Belle Black | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Martha Madison as Belle Black
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Days of Our Lives character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portrayed by |
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Duration |
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First appearance | October 21, 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last appearance | February 20, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Created by | James E. Reilly | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Introduced by | Ken Corday and Tom Langan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Classification | Former; recurring (returning) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Other names |
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Occupation |
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Residence | Hong Kong, China | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kirsten Storms as Belle Black
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Parents |
John Black Marlena Evans |
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Stepfather | Roman Brady (1993–94) |
Stepmother |
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Half-brothers |
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Half-sisters | Sami Brady |
Spouse |
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Children | Claire Brady |
Grandfathers |
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Grandmothers |
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Aunts and uncles |
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Nephews | |
Nieces |
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Belle Black is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network. Created by head writer, James E. Reilly, she was born on October 21, 1993, as the only child of supercouple, John Black and Marlena Evans. She is also one half of the supercouple, Shawn Brady and Belle Black. Belle was rapidly aged to a teen when Kirsten Storms was hired to portray the character from August 5, 1999, to July 16, 2004. Charity Rahmer briefly played the role from July 19 to August 9, 2004. Martha Madison appeared in the role from August 10, 2004, to March 21, 2008. In June 2015, Madison confirmed she would reprise the role of Belle in November, as part of the show's fiftieth anniversary celebration. In March 2016, it was revealed that Madison was among four actors who been let go from the soap. However, on September 7, 2016, it was confirmed that Madison had been re-hired shortly following her firing and would remain on the soap indefinitely. Madison returned on January 24, 2017.
In July 2017, it was announced that Madison would return to the serial.
Belle is the daughter of John Black (Drake Hogestyn) and Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall), making her the half-sister of Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney), Eric Brady (Greg Vaughan), Paul Narita (Christopher Sean) and Brady Black (Eric Martsolf) (the only sibling with whom she was raised). Originally, the residents of Salem believe that Belle is the daughter of Marlena and Roman Brady (Wayne Northrop). Belle however is conceived on John's private jet on the night of Marlena's wedding anniversary to Roman. John and Marlena's airplane encounter also marks the beginning of a torrid affair which Sami witnesses when she sees the couple having sex several weeks later on the Titan Industries board room table. Aware of the affair, Sami, keeps the knowledge secret for several months. When Marlena discovers that she is pregnant, John asks for a blood test that will determine if he is the father of the unborn child. By then, Sami is working as a volunteer at Salem Hospital. She accesses the results of the paternity test that confirms John as the father and changes the results. Later, the distraught teen kidnaps Belle and tries to have her legally adopted. Stefano DiMera (Joseph Mascolo) eventually forces Marlena to confess to Roman and all of Salem the truth of her affair with John. Later still, Stefano reveals the truth of Belle's paternity to the Brady family after reading Sami's diary.