Stephen Nichols

Biography: This stage-trained actor with a mysterious air has thrived in soaps since the 1980s. After a handful of TV spots, Nichols landed his career-making Days of Our Lives role as an infamous, eye-patch-sporting hunk (nicknamed "Patch," of course). He left the show in 1990 and began popping up in prime time with recurring roles on Empty Nest and the short-lived drama Second Chances. But in 1996 he returned to his daytime roots and spent seven years as an evil CEO on General Hospital. In 2006, 16 years after his character was ostensibly killed, an amnesia-stricken Patch came back to Days. But it turned out that Nichols' Days were numbered, and he wound up on The Young and the Restless starting with episodes airing in early 2010. Off-screen, Nichols has provided the voice for many IKEA commercials and is married with three children: His daughter Vanessa and son Aaron (as Patch in flashbacks) both appeared with him on Days.