

Created by Pat Falken Smith, Stefano was introduced on January 18, 1982 as the father of Tony DiMera (Thaao Penghlis) looking to expand his criminal empire to Salem.

Stefano's early storylines included his feud with Roman Brady (Wayne Northrop), playing his children – Tony and Renée DuMonde (Philece Sampler) against one another when he is presumed dead, orchestrating a series of murders with his son (then his nephew) and Tony's deranged look-a-like André, and replacing the presumed dead Roman with the brainwashed John Black (Drake Hogestyn).

He becomes obsessed with Roman's ex-wife and John's longtime love Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall), and accidentally causes her to be possessed by the devil.

Stefano also switches Hope Brady (Kristian Alfonso)'s baby at birth and gives it to his daughter Lexie Carver (Renée Jones) to raise.

An ailing Stefano returns in 2006 having sent his son EJ (James Scott) to impregnate Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) to harvest the baby's stem cells to save his life.

In the early 1980s, then head writer, Pat Falken Smith created the role specifically for Mascolo after seeing his performance as real-life crime boss, Salvatore Maranzano on the NBC miniseries, The Gangster Chronicles in 1981.

[6] In April 2001, rumors of Mascolo's exit due to failed contract negotiations began to surface once again and the producers were apparently considering recasting the role.

[7] In May 2001, Mascolo took to his website to confirm the news:[8]My contract is up in May and I tried to negotiate in good faith... Usually, one expects some give and take but the powers that be are adamant.

[11] However, the stint proved to be short-lived with Mascolo last appearing on February 29, 2008, and the character of Stefano was written out to allow the writers to come up with more story for him.

This decision did not sit well with Mascolo who gave a heated interview to Soap Opera Digest accusing the executives of "double crossing" him.

[16] Mascolo discussed his disapproval in an interview with Soap Opera Digest:[17] Every single thing that went wrong in Salem was Stefano's fault.

Mascolo discussed that the plan was always to have Stefano turn out to be alive, but he didn't agree with how the previous writing regime had scripted the story.

Stefano first appears on-screen in January 1982 with his son Tony DiMera (Thaao Penghlis), as a vaguely-Mediterranean "businessman" with dubious intentions, surveying the citizens of Salem.

[23] In February 1985, Bo Brady's (Peter Reckell) wife Hope (Kristian Alfonso) is framed for Megan's murder and Stefano vows revenge on the entire family.

Stefano resurfaces in 1988 to claim his son Benjy who is about to be adopted by Kayla Brady (Mary Beth Evans) and her husband Steve Johnson (Stephen Nichols), as well as to attempt to "reprogram" Roman, whom he had brainwashed in 1984–85, to serve as one of his assassins (Stefano actually got the idea about brainwashing his "agents" from former daughter-in-law Anna DiMera (Leann Hunley), who had hypnotized her own daughter Carrie into acting out against Roman as part of a plot to discredit him in the eyes of polite society; he further developed this method with the help of his henchmen Dr. Wilhelm Rolf and Ilya Petrov).

[23] Stefano is later struck by lightning and becomes so obsessed with Marlena that he bribes the judge presiding over John's murder trial to issue the death penalty.

In August 1996, Stefano's plans to frame John are soon revealed, and he skips town with Marlena to Paris, where he is shot by his former lover Rachel Blake.

Later, his longtime confidante, Celeste Perrault (Tanya Boyd) reveals that he fathered her daughter, Dr. Lexie Carver (Renée Jones) the wife of Salem's police commissioner.

After they steal John's kidney, Stefano proposes that Sami and EJ marry and raise the child together so they can end the feud between the families.

In 2009, Stefano EJ's then wife Nicole Walker (Arianne Zucker) hid the fact that she switched another baby with Sami's at birth.

EJ is furious when he learns the truth, and he kidnaps his daughter, Sydney and fakes her death, leaving everyone devastated, including Stefano.

[29] In 2011, Stefano helps EJ kidnap Sami's husband, Rafe Hernandez (Galen Gering) and imprison him in the DiMera basement while putting a lookalike in his place.

Stefano also turns John and Hope back into the Pawn and Princess Gina after revealing they are married; he forces them to retrieve a precious coin from Alamainia for him.

Several other schemes continue to backfire on Stefano, including his attempt to sabotage EJ's mayoral campaign and him blackmailing Will Horton (Chandler Massey).

Ian then pulls back a curtain, revealing a very much alive Stefano, who is unconscious, bound in a chair, and wearing a mask.

Stefano suddenly resurfaces in Europe, where he reunites with Kristen and convinces her to come home and bring the family back together.

In 2020, Charlie Mason from Soaps She Knows placed Stefano #6 on the list of the 35 most memorable characters from Days of Our Lives, commenting that "Over and over again, the Phoenix rose.

So it’s a bitter pill to swallow that, owing to the passing of his portrayer, Joseph Mascolo, he won’t cheat death yet again to wreak havoc on Salem".

"[33] In 2024, Mason also placed Stefano seventh on his ranked list of Soaps' 40 Most Iconic Characters of All Time, writing, "The late, great Joseph Mascolo created such a larger-than-life villain that if it weren't for the actor's death, we'd be looking forward to the Phoenix rising yet again".