Shawn Brady

Shawn Brady is a fictional character from the American soap opera Days of Our Lives and the patriarch of the Brady family. He has been portrayed by Lew Brown (1984 to 1985), Peter MacLean (1989 to 1990), and most notably by Frank Parker (1983 to 1984, 1985 to 1989, 1990 to 2008).

Storylines
An Irish immigrant, Shawn moves to Salem from his native Galway at an undetermined time. In the early stages of the "Brady-DiMera Feud Resolution" storyline in the early-2000s, it is revealed that Shawn has maintained sporadic contact with family and friends in Ireland throughout the years. Including the "rougher" element of their hometown, who regard Shawn with a great degree of respect and refer to him only as, "Himself" (and who Shawn directs to "rough up" and detain Bo Brady when he was getting a little too curious about past events in Ireland). There are strong hints that Shawn may have had some underworld dealings of his own in his youth, and was possibly involved directly in some of the early battles of the feud with the DiMera family, but this is later dropped.

Shawn is the husband of Caroline Brady, (1948–2008) and father of three biological children Roman Brady, Kimberly Brady and Kayla Brady Johnson, two adopted children Frankie Brady and Max Brady and one legal son, Bo Brady. In 1990, Shawn is shocked to learn that Greek tycoon Victor Kiriakis is the father of his and Caroline's youngest child, Bo, the product of an affair that Caroline had with Victor years earlier.

Over the years, Shawn has kept himself busy in a number of ways. Originally the owner of the Brady Fish Market, after their business is destroyed and Shawn suffers a massive heart attack, he and Caroline re-open the Fish Market as the Brady Pub, often employing many of their family and friends. Over the years the pub has functioned as a second home for some of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and their first great-grandson, Will, spent a great deal of time there while he was growing up.

Family
Shawn has been married to Caroline Brady since he first appeared on-air in 1983. The son of Peter Brady, and the grandson of Patrick Aloysius and Nora Molly Brady, Shawn has a brother Eric and two sisters, Molly and Colleen. Shawn is devastated when he learns that his brother Eric molested his daughter Kimberly when she was a child, which results in her later developing multiple personality disorder. Molly marries a man with the surname Murphy and has one known child, Colin, who turns out to be working for the DiMeras. In the summer of 2007, it is revealed that Shawn also has an older sister Colleen. Shawn's granddaughter Sami Brady bears striking resemblance to her.

Through his son Roman, Shawn has grandchildren Carrie, Sami, Eric, Rex, and Cassie. He also has great-grandchildren—one through Carrie (Noah Reed), and four through Sami (Will Horton, Allie Horton, Johnny DiMera, and Sydney DiMera. Through his daughter Kimberly, Shawn has grandchildren Theresa Donovan and Andrew Donovan. Through Theresa, he is the great-grandfather of Tate Black. Through his daughter Kayla, Shawn has a granddaughter Stephanie Johnson and a grandson Joey Johnson.

Although not his son biologically, Shawn is still Bo Brady's legal father and he is Bo's children's legal grandfather, (Shawn-Douglas Brady, Chelsea Brady, Zack Brady and Ciara Brady). Through Shawn-Douglas, he is the legal great-grandfather to Claire Brady. Also through Ciara Brady-Weston, he is the legal great-grandfather to Bo Brady-Weston.

Shawn and Caroline also have a spot in their hearts for John Black, whom they are tricked into believing is their son Roman for several years until the real Roman returns to town.

In the summer of 2007, it is revealed that Shawn's sister Colleen had a relationship with Stefano's father Santo DiMera, and that may have been the start of the Brady – DiMera family feud.

Colleen is presumed to have died in a horrible manner at a young age, falling or jumping from a cliff in Galway. Shawn maintains that she was killed by a DiMera, while Santo's son, Stefano, blames Shawn Brady. In reality both could be blamed. Stefano told Shawn that his mother was not dead and his father was still married and on the day of Colleen and Santo's wedding, Shawn told Colleen. Her death is said to have sparked the Brady/DiMera feud that has been going on since Santo's death in the 1980s. In January 2008, Colleen is found not to have killed herself. She has faked her death and left Ireland for South America. She dies days after she and Shawn reunite. Grandpa Shawn dies after giving up his oxygen mask to save his son, Bo, on a sabotaged airplane that is going down.