BREAKING NEWS: Days of Our Lives Star Patrick Muldoon, Austin Reed, Passes Away Following a Heart Attack

PATRICK MULDOON THE MAN WHO WAS AUSTIN REED IS GONE

TL;DR: Days of Our Lives star Patrick Muldoon, who played Austin Reed from 1992 to 1995 and returned to the role from 2011 to 2012, has died following a heart attack. His girlfriend found him unconscious in their Beverly Hills home on Sunday morning, and paramedics could not revive him. Salem has lost one of its great leading men.

The Salem Family Has Lost One of Its Own

Daytime has lost one of its own. Patrick Muldoon, the man who made Austin Reed one of the most beloved leading men in Salem history, has passed away following a heart attack. His sister, Shana Muldoon-Zappa, confirmed the devastating news to TMZ.

Muldoon had been home with his longtime girlfriend in Beverly Hills on Sunday morning. They shared coffee, and he went to take a shower. When he took too long, she went to check on him and found him unconscious on the bathroom floor. Paramedics rushed to the scene and did everything they could. There was nothing anyone could do.

The daytime community is reeling. Patrick Muldoon was only just beginning what promised to be a vibrant new chapter as a producer, with his final on-screen film Dirty Hands slated for release later this year and a role producing the upcoming Chris Hemsworth project Kockroach, which he had celebrated on Instagram the very day before he died. A working actor to the end, a dreamer to the end, a builder to the end.

If you have a favorite memory of Patrick Muldoon or Austin Reed that you would like to share, send your tribute to [email protected] and we will honor him right here on the page.

The Austin Reed Era on Days of Our Lives

Patrick Muldoon landed the role of Austin Reed in 1992 after what he once described to Soap Opera Digest as a “big cattle call.” He screen-tested with Tracy Middendorf, who was playing Carrie Brady at the time, and walked away from the audition feeling certain he had booked it. He had.

What followed was one of the defining love triangles of 1990s daytime television. Austin, Carrie (later recast with Christie Clark), and her scheming little sister Sami Brady, played by Alison Sweeney, became a story fans still talk about decades later. A few months after Muldoon debuted in Salem, Lisa Rinna arrived as his on-screen sister Billie Reed, and the Reed siblings became part of the fabric of the show.

Muldoon left Days of Our Lives in 1995, and the role of Austin was later recast with Austin Peck. But in 2011, Patrick Muldoon came back to Salem to reprise the role he had originated. He told Digest at the time that the return felt like coming home to family. He stayed until 2012. That is the kind of love this community inspires in its leading men, and that is exactly what he gave right back.

A Life Beyond Salem

A San Pedro native who played football at USC, Muldoon launched his acting career while still in college with a two-episode run on Who’s the Boss in 1990, followed by a recurring part as Jeffrey Hunter on Saved by the Bell. After leaving Days, he joined Melrose Place as the villainous Richard Hart and then starred as Zander Barcalow in the 1997 sci-fi classic Starship Troopers.

In recent years, he had quietly built a prolific second act as a producer, with film credits including Deadlock, Vanquish, Dakota, Marlowe, and Murder at Hollow Creek. He was the kind of artist who kept making, kept creating, kept showing up. His final Instagram post, published the day before his death, celebrated Kockroach, the project he was working on in Australia. He was excited. He was happy. He was still building.

Alison Sweeney Pays Tribute

Alison Sweeney, who shared so much of Austin’s iconic story as Sami Brady, remembered Muldoon on X shortly after the news broke. She called him “a truly gifted guy, and one who will be profoundly missed,” writing that he made her feel at ease the moment she started at Days and brought charm and humor to work every day. That is what his coworkers knew. That is what his family knew. That is what the fans always sensed.

The tributes are only just beginning, and they will keep coming for days. Muldoon meant something real to this community. He gave Salem a leading man who was warm and charming and complicated and human, and then he gave the role back to us a second time years later because the family never truly let him go.

Rest easy, Pat. Austin Reed belonged to all of us. So does the legacy you leave behind.

Share your favorite memory of Pat Muldoon in the comments below. Salem belonged to him, and his leading-man legacy belongs to every single one of us.

WATCH THIS: The Tuesday Spoilers Are In!

@soapoperamag THE TUESDAY #DAYS SPOILERS ARE IN! #CatGreene & #ChadDiMera have an awkward reunion. #LeoStark stalks #JaviHernandez's new boyfriend online. #EJDiMera kicks #GwenRizczech out of the mansion. #TheoCarver stays hopeful about #Lexie. And #PhilipKiriakis & #GabiDiMera enjoy some romance. #DaysofOurLives ♬ original sound – Soap Opera Magazine