Mickey Horton

Mickey Horton is a fictional character from the soap opera Days of Our Lives, played from the show's debut episode in 1965 until January 2004 by John Clarke, spanning 3,500 episodes. The role was briefly played in 2004 by Richard Voigts, then by John Ingle from 2004 through 2006. Kevin Dobson appeared as Mickey in the character's final appearances between April and October 2008.

At the time of his retirement, Clarke was the longest-tenured original Days of our Lives actor after his onscreen mother Frances Reid (Alice Horton), appearing in the role for 39 years. He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in 1979 for Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Mickey.

Mickey was the middle son of Tom and Alice Horton and had four siblings: Tommy, Addie, Marie and, possibly his biggest rival, Bill. In the first episode in 1965, Mickey was introduced as a lawyer in Salem. His father Tom found out that Addie's daughter Julie and a friend stole mink from a department store. Wary that there might be legal repercussions, Tom and Mickey went to the police station to talk to the chief of police and Julie.

In 1965, Mickey started a relationship with Diane Hunter, whose divorce case Mickey was handling, and helped her to deal with her teenage daughter Susan. Diane and her husband later reconciled, mainly because of Susan. After many long nights working together, Mickey had his sights set on court psychiatrist Laura Spencer. She was initially engaged to Mickey's brother Bill, but she and Mickey got together after Bill called off the wedding and left town. After the David Martin murder case, they grew closer and became engaged. They married the following year.

Mickey took a sterility test, revealing that he was unable to have children; he forgot to review the results in the face of Laura announcing her pregnancy. He was unaware that his brother Bill was the father and that he had raped Laura in a drunken rage. Tom saw Mickey's test results and confronted Laura, who lied and said she and Bill consensually had sex. They agreed to keep the secret to protect the family. Michael William Horton was born in November 1968, with Mickey still believing he was the biological father.

In 1970, Mickey had an affair with his secretary Linda Patterson. After he refused to leave Laura for her, Linda attempted suicide; news of the affair spread quickly in Salem. Mickey and Laura decided to stay together for the sake of their son. Linda learned she was pregnant with what she thought was Mickey's baby, but was later revealed to be an ex-boyfriend's. Mike learned about Mickey's affair in 1973 and confronted his father, who suffered a heart attack.

Mickey's brother Bill, a surgeon, performed a life-saving operation. Not long after, Mickey suffered a stroke and developed amnesia. He left Salem and adopted the name Marty Hanson. Maggie Simmons, a paralyzed farm girl, took him in and they fell in love, marrying in January 1974. Later, after Mickey's picture appeared in the paper, he was reunited with his family despite Maggie's best efforts. Bill offered to operate on Mickey in an attempt to restore his memory, but Mickey refused. Bill later performed a surgery to help Maggie walk again but it did not work. Laura had started a relationship with Bill after Mickey's disappearance; she and Mickey decided to divorce. Mickey and Maggie remarried in October 1974 after they realized their first marriage was invalid due to Mickey's marriage to Laura.

In 1976, Mike had an accident on Maggie's farm that required a blood donation. Neither of his parents were a match, leading Mickey to the conclusion that he was not Mike's biological father. This was confirmed when he found that his brother was a match. Mickey's memory returned. He went to Linda to ask if Melissa was his and she said no. In a fit of rage at being lied to for years, Mickey bought a gun and plotted to kill his brother. The two fought over the gun and it went off, shooting Bill in the arm. Mickey suffered a mental breakdown in the aftermath and was sent to the Bayview Sanitarium for a year.