| Don Craig Sr | |||||||||||||||||
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| Days of our Lives | |||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Jed Allan | ||||||||||||||||
| Current status | Former; Regular | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1971-85 | ||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | June 21, 1971 | ||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | April 17, 1985 | ||||||||||||||||
| Cause/reason | Dropped Off The Canvas | ||||||||||||||||
| Created by | William J. Bell | ||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Betty Corday | ||||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||||
| Fullname | Donald Jeremiah Craig Sr. | ||||||||||||||||
| Gender | Male | ||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Attorney Politician PR for Chandler Corporations | ||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Formally, Salem, Illinois | ||||||||||||||||
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Don Craig Sr is a character from the soap opera Days of Our Lives, portrayed by Jed Allan from 1971-85.
Storylines
Don Craig was a successful attorney and wealthy. In 1974 after dating Julie Olson Williams (Banning) for some time the two became engaged. However Julie quickly broke it off after learning that her mother Addie Horton was dying and Doug Williams would soon be free.
In 1976 Don Craig met and fell in love with Dr. Marlena Evans. In 1977 Don began noticing changes in Marlena. When Marlena dumped Don he became suspicious of his girlfriend, and when he compared a signature from the present with one from months before, he realized this was not his Marlena. Don and Laura Horton found Samantha Evans and eventually got Marlena released from Bayview. However Samantha had caused damage on Marlena and Don's relationship and the two split up until the end of 1977 when they reconciled and became engaged.
In December of 1977 Don decided to run for State Senate. However, in 1978 the newspapers started a smear campaign against Don in the papers. When Don's old girlfriend Lorraine Temple saw his picture in the paper she returned to Salem to tell Don about the daughter her never knew he had, Donna Temple Craig. The papers got a hold of this story and used it to tarnish his reputation, but Marlena stood by Don.
Lorraine eventually left town, but Donna stayed behind. Donna had trouble adjusting to her new life with her father and his bride to be Marlena. On the day Don was to marry Marlena their wedding was interrupted when Donna was threatening to jump off a nearby building. Don and Marlena ran to her rescue, but in the process, Don fell from the building and injured his leg and also his spine. Don's injuries forced him to drop out of his race for the senate.
On March 5, 1979 Marlena and Don Craig were finally married. Later that year Marlena and Don learned they were expecting a child. By the end of the year Don was back into the political scene, attempting to break up the porn ring in town, which his daughter was a part of unknown to him.
In 1980 Don received a nude photo of his daughter in the mail, but when Donna told him she didn't pose nude, and showed him the photos she did pose for, Don knew that the nude was faked. Later Don met with Earl Roscoe and bought the remaining photos and Donna's screen test from him.
Later 1980 Don accepted a job at Chandler Corporations, and also helped Kellam Chandler with his political campaign. Later, Don's wife Marlena gave birth to his son D.J. Craig. However, Don Craig Jr. died from SIDS shortly after birth, and Don blamed Marlena for his death. The two eventually separated, and finally divorced.
Don's affair would lead to his marriage to Liz Chandler, but after learning she was still married to Tony DiMera their marriage was declared invalid.
Later when Liz was taken prisoner by Tony and a bomb was planted in Neil Curtis's room, Don promised to help Liz prove the DiMera's were behind the bomb.
When Evan Whyland died, and his last words were about Stefano DiMera, Mickey Horton and Don began to investigate. They learned that Evan was blackmailing Stefano, and that Stefano was behind Maggie Horton's car accident. Mickey came too close to finding out what was going on, and Stefano kidnapped him and held him prisoner on the DiMera Island, but made it look like he died in an auto accident.
Don began to spend time with Maggie, and eventually fell in love with her. When Don finally told Maggie she was speechless. In 1983 Don and Maggie fell in love, but when they confessed their feelings Mickey suddenly re-appeared in Salem, after finally escaping from Stefano. Maggie and Mickey divorced in 1983, and soon after Maggie stopped seeing Don, realizing her divorce from Mickey was a mistake.
In 1985 Don Craig went out to mail a letter, and hasn't been seen since.
