Quinn Redeker dead: Days of Our Lives soap actor who played villainous Alex dies in LA

Quinn Redeker has died aged 86.

The iconic Days of Our Lives star, best known for playing villain Alex Marshall in the hit US soap for eight years from 1979, died in LA on December 20, his family have confirmed.

He first started acting in 1960 and over the decades appeared in over 60 TV series, but is best known for his roles as Alex and as Nick Reed, Joseph Taylor and Rex Sterling in The Young and the Restless.

Redeker was nominated twice for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role on The Young and the Restless in 1989 and 1990.

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He also won the 1983 Soapy Award for Best Villain for his role on Days of Our Lives and the 1989 award for Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role: Daytime for The Young and the Restless.

Redeker was also celebrated for his writing and co-authored 1978 film The Deer Hunter with Lou Garfield, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and a WGA Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screenplay alongside Deric Washburn, Louis A. Garfinkle and Michael Cimino.

Redeker was nominated for two Daytime Emmys (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

Quinn K. Redeker and Lita Olsen attend the Annual Soap Opera Digest Awards on February 26, 1993 (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

His last screen credit was in 2012 drama film Big Miracle, directed by Ken Kwapis and based on Tom Rose's 1989 book Freeing the Whales, in which he played President Reagan.