Mascolo, 87, enjoyed careers in music, film, soaps villainy

LOS ANGELES — Joseph Mascolo, who played bad guy Stefano DiMera on NBC’s daytime serial “Days of Our Lives,” has died. He was 87.

Mascolo, who had Alzheimer’s disease for a number of years, died Wednesday, according to a statement released by NBC on behalf of his wife, Patricia Schultz-Mascolo.

Although he was best-known for his role as crime boss and mogul DiMera, Mascolo was a classically trained musician and appeared on Broadway in plays including “Dinner at Eight” and “That Championship Season.”

His wide-ranging TV credits included the prime-time series “Kojak,” “Hill Street Blues” and “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show.”

He began on “Days of Our Lives” in 1982 and, despite taking breaks from the show, spent a total of more than two decades with it.

Mascolo also appeared in the daytime serials “The Bold and the Beautiful,” ”General Hospital” and “Santa Barbara.”

A native of West Hartford, Connecticut, he began studying music as a youngster and attended the University of Miami before deciding to pursue acting.

To support himself while he studied with famed acting coach Stella Adler in New York, Mascolo played clarinet with the Metropolitan Opera, according to his family.

During his long career, he appeared on stage in London and Los Angeles and was active in regional theater, including in New York and Connecticut.

On the big screen, he had parts in films including “Sharky’s Machine,” ”Jaws 2” and “Yes, Giorgio,” the latter giving him the chance to sing with Luciano Pavarotti.

He is survived by his wife, son, stepdaughter, sister and five grandchildren.

LONDON — A fascination with spies and scandals, combined with deep patience and persistence, made Phillip Knightley a legend among investigative journalists.

Knightley, who has died aged 87, helped gain compensation for the victims of thalidomide through a landmark investigation for London’s Sunday Times, and shone light on the murky world of Cold War espionage.

Former Sunday Times editor Harold Evans called him “the gold standard of public journalism.”

“Phil was spurred by injustice,” Evans wrote in a tribute.

Knightley died Wednesday in London, his literary agent Rachel Calder said Friday.

Born into a working-class family in Sydney in 1929, Knightley worked for publications in Australia, Fiji and India before joining London’s Sunday Times in the 1960s. Under Evans, the paper became renowned for its investigations. Knightley was a key part of the team that during the 1970s exposed the failings that led to thalidomide, a drug marketed as a remedy for morning sickness but caused major deformities in thousands of babies.

The stories, published after years of digging and court battles, helped bring millions in compensation for the affected children from the drug’s British distributor, and led to tighter drug-licensing rules.

Knightley also uncovered previously secret details of the career of Kim Philby, a senior British intelligence official who was also a KGB mole. Knightley interviewed Philby in Moscow shortly before his death in 1988 — his only audience with a Western journalist since defecting in 1963.

Knightley’s books include several volumes about Cold War spies and a history of war reporting, “The First Casualty.”

Knightley was one of several journalists and campaigners who pledged surety money for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a fellow Australian, when he was fighting extradition to Sweden for questioning about sexcrimes allegations. Knightley forfeited $19,000 in 2012 when Assange jumped bail.