Days of our Lives star Stephen Nichols is not only celebrating the show's 60th anniversary, but also his own personal birthday with the Peacock serial. The actor joined the soap 40 years ago, in 1985.Days of our Lives, hello, I must be staying View this post on Instagram Instagram PostNichols was soon paired with Mary Beth Evans (Kayla) after he arrived in Salem, and the couple's instant chemistry ignited one of DAYS's most popular pairings ever. The duo's 1988 wedding shot the soap opera to the No. 1 spot in the ratings. Marriage wasn't death for the duo as their stories continued with the birth of their daughter, Stephanie (Abigail Klein), and other adventures.In 1990, Nichols opted to leave the show, and Patch went to that great soap in the sky. But if there's any daytime serial that brings folks back from the dead, it's Days of our Lives. The show wisely left a door open after villain Lawrence Alamain (Michael Sabatino) made sure Patch was hooked up with a poisonous IV. Later, he arranged for Patch's coffin to be switched with another one.Why switch the coffins? Clearly, DAYS was leaving a door (or a lid?) open for the character to return someday, just as it had with Roman (Wayne Northrup), Marlena (Deidre Hall), and Hope (Kristian Alfonso), when they all left the show.Fans have the best 411Patch and Kayla on Days of our Lives | Image: JPICertainly, Nichols's popularity warranted an ominous seed being planted. Nichols said he hadn't seen the episode with the infamous coffin switcheroo, but viewers brought it to his attention when he'd run into them. "That's how I learned about it," Nichols says. "I did not know. I had not watched it."What had been his reaction to finding out that the show cared enough about Patch (and Kayla) to leave a door open like that? "Yippee!" Nichols says with a big smile.While Patch returned to Salem (with amnesia, of course) in 2006, Nichols had a few other soap runs in between. First, he was the enigmatic Dr. Skyler Gates in the final months of Santa Barbara. Next, he became the regal Stefan Cassadine on General HospitalNow, he is back as Steve/Patch, and the actor couldn't be happier. "How many shows last this long?" Nichols says. "How many employment opportunities last this long? You establish a character in daytime, and if you really establish it, you have a good chance of working for a long time -- even if you leave and come back as I have," he says.Catch all-new episodes of Days of our Lives weekdays on Peacock