Soap stars remember Days of our Lives' Wayne Northrop with love

The soap world was devastated on Sunday to learn of the passing of Days of our Lives alum Wayne Northrop.

A Days of our Lives icon

As the original Roman Brady, he made a lasting impression on generations of DAYS fans. Roman Brady first appeared on the soap in 1981 as a Salem cop assigned to protect Dr. Marlena Evans from the Salem strangler.

Roman and Marlena eventually fell in love and married in a glorious 1983 wedding. Northrop left DAYS a year later but returned in 1991 and remained with the show until 1984. He also played Alex North in the early 2000s and appeared on the General Hospital spin-off Port Charles as Rex Stanton, where he starred with his wife of 43 years, Lynn Herring.

When his co-stars began learning of his death, some took to social media to pay tribute to Northrop. You can see a sampling of their words below.

DAYS stars honor Wayne Northrop

James Reynolds and Northrop both landed their DAYS roles in 1981 and were cast as partners at the Salem PD. Roman and Abe were best friends then and had remained close ever since. Reynolds took to Instagram to remember his friend.

"Wayne was my friend my brother, my TV partner," Reynolds wrote. "We shared so many laughs and conversations. I am so grateful to have walked our section of life’s highway with Wayne."

Alison Sweeney, who's played Roman's daughter Sami on DAYS off and on since 1993, shared several photos on Instagram and recalled working with Northrop as a teenager when she first joined the cast.

"Sending much love to Lynn and the whole Northrop family today, " Sweeney wrote. "My first scenes as Sami were with Wayne - I remember him helping me understand how to pretend to break into the Brady house with a bobby-pin. He was a wonderful, kind man, a talented, generous actor and a beloved member of the Days family. I learned so much from working with Wayne and will treasure the memories with him."

Longtime DAYS fan @marino_angie, who thrills X fans daily with old clips from the show, posted one of Northrop's first scenes with Peter Reckell as Roman's brother, Bo.

"Wayne Northrop brought Roman Brady to life," she wrote. "He was amazing as the eldest son of the Brady family & his relationship with Bo was soap gold. Wayne & @peterreckell shared a special bond both on & off screen. He will be missed, but his memories will live on in #Days history forever."

Miranda Wilson, who played Megan Hathaway DiMera in the 1980s and again in 2022 and 2023, replied to Angie's tweet with loving words for Northrop.

"That's the Roman I remember," she tweeted. "Such a wonderful man and fabulous actor."

The General Hospital family also expressed condolences to longtime star Lynn Herring and the entire Northrop family with a tweet from Executive Producer Frank Valentini.

"I am so sorry to hear of Wayne Northrop’s passing," Valentini wrote. "He and @TheLynnHerring were married for over 40 years and Wayne left his mark on Port Charles in more ways than one. On behalf of our entire @GeneralHospital family, I want to extend my heartfelt condolences to Lynn and their sons, Hank and Grady - along with their family and friends. They are all in our thoughts during this difficult time."