Vivian Alamain has always brought trouble to Days of Our Lives, and she’s a woman who never says die… Literally! The character has been played by Louise Sorel on and off since her introduction in 1992, although the late Marj Dusay stepped in once as a temporary replacement. And when Sorel was unavailable for a return in September of 2019, One Life to Live star Robin Strasser was tapped to step into her villainous shoes for a bit. In 2020, Sorel was back on DAYS to reclaim the role she made famous but when the character resurfaced in February 2021, the soap tapped daytime vet Linda Dano for the part! However, when Vivian resurfaced in the summer of 2023, Sorel was back, and popped in for more in October 2024, then again in April 2025!
Vivian arrived in Salem in March of 1992 determined to take over the Alamain family business but John inherited it instead. To maintain some power, Vivian married Victor Kiriakis, but it didn’t last long and he left her for Kate Roberts. When Carly learned that Vivian’s adopted son, Nicholas, was really her and Lawrence’s child she had been led to believe was dead, she went after custody and started a bitter feud.
Vivian’s attempt to have her manservant, Ivan Marais, tamper with Carly’s brakes failed, so she goaded Carly into an argument on a terrace so she could throw herself off and frame her! After that, Vivian plotted to poison Carly’s hospital patients to frame her for murder! She then drugged the doc so everyone would think she was dead, and when Carly was buried, Viv included some oxygen and water so she would wake up buried alive!
Vivian soon came to realize that the medication she was taking for her heart was making her crazy, and she and Ivan quickly dug Carly up. She then set her sights on destroying Kate and Victor’s marriage, and even stole Kate’s egg so she would become pregnant with Victor’s son, Philip Kiriakis! Later, Vivian married a man she thought was wealthy, but was really just Stefano DiMera’s caretaker. But after Jonesy died, Stefano romanced Vivian to get his possessions back and even put a mood-controlling device in her tooth! Eventually, Vivian left town with Ivan to live off his lottery winnings.
In 2009, Vivian returned to Salem seeking revenge on Carly for Lawrence’s death. Learning that Carly had an illegitimate daughter, Viv plotted to kill Melanie to make Carly suffer. Unfortunately, her multiple attempts failed miserably, so, at Victor’s urging, she focused her ire on Carly again. But enlisting Chloe Lane’s help didn’t work because the young woman backed out and couldn’t go through with their plan to kill Carly. A jealous Vivian was still in love with Victor, and feeling threatened by Maggie Horton, plotted to have her newest rival buried alive as well!
Unfortunately, Vivian’s plan backfired when Brady Black learned of it and he had her put in the sarcophagus instead! Gus freed his employer and they buried Maggie, but Victor rescued her. Later, it was revealed that Vivian had a son, Quinn, who was forcing Chloe to be a prostitute. Gus grew jealous of Quinn and framed him for a series of murders, but the truth eventually was revealed. Ivan returned to Salem to reveal to Vivian that he had made a fortune as a producer and director of Bollywood movies and took her back to India where they could live happily ever after.
However, as the residents of Salem prepared to ring in 2018, Vivian crashed the New Year’s Eve party at Doug’s Place with Stefan Octavius DiMera and revealed that he is her and Stefano’s son she was told had died at birth. Together the two plotted to take over DiMera and she even planned to kill Andre before Abigail beat her to it! Vivian also paid Leo Stark to seduce Sonny Kiriakis, and threatened to kill Kate when she uncovered their schemes. The two women struggled over a gun and Vivian was shot. Although Kayla later informed Stefan they were unable to save his mother’s life, a mysterious man dressed as a doctor injected Vivian with some kind of solution. And a short time later, she was revealed to be alive, if not entirely well!
Vivian returned to Salem eager to take revenge on Kate, shooting her and burying her. But when Kate survived and clawed her way out of the grave, Vivian went to the hospital to try and finish her off. Stefan and Gabi weren’t thrilled to continue having to protect her, so Vivian decided to get out of town. Unfortunately, she was confronted by Lani Price, and when Stefan jumped in between the two women, the cop fired and shot him in the throat! Horrified to learn that her son was brain dead, and with the walls closing in on her, Vivian once again beat a hasty retreat.
But in July 2020, Vivian tried to take revenge on Lani by shooting her on her wedding day! Arrested and taken to the police station, Viv was stunned to meet Jake Lambert and hear Gabi insist that he was Stefan. But the real shock came when Ivan showed up in Salem to reveal that Jake wasn’t Stefan with amnesia — Vivian had actually given birth to twins that day! Later, everyone was stunned when Vivian had an apparent heart attack and died instantly, but it turned out she’d just faked her death with Ivan’s help so she could get out of jail.
In February 2021, Ivan abducted Lani’s newborn twins to deliver to his Madame. Regretting not being able to raise Stefan and Jake, she was delighted by his gift, but then Lani and Eli came after their twins! Arrested, Vivian attempted to fake memory loss but Jake and Kate tricked her into revealing she was fine so she was sent to prison. Ivan apologized for putting them in this situation and said he’d done it out of love for her. Entering prison, Vivian exchanged barbs with Kristen, but also covered for her when she swapped places with Susan.
In January 2023, Vivian spoke with Stefan over the phone while Gabi and Dr. Rolf were trying to deprogram him back to his normal personality. Stefan begged her to alert the authorities he’d been kidnapped, but then Gabi persuaded her to keep quiet and let them try to bring Stefan back to normal. In September, Vivian crashed Victor’s funeral to announce that she was legally Mrs. Kiriakis and heir to his fortune! Justin sadly confirmed that it was true and Vivian wasted no time taking over Titan and firing Maggie. When she tried to use the company to sell illegal drugs, Chad quit and she found herself unable to find anyone willing to work with her. After a new will was discovered, Maggie got half of Victor’s estate and she kicked Vivian out of the mansion. When Dimitri Von Leuschner attempted to kill Stefan, Vivian shot him first and when Gabi ratted her out to the cops, she skipped town again to save her own skin!
In October, Vivan resurfaced and had Ivan knock Stefan unconscious so she could sign the papers finalizing his divorce from Gabi and have Ivan take him to Alamania, where he’d be safe from his bride. She then met with Philip, who updated her on his blocking Xander’s attempts to give his Titan shares to Kristen. She declared that soon, Titan would belong to them! When Kate found her in Philip’s room, Vivian admitted that the letter saying Victor wanted to leave the company to Philip was a forgery, but offered to cut Kate in on the money if she kept her mouth shut.
While Kate did keep quiet about the letter so Philip could run Titan as he deserved, she did alert the cops that Vivian was back in town. When Jada tried to arrest Vivian, she reached for the cop’s gun and fell and hit her head in the struggle. Awakening in the hospital, Vivian was told she would be going to prison for a long time. She called Ivan, who let her know that Gabi was heartbroken after reading Stefan’s “goodbye letter,” and she took small consolation in that win.
