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Posted March 15, 2007
Macdonald Carey was born Edward Macdonald Carey in Sioux City on March 15, 1913. A University of Iowa graduate, he is best known for his acting role as Dr. Tom Horton on NBC's soap opera Days of our Lives. For almost three decades, he starred in the show.

Carey was the son of banker Charles Carey and his wife. He appeared in his first show, a Mother Goose nursery rhyme, when he was six years old, but never participated in drama as a high school
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Soap icon Carey has Sioux City roots
student at Central High School in Sioux City. Instead, he spent most of extracurricular time singing with various choral groups.

Carey entered the University of Iowa in 1930 and was active in drama throughout his college days, appearing in several plays before graduating and joining a traveling theatrical troupe that presented Gilbert and Sullivan productions and abridged versions of Shakespeare plays. In 1937 he was hired by NBC Radio to appear in soap operas.

On the stage, his credits included the hit Broadway show “Lady in the Dark,” which was purchased by Paramount
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with the intent of turning it into a movie. However, World War II interrupted Carey’s plans and in 1943 he began a four year stint in uniform. When he returned he appeared in his first movie, signaling the start of a 30 year career that included appearances in mostly budget movies.

For a majority of his career – 1965 to 1994 – he starred as Tom Horton on Days of our Lives. He battled a drinking problem and lung cancer during that time but only missed a part of one season due to illness. In September 1991, he left the show to have a cancerous tumor removed from a lung.

Carey is still recognized by longtime fans of daytime soap operas as the voice who recites the introduction to Days of our Lives, which begins: "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives. This is Macdonald Carey, and these are the days of our lives." After Carey died, the producers, out of respect for Carey's family, decided not to use the second part of the opening tagline.

At each intermission, his voice also says "We will return for the second half of Days of our Lives in just a moment". Since the Horton family is still regarded as the core of Days of our Lives, his memory has been allowed to remain imprinted on the show by the voiceovers remaining intact. He also served as the voice-over for the very first PBS identification tag in which he said "This is PBS...The Public Broadcasting Service."

Carey wrote several books of poetry and a 1991 autobiography, "The Days of My Life". For his contribution to television, Macdonald Carey has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6536 Hollywood Boulevard.

He was married to Elizabeth Hecksher from 1943 until their divorce in 1969. They had six children. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California, alongside his daughter Lisa, who died in infancy. Carey also had five other children: Lynn, Theresa, Steven, Edward Macdonald Jr., and Paul.
Carey's daughter Theresa is the mother of Survivor: Panama Exile Island winner Aras Baskauskas. Lynn Carey was a 70's Penthouse Pet and well respected singer, providing music for Russ Meyer's legendary cult classic film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.