In honor of "Days of Our Lives" 10,000th episode, here is a list of the first episode #, first airdate, and how many episodes have passed since each actor began playing their character.

Actor (Character)......................Ep. #....Airdate....Episodes Aired Since Joining
Frances Reid (Alice).................# 0001....11/8/65...........10000
Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie)....# 0780....12/11/68............9220
Bill Hayes (Doug).....................# 1079.....2/18/70.............8921
Suzanne Rogers (Maggie).........# 1940*......7/73...............8060
Deidre Hall (Marlena)................# 2667.......6/21/76...........7333
Thaao Penghlis (Tony)..............# 4040*......10/81.............5960
James Reynolds (Abe)..............# 4040*......10/81............5960
Peggy McCay (Caroline)...........# 4380*.......2/83.............5620
Frank Parker (Grandpa Shawn)..# 4380*.......2/83.............5620
Kristian Alfonso (Hope).............# 4429......4/14/83...........5571
Peter Reckell (Bo)....................# 4433......4/20/83...........5567
John Aniston (Victor).................# 5010*.......7/85.............4990
Melissa Reeves (Jennifer).........# 5073........10/9/85...........4927    
Drake Hogestyn (John).............# 5148........1/24/86...........4852
Ron Leath (Henderson).............# 5520*.........7/87.............4480
Matthew Ashford (Jack)............# 5607.......11/5/87............4393
Alison Sweeney (Sami)...........# 6945.........1/22/93...........3055
Renee Jones (Lexie)...............# 6952..........2/2/93............3048
Bryan Dattilo (Lucas)..............# 7004.........4/15/93...........2996
Tanya Boyd (Celeste).............# 7257.........4/11/94...........2743
Lauren Koslow (Kate).............# 7704.........1/25/96...........2296
Steve Blackwood (Bart)..........# 8015..........4/11/97..........1985
Josh Taylor (Roman)..............# 8083..........7/18/97..........1917
Kevin Spirtas (Craig)..............# 8094...........8/4/97...........1906
Arianne Zuker (Nicole)...........# 8240...........2/27/98..........1760
Patrika Darbo (Nancy)...........# 8319...........6/18/98..........1681
Matt Cedeno (Brandon)..........# 8561..........6/8/99.............1439
Farah Fath (Mimi)................# 8631...........9/16/99............1369
Jason Cook (Shawn)............# 8652..........10/15/99...........1348
Nadia Bjorlin (Chloe)............# 8680...........11/24/99..........1320
Kyle Lowder (Brady)............# 8869...........8/21/00............1131
Garrett/Spencer/Mitchell Gray (Zack)...# 9077........6/13/01.............923
Daphne Bloomer (Eugenia).......# 9287......4/8/02................713
Alexis Thorpe (Cassie).........# 9341..........7/3/02................659
Eric Winter (Rex)................# 9341..........7/3/02.................659
Kyle Brandt (Philip).............# 9557..........5/14/03...............443
Rhasaan Orange (Tek).........# 9571...........6/3/03...............429
Judi Evans (Bonnie).............# 9633...........9/1/03...............367
Christopher Gerse (Will).......# 9638...........9/8/03...............362
Chase/Tyler Johnson (Theo)...# 9646..........9/18/03.............354
James Lancaster (Father Jansen)....# 9646...........9/18/03.............354
Zeus (Max)..........................# 9711..........12/19/03............289
Brody Hutzler (Patrick).........# 9752...........2/17/04.............248
John Ingle (Mickey)..............# 9753...........2/18/04.............247
Heather Lindell (Jan).............# 9791..........4/12/04.............209
Martha Madison (Belle).........# 9873..........8/10/04.............127
Julie Pinson (Billie)...............# 9887...........9/13/04............113
Ashley Benson (Abigail)........# 9931.........11/12/04..............69
Mandy Musgrave (Chelsea)....# 9931.........11/12/04..............69

*Exact first airdate unknown (episode number approximated to the nearest tenth).
**Please note: First episode airdates are for current characters only. John Aniston (Eric Richards), Judi Evans (Adrienne Kiriakis), Renee Jones (Nikki Wade), Alison Sweeney (Young Adrienne Johnson) and Josh Taylor (Chris Kositchek) each portrayed former characters on the show.