This is Thaao Penghlis’s second time on Storybeat. Among Thaao’s many talents, he’s an actor, writer, director, and podcast creator. If you’re a fan of daytime dramas, then you know Thaao from his more than 40 years of playing Tony DiMera and Andre DiMera on Days of Our Lives and Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem. For his work, he’s been nominated for three Emmy Awards.
In 1989, he starred as disguise master Nicholas Black on the primetime TV series revival of Mission: Impossible. You may have also seen Thaao in various miniseries and movies like: Sadat, Sydney Sheldon’s Memories of Midnight, Under Siege, Tribe, and in perhaps his most unusual role, Colonel Godowni, the lover of Dame Edna in the cult classic Les Patterson Saves the World. He’s also starred in the films, The Story of Esther, Job’s Daughter, Redeemed, and the short film The Secret of Joy that deals with children experiencing cancer.
Thaao published his first book, Places, in 2015 to great reviews. It deals with his journeys to the Middle East and the dangers he encountered in Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. His second book Seducing Celebrities One Meal at a Time was released in November 2016, and many of his short stories have been published as well.
Thaao’s lifelong fascination with Archaeology led him to create the podcast series, The Lost Treasures, which is based on Heinrich Schliemann’s discovery of Troy and ‘Mycenaean,’ Greece.
Most recently, Thaao’s been writing, producing and performing his new podcast, The Great Escape. I’ve listened to the first 3 episodes that have been released and found it to be a riveting dramatization of the story of Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus fleeing capture and certain death by Herod’s forces.
