Robert Kelker-Kelly, who played Bo Brady on “Days of Our Lives,” died Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, at his home in St. Peters, Mo. He was 62. Police said they found nothing suspicious.
He went into cardiac arrest and was discovered unresponsive in bed, according to 911 dispatch audio. Officers reached the house at about 8:16 p.m. after a call reporting an unconscious man who was not breathing. Paramedics joined the officers, and CPR was already underway as they arrived, but the effort did not save him.
Police and the Medical Examiner
Police said Kelker-Kelly had complained of chest pain just before he stopped responding and that nothing at the scene looked suspicious. Dispatch audio captured a dispatcher saying he was not breathing, and another voice saying the caller could not move him from the bed during CPR.
The cause of death has not been announced. The St. Charles County medical examiner’s office typically takes about 12 weeks to certify a death, so the official finding may not come until later this year.
A Long Run on Daytime TV
Kelker-Kelly was born April 18, 1964, in Wichita, Kan. His soap debut came in 1987, when he joined NBC’s “Another World” as Sam Fowler, a part he kept through 1990. He returned to the show from 1996 to 1998 as race car driver Bobby Reno, later revealed to be Dr. Shane Roberts.
In 1992 he stepped into the role of Bo Brady on “Days of Our Lives,” succeeding Peter Reckell, who had created the character in 1983. Kelker-Kelly played Bo opposite Kristian Alfonso’s Hope Brady and Lisa Rinna’s Billie Reed until 1995, and he won the Soap Opera Digest Award for outstanding lead actor in 1994.
He later appeared on “General Hospital” as the villain Stavros Cassadine from 2001 to 2003, then came back for brief stints in 2013 and 2014. Other credits included “Touched by an Angel” and “Maybe This Time.” After leaving acting he worked as a professional pilot.
Kelker-Kelly married Linda Rattner in 1988, and they divorced in 1992. He wed Miriam Parrish, a fellow “Days of Our Lives” actor, in 1997. They later divorced.
Rinna’s Harsh Words
Shortly before his death, Rinna made accusations against her former co-star in her 2026 memoir, “You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It.” She accused Kelker-Kelly of verbal abuse, passive-aggressive behavior and manipulation during their years on the soap, and said he played mind games with her on set. “Behind the scenes, we hated each other,” she wrote, and she labeled him “a ticking time bomb.”
Viewers had cheered the pair as a couple on screen, and they shared the 1995 Soap Opera Digest Award for hottest soap couple. Kelker-Kelly had been out of Hollywood for years, though the book put his name back in the news. No public response from him to her claims was reported. The details of his final moments come from 911 dispatch audio.
