Days of Our Lives Star James Reynolds Reveals Parkinson's Diagnosis

James Reynolds, who has played Abe Carver on Days of Our Lives for 45 years, has revealed that he has Parkinson's disease. He shared the news in an interview with ET, and Deadline reported it on 11 November 2026.

Reynolds is 80. Deadline describes him as the longest-running Black actor in a single series in television history.

Parkinson's is a long-term neurological condition that affects movement. Reynolds said he has been living with the diagnosis for a few years, and he kept it private, sharing it only with his family, until now.

While he was working on set, he said, he first tried to hide his symptoms. He described shaky hands, occasional problems with balance, and sometimes shortness of breath. Those are the changes he says he could no longer keep out of sight.

Looking back, Reynolds said he has come to believe he may have had early signs of the disease 15 to 20 years ago. At that time he had terrible dreams that made him thrash around, and on some nights he fell out of bed. He only connected those nights to Parkinson's in recent weeks.

Reynolds's condition will be written into the Days of Our Lives storyline, according to Deadline.

For a show that has leaned on one long-running character for four and a half decades, the news means the character and the actor's real health will now be linked on screen. Reynolds has spoken openly about the diagnosis, and the show is set to follow where the story goes.