Iconic ‘Days of Our Lives’ Star Graduated From Brockton High School

When soap operas dominated daytime television, there was no love story hotter than that of Bo and Hope Brady on NBC's Days of Our Lives.

Beauregard "Bo" Brady, played by Peter Reckell, and Hope Williams Brady, played by Kristian Alfonso, were America's favorite daytime couple.

They had some mighty tough competition over the years, including General Hospital's Luke and Laura Spenser, One Life to Live's Cord and Tina Roberts, and Another World's Steve and Alice Frame.

Bo Brady first rode into Salem on his motorcycle in 1983, sweeping Hope off her feet. The rest is soap suds history.

The chemistry was instant, and Bo and Hope survived for 40 years. As it goes on soaps, some years were better than others. Reckell and Alfonso still appear on Days to this day, though it has not been a continuous 40-year run for either of them.

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Reckell, born May 7, 1955, in Elkhart, Indiana, played Bo from 1983-87, 1990-92, 1995-2012, and 2015-16. He reprised the role in 2022 and remains still.

Alfonso, born Kristian-Joy Alfonso in Brockton, Massachusetts, on September 5, 1963, is a 1982 graduate of Brockton High School. She went to high school with WBSM's Ken Pittman, also a Brockton High grad.

Pittman said he didn't know Alfonso well.

"I doubt she knows who I am," he said. Perhaps Ken should invite her to a Livin' on a Bad Name show!

Alfonso began her career as a figure skater and gold medal champion at the Junior Olympic Figure Skating Championships. Her skating career ended with a toboggan accident.

By the time she was 15, Alfonso had appeared on more than 30 magazine covers as a model, including Vogue and Harper's Bazaar.

Pittman recalled Alfonso's early foray into acting.

"There was always the same stumbling block trying to get her foot in the door," he said.

Pittman said Alfonso was "often going for the same parts and roles and contracts as Brooke Shields, and was always on the wrong end of it."

Alfonso did eventually score an acting role, appearing with Rock Hudson in the TV movie The Starmaker in 1981.

Pittman said Alfonso "finally found her niche in the world of soap operas and became one of the greatest of all time."

For the record, Pittman said he "always thought she was way hotter than Brooke Shields."

Me too, Ken.