Daniel Pilon, 'Dallas' Actor and Soap Star, Dies at 77

The Canadian actor appeared in shows like 'Ryan's Hope' and 'Guiding Light' over a 50-year Hollywood career.

Daniel Pilon, the Dallas actor who portrayed Renaldo "Naldo" Marchetta, the villainous tycoon and ex-husband of Jenna Wade, has died. He was 77.

His agent at Noble Caplan Abrams in Toronto confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Pilon died June 26 after a battle with cancer. Pilon, who had a 50-year career as an actor that reached its peak during the 1970s and 1980s, was born on Nov. 13, 1940, in Montreal.

His first movie role was in Quebec director Gilles Carle's 1968 drama Le Viol d’une Jeune Fille Douce (The Rape of a Sweet Girl), where Pilon and his elder brother, Donald Pilon, played two of the heroine's three brothers.

That was followed by an appearance in the 1969 British war film, Play Dirty, where Pilon played the role of Capt. Allwood alongside Michael Caine and Nigel Davenport.

Pilon's first daytime soap role was as Gavin Newirth on Days of Our Lives. He would perform more soap roles on Ryan's Hope and Guiding Light.

His other TV credits included Hart to Hart, Cagney & Lacey, Brannigan and Murder, She Wrote.