Josh Taylor
ON SOAP OPERA DIGEST AND WEEKLY ONLINE
SOAP STAR STATS
Josh Taylor (Roman, DAYS OF OUR LIVES)
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— NBC
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Vital Statistics
- Birthdate:
- September 25
- Years on Show:
- As Roman: 1997-2004, 2004-present; as Chris Kositchek: 1977-86, 1987
- Marital Status:
- Wed Lisa Tremblay on November 7, 1999
- Children:
- An adult daughter, Tristen, from a previous marriage
- Siblings:
- Has an older brother, Ron, and a younger sister, Vicki
- Awards:
- Won a Soapy Award for Most Exciting New Actor in 1978 (for playing DAYS's Chris)
THE 411
One could say that Josh Taylor 's career has come full circle. Growing up in Chillicothe, IL, Taylor was more into sports than acting and was on his high school's football, track and baseball teams (his father, George, was the coach). Though he was interested in performing, his busy schedule left little time for it.
After graduating, Taylor got a B.A. from Dartmouth College. He pursued a law degree from the University of Denver law school, but never practiced law. Soon after taking his bar exam, Taylor went to L.A. to try his luck in showbiz.
It was a good gamble. Working in the restaurant business to pay the rent, he first landed guest spots on TV series such as BARNABY JONES and THE HARDY BOYS/NANCY DREW MYSTERIES. In 1977, Taylor was offered the role of Chris on DAYS, where he remained on and off for almost 10 years. The actor took a year off in 1981 to star in the short-lived cop drama RIKER. When that ended, he returned to Salem until 1987.
Toward the end of his run as Chris, Taylor began portraying the father on the sitcom VALERIE. Though its star, Valerie Harper, was written out of the show, the comedy was revamped into THE HOGAN FAMILY, and Taylor stayed on until 1991. The next year, he began recurring on BEVERLY HILLS, 90210 as Dylan's dad, Jack (who was eventually killed off in 1994). He then went back to daytime as YOUNG AND RESTLESS's Jed from 1993-94.
For the next two years, Taylor kept busy doing TV movies (WHEN FRIENDSHIP KILLS; STAND AGAINST FEAR) and guest-starring roles (MURDER, SHE WROTE; DIAGNOSIS MURDER). 1997 proved to be especially eventful: First, he took over for Michael Tylo as Quint on GUIDING LIGHT. Then, he was asked back to DAYS ... as Roman. Not only was it a recast role, but one of the previous portrayers, Drake Hogestyn (now-John), was still around.
Things got even more interesting for Taylor. He wed Lisa, a flight attendant, in 1999. 90210 then revealed that his character was alive and invited him back for a few more appearances (which he did while continuing on DAYS).
In 2004, Taylor thought that his time at DAYS had come to an end again when Roman was supposedly killed by the Salem Stalker. However, his character (along with many other Salemites) was revealed to be alive. Recently, DAYS's original Roman, Wayne Northrop, returned as Dr. Alex North, which makes Taylor part of a historical soap trio in which three actors (including Hogestyn) have played the same character on the canvas — and all three originally began as someone else on the same show.
ET CETERA
—Birth name is Tommy Tim Taylor.
—Majored in sociology at Dartmouth.
—His father, George Taylor, who was the coach at Chillicothe Township High School (where the actor was a quarterback) was voted into the Illinois Coaches Hall of Fame; the athletic field was named "Taylor Field" in his honor.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Other Soap Roles
BEVERLY HILLS, 90210 (Jack McKay, 1992-94; 2000) GUIDING LIGHT (Quint Chamberlain, 1997) YOUNG AND RESTLESS (Jed Sanders, 1993-94 DAYS (Chris Kositchek, 1977-81; 1982-87)
TV Roles
JAG (Colonel McRae, 2001)
DIAGNOSIS MURDER (Jack Peterson, 1996)
WALKER, TEXAS RANGER (Senator Warren Hughes, 1996)
MURDER, SHE WROTE (Jim Maddox, 1996)
WHEN FRIENDSHIP KILLS (Peter Archer, 1996)
STAND AGAINST FEAR (Ted Wilson, 1996)
SEPARATE LIVES (Charles Duffy, 1995)
KISSING MIRANDA (Major Robert Bendix, 1995)
WOMAN ON THE LEDGE (Jeff, 1993)
MATLOCK (Jack Gibson, 1995; Justin Kerns/Rod Greenwood, 1993)
L.A. LAW (1991)
THE HOGAN FAMILY (Michael Hogan, 1988-91)
HOTEL (James Powell, 1987)
VALERIE (Michael Hogan, 1986-88)
JUST MEN (Himself, 1983)
TODAY'S F.B.I. (1982)
RIKER (Frank Riker, 1981)
CHARLIE COBB: NICE NIGHT FOR A HANGING (Virg, 1977)
THE HARDY BOYS/NANCY DREW MYSTERIES (1977)
BARNABY JONES (Les Sayer, 1976)
Film Roles
Waltz Across Texas (1982)
Separate Ways (Jim Taylor, 1981)
MEMORABLE QUOTES
"I think the hardest part was knowing that I would have to tell castmates, family and friends [that I'd been fired from DAYS]. And then, of course, everybody hears, and you have to tell the whole story again, so you kind of have to relive your own pretend death several times." — On Roman being "killed" by the Salem Stalker, Soap Opera Digest, 1/20/04
"Once I started as Roman, I was Roman. I never had any problems about that and I feel proud that I've done the character justice." — Digest, 2/22/00
"I do want to emphasize that I had a wonderful time on DAYS [as Chris]. But I've always said — half jokingly — that I came in as The Sundance Kid and by the time I left, I was Ann Landers. All of a sudden, I was giving everybody advice ... I'd never had gone back to DAYS under those circumstances. Not that I'm saying I wouldn't return. It just probably won't happen." — Digest, 3/29/94
