Justin Kiriakis | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Days of our Lives character | |||||||||||||||||||||
Portrayed by | Wally Kurth | ||||||||||||||||||||
Duration |
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First appearance | February 3, 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Created by | Leah Laiman | ||||||||||||||||||||
Introduced by | Betty Corday, Ken Corday and Al Rabin | ||||||||||||||||||||
Classification | Present; recurring | ||||||||||||||||||||
Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation |
District Attorney Lawyer Businessman |
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Residence | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Family | Kiriakis |
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Father | Alexander Kiriakis |
Mother | Christina Kiriakis |
Spouse | Adrienne Johnson (1987–90, 1990–2010, 2011–15) |
Sons | |
Adoptive sons | |
Grandparents | Yurgos Kiriakis Sophie Kiriakis |
Uncles |
Victor Kiriakis Titus Kiriakis Deimos Kiriakis |
First cousins |
Isabella Toscano Bo Brady Philip Kiriakis Xander Cook |
Other relatives |
Brady Black Shawn-Douglas Brady Chelsea Brady Zack Brady Ciara Brady Tyler Kiriakis Claire Brady |
Justin Kiriakis is a fictional character on the NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives. Created by head writer Leah Laiman, he is portrayed by actor Wally Kurth from February 3, 1987 to February 5, 1991. From 2007–2008, Justin was mentioned but not seen on screen. Kurth reprised the role again August 10, 2009, remaining in the role for nearly five years before departing on April 3, 2014. However, he once again returned in February 2015 for a short time, before exiting in one-month later. Kurth will again reprise the role in the fall months of 2015 as a series regular. Justin is the nephew of Greek tycoon Victor Kiriakis. Justin married Adrienne Johnson Kiriakis, and together they have three sons while Justin has one by a past romance.
Wally Kurth joined DAYS in 1987 and was successfully paired with Judi Evans, who played his wife Adrienne Johnson Kiriakis. After having studied music atal theater at Loretto Heights College in Denver and theater arts at UCLA, Kurth spent a number of years working as a horse ranger, meat packer, telemarketer and appeared in several theater productions before landing his first daytime role on the NBC soap opera. Kurth was also nominated for "Hottest Male Star" at the 1996 Soap Opera Digest Awards. He remained with the show until 1991 and soon joined ABC's General Hospital as Ned Ashton that same year. He found great success in the role and remained on the show until 2007, later accepting the short-term role of Sam Hutchins on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns from 2007-2008. Outside of acting, Kurth ventured into hosting duties with his reality show 1 Day With on SOAPnet from 2004-2005, which feature him documenting the daily lives of soap stars. Kurth most recently appeared on NBC's primetime drama Law & Order: Los Angeles on April 11, 2011, which coincided with the final episode starring Skeet Ulrich. Kurth has also made a name for himself in music as the lead singer and guitarist of "Kurth & Taylor." He also won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Song for his song "Barefoot Ballet" on GH in 2002, which he shared with his bandmate Christian Taylor and lyricist Debi Cochran. In March 2015, Kurth was placed on contract with the series.