LOS ANGELES, California — Drake Hogestyn, who appeared in nearly 4,300 episodes of the long-running soap opera “Days of Our Lives,” has died at the age of 70. Hogestyn’s family announced his death in a post on social media.

Longtime “Days of Our Lives” actor Drake Hogestyn, who played John Black on the soap for nearly 40 years, died Saturday. He was 70. The cause was pancreatic cancer, his family announced in a post on the soap’s Instagram account.