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Dr. Wilhlem Rolf
Screenshot 2019-09-03-08-14-33~2
William Utay as Dr. Wilhlem Rolf
Days of our Lives
Portrayed by William Utay
Current status Present; Recurring
Duration 1997–2003, 2007–08, 2017–
First appearance September 19, 1997
Profile
Fullname Dr. Wilhelm Rolf
Nickname(s) Rolfsky (by Bart)
Willy (by Susan)
Alias(es) Nurse Rolfina
Dr. Steiner
Professor Charles Putnam
Gender Male
Occupation Doctor
Residence Salem, Illinois
Relationships
Siblings Helmet (brother) †
Romances Hattie Adams
Nieces and nephews Marlo Ungerschterner
Great-nieces and nephews J.T. Reiber
(via Marlo)

Dr. Wilhlem Rolf is a fictional character from the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives portrayed by William Utay September 19, 1997 to June 12, 2003 and June 4, 2007 to September 25, 2008. Utay returned again in 2017.

Casting

It is announced in May 2017 that Utay will return to the series. His first air date was October 20, 2017, and he ended his consecutive three episodes run on October 24, 2017 when Rolf was killed off.

Utay made additional appearances on October 31, 2017 and November 21, 2017 in sprit.

Utay respired his role in October 2018, when Rolf appeared alive in the clinic where EJ was being held and appeared during the Halloween special.

Utay returned to the show almost a year later, returning on September 2, 2019.

He is one of Stefano DiMera's most well known henchmen. Utay said in an interview during his 2017 return that "95% of his scenes were with Stefano (Joseph Mascolo)".

Storylines

In the fall of 1997, John, Hope, Stefano, and Kristen all traveled to a jungle compound where they were introduced to Dr. Rolf, the man working on the cure for Roman. Dr. Rolf recognized Hope, but Stefano managed to warn him not to say anything to Hope. Hope ended up breaking into a storage room, which infuriated him because there were things, including a table, in that room that could jog her memory from the missing four years of her life. Stefano promptly locked the room up with a high tech lock. When Dr. Rolf finally finished the cure, the vial containing the cure was dropped and it was lost. Dr. Rolf and Stefano told John and Hope that the only way to make another cure was for someone to brave the jungle and the natives and retrieve a special orchid.

John and Hope volunteered to find the orchid. Hope and John found the orchid and John put it in his backpack, but a native knocked John off a cliff and Hope, Kristen, and Stefano thought he was killed. John's backpack was recovered, but the orchid was missing. Hope managed to find some of the orchid's seeds and Rolf made a cure using them. Later, John returned to the compound, but was poisoned by a native's dart. Dr. Rolf cured him as well and everyone left to go back to Salem. Later, Peter showed up at the compound with Jungle Madness. Dr. Rolf made Peter some pills, but Peter lost them when Peter attacked Rolf and took off in his plane. He joined in helping Stefano turn Hope into Gina, and when Stefano went to Salem, Rolf went with him.

Stefano hired Rolf's pregnant niece Marlo and convinced her to give her child to Lexie and Abe as their own. The reality was that Stefano had a deeper plan...he wanted Rolf to do a quick switch on Marlo and Hope's babies when they were born so that he could find out for certain whether or not Hope's child was also his. Marlo may have ruined the plan except that she fell down the stairs during an argument with Rolf, and broke her neck. Lexie, who saw the incident, was convinced to keep quiet. When Belle and Shawn discovered the body, Rolf (on Lexie's request) dissolved his niece's corpse in a vat of acid. At the same time, he was also helping Stefano transform waitress Hattie Adams into a Marlena look-alike. At Stefano's insistence, Rolf attempted to seduce Hattie, but Stefano's previous plan had worked too well...and Hattie's only allegiance was to Roman.

When Glen Reiber came to town, Stefano ordered Rolf to destroy any proof that he was the father of the baby Hope and Bo were raising. Unfortunately, Brandon had already performed the tests, and he and Lexie realized that Glen was J.T. Brady's father, meaning that she was raising Hope's child. Before anything could be done with this information, Rolf detonated explosives set up throughout Salem (the East Side Lab, the power plant, a lab near Tuscany, and the Salem Bridge). When Rolf planned to turn Hope back into Princess Gina, Lexie aided him in bringing her to the mansion. On Lexie's orders, Rolf mugged Barb and attempted to slit her throat, but amazingly, Barb lived. Rolf began activating the chip in Hope's brain, and at the mother of the year party, Hope briefly became Princess Gina and kissed John. Bo launching himself at the two of them was enough to keep Hope herself.

Rolf later became a Bioethics professor at the university so he could keep a close eye on the children of Salem, including Gemini twins Cassie and Rex. He even programmed the twins to kill anyone who came near the DiMeras. It was later revealed that Rolf was directly involved in the twins' conception and birth. When Rex realized that he wasn't the son of Tony DiMera and Marlena Evans after all but that Roman Brady was his father, he confronted Rolf. Before he could get the truth from him, Rolf died when a crate landed on him, and for awhile there, he was chauffeured around town in style, before his corpse was used to fake Larry Welch's death.

On June 3rd, Rolf is seen again with no explanation as to how he survived. He is dressed as a hospital employee, and gives Sami Brady food that contains poison. EJ DiMera enters the room and gets Sami to spit it out. With Stefano's health deteriorating, Rolf served as his personal doctor, and informs Andre DiMera (posing as Tony DiMera) that Stefano is getting sicker. Andre tells Rolf he will hold every Brady responsible if Stefano dies.

When paramedics arrive, Rolf is forced to show them to where Stefano is and then starts protesting when they want to take him to a hospital. Sami realizes who Rolf is and says he is supposed to be dead. Rolf simply says that his death "didn't take". After getting off of the phone with his lawyer, Andre tells Rolf that security needs to be increased. Rolf says he will tell Bart, and Andre orders Rolf to do it himself.

Stefano Rolf Brady Pub

Stefano and Rolf

When Tony is exposed as Andre, Stefano is called to the Pub, and Rolf accompanies him since Stefano is wheelchair bound. After Bo finishes his interrogation of Stefano, Stefano orders Rolf to call up all of their associates and prepare for a full attack on the Brady's. Rolf worries Stefano is exerting himself too much, but Stefano vows to make the Brady's Pay since he blames them for Andre's paralysis.

Rolf takes Stefano to visit Andre in the hospital, and they walk in on EJ taunting Andre. Rolf wheels Stefano out of the room to talk in private with EJ, and then wheels him back in when EJ leaves. Stefano makes a fuss about Andre's condition, but then laughs to Rolf that they are too gullible, and is thankful Rolf is smarter than them. The real Tony DiMera arrives and confronts Stefano and Andre. Tony vows to make them all pay for the pain they have caused.

Andre planted a bomb in EJ's briefcase that went off, and Stefano had Bart grab Sami in the confusion. Stefano, Rolf, and Bart jetted off On Stefano's private plane where Rolf prepared to extract the stem cells from Stefano's grandchildren, so that Stefano could stay alive, but Rolf discovered Sami wasn't carrying EJ's child, so they dumped Sami off at a motel.

Rolf tasked Bart with guarding Stefano, but heard some commotion. He came back and found Stefano kneeling by Bart, who was bleeding to death. Stefano demanded that Rolf save Bart, but Rolf said it was too late, and Bart died soon after. Stefano only got sicker and ended up in the hospital. Andre DiMera stole the liver of Benjy Hawk, and Rolf operated on Stefano, despite objections from Benjy's friends. The operation was a success, but Steve Johnson stabbed Stefano, and he died, but Stefano's death was fake to lure Andre out of hiding.

Rolf warns Andre

Rolf leaves Andre a message

Once Stefano fulfilled his purpose, Rolf took him home, but not before leaving a note for Andre at the church, drawing chalk lines to warn Andre. Rolf mainly wheeled Stefano around as he recovered, but after John Black was hit by a car and killed, Rolf revived John and brainwashed him to be Stefano's pawn again. The resurrected John was very volatile and constantly escaped from the DiMera mansion with Stefano and Rolf having to look for him each time. Stefano wasn't becoming more and more irritated by Rolf's inability to get John to listen to him. During one of their attempts to look for John, he got the drop on them, and started to strangle Rolf, but Stefano got him to stop.

Rolf also had to try and keep EJ from finding out the truth during his constant visits to the mansion. EJ only got more suspicious when he heard John screaming, and eventually found out the truth about John. Rolf worried EJ would go to the police, and suspicions were confirmed when the police got a warrant to search the mansion and found John. Rolf looked in helplessly as the police arrested Stefano. John tried to leave, and Rolf jammed a hypodermic needle into John, assuring Marlena he just gave John a sedative. No then arrested Rolf as well, and he and Stefano were marched out of the mansion.

Stefano was put into a catatonic state and John was given control of Stefano's estate when he was discovered to be his half-brother. John agreed not to press charges against Rolf if Rolf would become his butler. Rolf reluctantly agreed, and John ordered him to shut down the lab, which Rolf begrudging did.

Marlena Evans asked for Rolf's help in piecing the shattered disk, that contained John's memories, back together. Marlena offered to vouch for Rolf if he helped her, so Rolf agreed. Rolf showed a bit of a humanity when he watched Johnny DiMera and Allie Horton. Something that Sami picked up on.

Stefano came out of his coma a few months later, and Rolf fatefully returned to work for him. Stefano and Rolf went into hiding temporarily, but soon came back to Salem. Rolf was last seen warning Stefano that there were irregular patterns in John's brain scans.

On October 12, It was revealed that Rolf was in Statesville around 2015. He met Clyde Weston and asked if he was related to Ben Weston, The Necktie Killer. Clyde told Rolf that Ben was his son, and Rolf then told Clyde that Will Horton, whom Ben supposedly killed, was still alive. Sometime after, Rolf was released from Statesville, and now that it is known that Stefano and Rolf could have revived Will, A manhunt has been issued for Rolf.

Rolf Salem Inn

Rolf waiting in the Salem Inn

Rolf returned on October 20th after Andre got in contact with him, and told him that Stefano wanted to meet with him at the Salem Inn. Rolf waited in a room until he heard a knock at the door. Rolf turned to see an envelope with the Phoenix emblem on it slipped through the door. Rolf picked it up and opened the door and was shocked to see that Hope Brady was waiting outside for him.

Hope confronts Rolf

Hope confronts Rolf

Hope told Rolf that she knows he told Clyde about Will being alive, but Rolf feigned ignorance about knowing Clyde. Hope tried an emotional appeal by telling Rolf that Will's family is suffering horribly, but Rolf still wouldn't talk. Hope was shot to arrest Rolf and take him to the station when Sami burst into the room. Hope said she was going to take Rolf to the station,
Sami holds Rolf at gunpoint

Sami holds Rolf at gun point

but Sami grabbed Hope's gun and pointed it at Rolf. Rolf snarked that this was quite the welcome home party. Sami was determined to get the answers she needed, and hit Rolf in the eye with the gun. Rolf fell to the floor, clutching his eye.
Sami hits Rolf

Sami hits Rolf with the gun

Sami kept pointing the gun at Rolf and threatening to shoot him, demanding to know how Will could be alive. Hope called for back up, and Sami told Rolf she will shoot him dead if he still hasn't said anything by the time the cops get there. Sami shouted at Rolf to say something, and Rolf snapped that he will say something.

Rolf revives Will

Rolf remembers reviving Will

Rolf said that things aren't always as they seem, and stated that if anyone could revive Will, he could. Sami started accusing Stefano, citing all the crimes he and Stefano committed together. Rolf fondly laments his past with Stefano, calling him a creative genius, and stating that he would do anything for him. Sami told Rolf that Stefano was always fond of Will, and would have kept tabs on him. Rolf agreed, and Sami was convinced that Stefano was behind it, but then Rolf said that Stefano was not involved, and Hope asked Rolf who he was working for.
Rolf commits suicide

Rolf dies after taking a cyanide pill

Rolf explained to Sami that he was there at the hospital the day Sami and Lucas said goodbye to Will. Sami didn't believe him, but Rolf was able to recite word for word what Sami said. Rolf then recalled how he plunged a needle into Will's chest. Hope and Sami started arguing, and Rolf slipped a cyanide capsule into his mouth. By the time Hope realized it, Rolf was already dead.

On October 31st, Abby has a dream that Ben sneaks into the morgue and revives Rolf. He recruits Rolf to bring Serena and Paige back to life. Rolf digs up their graves and they are later seen alive and well. Hope and Rafe catch Rolf in the cemetery, and are shocked to see him alive. They are about to arrest him when Rolf activates the satellite that turns Hope into Princess Gina. Rolf and Gina tie Rafe to the bench, and Rolf tries to get Gina to shoot Rafe. Gina says she can't because it would look too suspicious, so Rolf gives Gina some lipstick that will poison Rafe when she kisses him. Gina kisses Rafe, and just after Rafe dies, Hope's memories return, much to Rolf's shock and dismay. After Abby wakes up, Rolf’s body is seen to still be in the morgue

Rolf & Susan save Will

Rolf and Susan find Will barely alive

On November 21st, Rolf is seen in a flashback with Susan when they find Will barely alive after Ben strangled him. After checking Will’s vitals, Rolf injected him with a drug that made him appear to be dead. He and Susan then snuck into the morgue and Rolf revived Will at Susan’s request.

On October 19, Nicole finds herself in the Warehouse where EJ is, supposedly. She is trying to find Eric. She goes to several of the doors knocking hoping to find him, one of the doors have the initials "W.R.", It is believed to stand for Wilhelm Rolf. As Wilhelm Rolf was seen on DOOL October 20, 23 and October 31 for the Halloween Episodes, and was in flashbacks November 21 of 2018.

Days of our lives W

Scene shows initials "W.R."

On October 22, Rolf was revealed to be alive, having been brought back to life by Kristen DiMera, and hard at work on a formula that could fully revive people. The “W.R.” door was the entrance to his lab. Rolf explained to a man, assumed to be EJ, that they are perfecting the formula to fully bring him back to life. He injected EJ with it, and then encouraged him live for Sami and his children. Rolf mocked EJ’s taste in Sami causing him to stand up and grab Rolf by his lab coat. Rolf ended up knocking over some beakers that started a fire in his lab. Rolf managed to escape, and was last seen with Kristen, who wanted to look for Brady, despite Rolf’s objections.

On January 3, 2019, a very much alive Jack Deveraux revealed he was brought back to life thanks to the efforts of Dr. Rolf and that he was held in the warehouse where E.J. was held in.

On September 2, 2019; Jack, Jennifer Horton, and Eric Brady find Rolf with Vivian Alamain, whom he also resurrected. Eric is looking for Nicole Walker, who Rolf claims was never there, but it is discovered that she was when her daughter, Holly Jonas’, toy is found. Jack and Jennifer convince Rolf to return to Salem and recreate the serum to restore Jack’s memory.

Upon returning, Rolf gets a lab given to go at the Salem University Hospital, so he can work in the serum. When he finishes the serum, and leaves to deliver the good news, Dr. Henry Shah destroys the lab, which devastates Rolf. Rolf learns that Jack for his memory back and uses the lab for a new project.

Kristen asks Rolf to help her steal Sarah Horton’s baby from her womb. He goes to get something from the hospital and stops by Kate Roberts home. As a favour to Stefano, he revived his former wife, the one woman that Stefano apparently had a soft spot for her. When he gets to the abortion clinic, he reveals to Kristen that she is already pregnant and the fertility treatments she had him give her in Nashville had worked.

Rolf was working at the hospital when Gabi approaches him for help in saving her husband Stefan DiMera. Rolf said he can’t revive Stefan since there is no brain activity. Soon after, he lures Hope into the lab under the pretence of helping Julie Olson Williams before injecting her with something that knocks her out and then performs surgery on her, so he can turn her back into Princess Gina.

Soon after, Rolf lost his lab because he refused to give information about his secret project. Xander asked Rolf to run an errand that involved delivering Sarah’s DNA test to the father, Eric Brady. He did this after Xander agreed to give him a lab at TITAN.

Under Rolf’s control, Hope snuck into the DiMera mansion and stole Stafano’s portrait. She took to to warehouse while Rolf tired to get back the flash drive he had given Jennifer, who said she didn’t have it. Rolf became irate with her, but left once Jack showed up. Rolf went to the warehouse and greeted his former boss, saying it would be fitting for him to over see all that was about to happen.

Rolf got the warehouse cleaned up and made it fancy looking. He then turned Hope back into Gina officially. Gina took up residence in the warehouse while Rolf waded her on. Gina was stunned to hear of Stefano’s presumed death, but Rolf assured her he has risen and they will rule Salem together. Instead, Gina decided to set her sights on John much to Rolf’s hesitation.

Rolf received a phone call that shocked him and caused him to glance at Stefano’s portrait. Gina had found out that Jennifer still had the flash drive and demanded to know what was on it. Rolf admitted to Gina that her real body was dead, but he preserved her essence and put her into Hope’s body. He told Gina his plans were on the flash drive, leading to Gina attempting to kill Jennifer.

By November 2020, Stefano seems to have returned to Salem and is hiding out with Gina in the warehouse. Gina mentioned that Rolf doctored the footage of her pushing Jennifer, and Xander mentioned that he also had Rolf alter Sarah’s paternity test to say that he was the father since Sarah didn’t want Eric to know that Mackenzie Horton was his daughter.

When Chad wanted a face to face with Stefano, he sent Rolf in his place to meet with Chad. At first, Chad thought Rolf was posing as Stefano, but Rolf assured him it really was Stefano contacting him, but told him that Stefano says not to let Abigail interfere. Rolf implores Chad to be patient, saying Stefano’s genius can’t be rushed. Rolf returns to the warehouse and tells Gina that he has massage for Stefano, but Gina tells him he isn’t around right now. It is later revealed that Stefano is really Steve Johnson, conditioned to think he is Stefano.

Rolf was later framed by Stefano for Jennifer's fall to protect Gina. Rolf understood that he was just a pawn in Stefano's game. Stefano assured Rolf that he would be protect him and told him he has arranged for him to leave town and not caught. Chas contacted Stefano and told him to turn Rolf in, threatening to disown him if he was associate with Rolf. Stefano lied to Chad about him being aware of Jennifer's fall. Rolf and Stefano hugged each other goodbye and Rolf left town.

In February 2020, Stefano enlisted Rolf's help to capture John, so he could have Marlena. Stefano was pretending to be Steve, and he and Rolf lured John into a trap where Rolf "shot Steve dead", and then distracted John long enough for Stefano to get up and knock John out. Rolf wondered why Stefano wouldn't just kill John so Marlena could be his permanently. Stefano admitted Rolf had a point, but left John alive and locked up with Rolf watching him.

Rolf and Stefano took Marlena to the DiMera mansion gatehouse where they kept her prison while Rolf got the microchip ready. Marlena tried to escape, but ran into Chad, whom Rolf had also helped Stefano bring under his control. Rolf injected Marlena with the microchip and waited with Stefano while Marlena woke up. When Marlena asked for John, Stefano became irritated. Rolf told Stefano that he just needs to remind Marlena of all the good times they've had.

Rolf gave Stefano a book that Marlena had read to him when she cared for him after they were paralyzed. Despite his efforts, Marlena still asked for John. Stefano helped her leave the room for some air, and then snapped at Rolf, declaring his efforts a failure. Rolf told Stefano he has to be patient and continue to remind Marlena of all the moments she shared. Eventually, her memories of John will fade away.

Chad showed up, having secured Kate's shares. Stefano ordered Chad to kill Kate, and he said he would before leaving. Stefano told Rolf he did a fine job with Chad. Rolf assured Stefano he just needed to be patient with Marlena. Stefano said it is tough when he longs to be with his queen. Stefano and Marlena eventually left the gatehouse. Rolf was supposed to join them, but he was apprehended by John.

Rolf was taken to the station where Chad chastised him on getting caught. Chad was currently being mind controlled by Stefano, and he talked Rolf into performing the operation on Gina to restore Hope, saying she is of no further used to them. Rolf agreed, but said if he does that, then Chad has to finish his task and eliminate the threats.

Crimes Committed

  • Brainwashed Hope Brady and John Black.
  • Murdered his niece, Marlo by breaking her neck [2000]
  • Tried to kill Hattie Adams. [May 2001]
  • Tried to poison Sami Brady. [June 2007]
  • Attempted to perform an illegal operation on Sami. [Aug 2007]
  • Transplanted Benjy Hawk's stolen liver into Stefano. [Sep 2007]
  • Brainwashed John on Stefano’s orders.
  • Revived and brainwashed Will Horton at Susan Banks’s request. [Sep 2015]
  • Brought several people back from the dead including Will Horton, EJ DiMera, Jack Deveraux, Tony DiMera and possibly Vivian Alamain and Ava Vitali. [2012-18; revealed on Jan 2019]
  • Injected Hope Brady with a unknown substance that caused her to lose consciousness [Oct 2019]
  • Performed surgery on Hope against her will [Oct 2019]

  • Doctored footage to hide the fact that Hope’s Gina altar tried to kills Jennifer [Nov 2019; Revealed Nov 2019/2020]
  • Altered the paternity test of Mackenzie Horton to say that Xander was the father instead of Eric [Revealed Nov 2019/2020]
  • Implanted Stefano's essence, contained in a microchip, into Steve's body [Revealed Nov 2019/2020
  • Helped Stefano capture John and hold him captive [Jan 2020/21]
  • Helped Stefano hold Kayla captive [Feb 2020/21]

  • Maladies and Injuries

    • Presumably killed when a crate fell on him [2003]
    • Strangled by John [Jan 2008]
    • Held at gunpoint by Sami [Oct 23, 2017]
    • Hit across the eye with a gun by Sami [Oct 23, 2017]
    • Tried to Commit suicide by swallowing a cyanide poisoning pill, and was later revived by Kristen DiMera [Oct 23, 2017]

    Revived Patients

    Presumed Revived Patients

    Gallery

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