Kassie DePaiva facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kassie DePaiva
DePaiva in 2015
Born	Katherine Virginia Wesley (1961-03-21) March 21, 1961 (age 64) Morganfield, Kentucky, U.S.
Alma mater	Indiana University Bloomington University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Actress and singer
Years active	1986–present
Spouse(s)	Richard C. Hankins ​ ​ (m. 1988; div. 1995)​ James DePaiva ​ (m. 1996)​
Children	1

Katherine Virginia "Kassie" DePaiva (born March 21, 1961) is an American actress and singer. She is well-known for her roles in popular TV shows called soap operas. She played Chelsea Reardon on Guiding Light from 1986 to 1991. Later, she became famous as Blair Cramer on One Life to Live from 1993 to 2013. She also played Eve Donovan on Days of Our Lives from 2014 to 2020, and again in 2023.

Kassie DePaiva has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award three times for her acting. Besides acting, she is also a singer and has released three music albums. She also appeared in the movie Evil Dead II in 1986.

Early Life and Education

Kassie DePaiva was born and grew up in Morganfield, Kentucky. Her birth name is Katherine Virginia Wesley. She was named after two of her aunts. Her father was a lawyer in their small town. Kassie has two older brothers and one younger sister.

When she was a child and teenager, she loved to sing in the church choir. She also took part in school plays and was involved in student government. Her high school classmates even voted her "Most Talented." After high school, Kassie went to Indiana University Bloomington. She also worked at Opryland USA in Nashville, Tennessee.

At just eighteen years old, she sang two songs at the Grand Ole Opry, which was her first professional singing performance. After this, she decided to move and study theater at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Acting and Singing Career

Starting Out in Entertainment (1979-1993)

While studying at UCLA, Kassie got her first acting job in a TV commercial for Wendy's. She also joined a singing group called Newport. This group performed in cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas. She even left college for a while to travel with Newport on a tour for the United Service Organizations (USO) in Japan, Korea, and Okinawa. After returning to the U.S., Kassie became a backup singer for Bobby Womack. She toured with him across the U.S. and Great Britain.

Kassie then returned to acting. Using her maiden name, Kassie Wesley, she got the role of Bobby Joe in the movie Evil Dead II. In November 1986, she joined the cast of the CBS soap opera Guiding Light. She played Chelsea Reardon, a character who was also a singer. This allowed Kassie to sing regularly on the show. After four years, she decided to leave Guiding Light in January 1991.

After leaving the show, she appeared as a guest star in episodes of other TV series. These included Time Trax, Melrose Place, and Baywatch. Kassie also loves golf and hosted a TV show about the sport called The Pro Shop.

Becoming a Soap Opera Star (1993-2006)

On December 17, 1993, Kassie DePaiva was cast as Blair Cramer on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. This role had been played by another actress before her. For her work on OLTL, she was nominated for a Soap Opera Digest Award in 1998 for "Hottest Actress."

In 2000, Kassie released her first music album, called Naked. She described the songs as very honest and focused on women's experiences. On Valentine's Day in 2002, she and her husband, James DePaiva, performed together in a play called Love Letters. In 2005, she released her second album, No Regrets, which featured pop country songs. She also sang a duet with Jim Brickman on his album, The Disney Songbook. They sang "Baby Mine" from the movie Dumbo.

In March 2005, Kassie received her first Daytime Emmy Award nomination. It was for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series" for her role on One Life to Live. She also acted in a short film called Exit and produced a film called Undone (2006). Her husband, James DePaiva, directed Undone.

In 2006, Kassie sang "Simply Love" on an album called One Life: Many Voices for Hurricane Relief. This album helped raise money for people affected by Hurricane Katrina. She also sang "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" on A Holiday Affair, an album of holiday songs by ABC soap opera actors.

Continuing Success (2007-Present)

Kassie DePaiva released her third album, I Want to Love You, in 2007. She said this album had more of an acoustic and bluegrass sound. In 2009, she and her husband, James DePaiva, appeared in a TV advertisement for a music CD box set.

Playing charity golf at the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival in Fayetteville, NC. ca 1994

Kassie continued to play Blair Cramer on One Life to Live until the show ended on ABC in January 2012. That same year, she also made guest appearances as Blair on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. She then played the role again in an online version of OLTL in 2013. In 2013, Kassie also played Emma Parker in the thriller movie We Are What We Are. In May 2013, she and her husband starred in the musical 110 in the Shade.

In January 2014, Kassie joined the cast of the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives as Eve Donovan. Her first episode aired on June 18, 2014. In September 2015, Kassie announced she would be leaving Days of Our Lives, with her last episode airing on February 2, 2016. She received another Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 2016 for her role on Days. She made a brief return to Days in December 2016.

In 2016, Kassie appeared as a guest star on the TV show Castle. She worked with her former One Life to Live co-stars on this episode. She returned to Days of Our Lives as Eve Donovan in October 2017. She left the show again in December 2019. Kassie received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 2019 for "Outstanding Supporting Actress" for her work on Days. She returned to the show for a few months in 2020.

In 2020, she appeared in the film Killian & the Comeback Kids. She played the wife of Nathan Purdee, another actor she worked with on One Life to Live. In 2022, she co-starred in the short film Common as Red Hair. Kassie returned to play Blair Cramer on General Hospital and Eve Donovan on Days of Our Lives in 2023.

Personal Life and Advocacy

In the 1980s, Kassie dated Sam Raimi, who directed her in Evil Dead II. She married Richard C. Hankins in 1988, but they divorced in 1995.

Kassie met James DePaiva in the late 1980s. They met again in 1993 when she was cast as his character's love interest on One Life to Live. They got married on May 31, 1996, in her hometown of Morganfield, Kentucky. They had a second, more formal ceremony in June 1996 at their home. James's daughter from his previous marriage, who was four years old, was part of this wedding.

Kassie and James DePaiva have one son together, James Quentin (J. Q.) DePaiva, born on May 12, 1997. When J.Q. was a year old, they learned he was completely deaf due to an inner-ear condition. He received his first cochlear implant at 18 months old and a second one at eight years old. In 2007, J.Q. had a recurring role on the soap opera All My Children.

Kassie DePaiva is a board member and helps raise money for the League for the Hard of Hearing. This non-profit organization helps deaf people and their families. She has also made and sold hats online, called "Happy Hats," and donated the money to charities that help deaf people. She has also worked to encourage lawmakers to make hearing tests required for all newborn babies in every state.

In August 2016, Kassie shared that she had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a type of cancer. In September 2023, she announced she had also been diagnosed with breast cancer. She has since recovered and is now cancer-free.

Film and Television Roles

Film Appearances

Television Roles

Music Albums

Solo Albums

• Naked (2000)
• No Regrets (2005)
• I Want to Love You (2007)

Other Songs

• "Baby Mine" on Jim Brickman's The Disney Songbook. (2005)
• "Simply Love" on One Life: Many Voices for Hurricane Relief (2006)
• "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" on ABC daytime's A Holiday Affair. (2006)
• "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" (Ensemble) on ABC daytime's A Holiday Affair. (2006)

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Kassie DePaiva para niños