Philip Kiriakis played by Jay Kenneth Johnson

Philip Kiriakis was literally born of a love triangle involving Victor Kiriakis, Kate Roberts, and Vivian Alamain. Technically, Vivian gave birth to Philip; she stole Victor and Kate's fertilized embryo and had it implanted in her womb. Kate, however, is Philip's biological mother. Both women attempted to raise Philip and fought for Victor's love, with Kate finally winning that battle.

Philip spent much of his childhood outside of Salem but returned to be spoiled by both Vivian and Kate. He developed a gambling problem and was forced to enlist his family's help to repay his debts. Victor initially refused to help his son but when Philip's life was threatened, Victor used his influence and power to save his son and get revenge on his attackers.

In school, Philip competed with Shawn Brady for the attentions of Belle Black and later Chloe Lane. At first, Philip joined his classmates in ridiculing Chloe for her "Goth girl" appearance and odd behavior. In time, however, he began to fall for her. Philip & Chloe became an unlikely couple. When Jan and Mimi's terrible prank at Last Blast 2001 made it look like Chloe was involved in Internet pornography, Philip railed against her and she saw a side of him she didn't like. When Philip joined his classmates on a summer trip to Puerto Rico, Chloe grew closer to Brady Black. Brady and Chloe fell in love. Philip spent the next school year trying to win her back, even going so far as to date the vixen Cynthia in a futile attempt to make Chloe jealous. Then at the Last Blast 2002, it looked as if Chloe might've finally found it in her heart to forgive him, right before she passed out. Philip rushed her to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with leukemia. Philip and Brady were by Chloe's side as she battled leukemia. Upon her recovery, Chloe decided to leave her true love behind to pursue her passion: opera.

Philip got a job at DotCom and moved in with his brother Lucas. He tried to get his life back on track, even taking a class at Salem University, but eventually realized the only way he could truly turn his life around was by leaving town. He did just that, joining the Marines. In reality, Philip was working with John Black in the ISA on a mysterious mission. Unfortunately, both Belle and Shawn became involved, making him look bad to his superiors, and he was bumped back to being a regular Marine. He planned on getting his job back and teamed up with Shawn and Belle. Working closely with Belle only made Philip's feelings for her intensify.

When the Salem Stalker started killing off Salem's residents, Philip's father was eventually murdered, but not by the Stalker - by his own wife, Nicole! Philip finally admitted to Belle that she was his "mystery" woman. Only when it was clear to Belle that Shawn wanted nothing more to do with her, did she too move on with Philip. Neither of them realized that Shawn was actually being manipulated by Jan.

It wasn't long before Philip proposed and a somewhat reluctant Belle accepted his proposal. They planned an elaborate, last-minute wedding when Philip learned he was shipping out. Despite Shawn's attempts to stop the wedding, Philip and Belle became husband and wife.

Philip left the next day. He accepted a dangerous mission so that he could try to get back home sooner. Unfortunately, he was taken hostage on that mission. Back home, Belle was devastated; no one knew his real captor was Tony DiMera. Shawn organized a rescue mission, intent on bringing Philip home and they succeeded; however, tragically Philip lost a leg. Belle and Philip were reunited and soon welcomed daughter Claire. However, when Claire was only a few months old, she became seriously ill. They almost lost their baby, but when Zack Brady was killed, his liver saved their daughter's life. No one wondered at the time why he was a perfect match. Kate and Bonnie figured it out and Mimi soon knew, as well; Philip wasn't Claire's father, Shawn was.

Much to Belle and Kate's chagrin, Philip decided that he wanted to be the first amputee to drive a racecar. Around this same time, he and Belle also decided to have another child. When they couldn't get pregnant, some tests were run and it was discovered he had "slow" sperm. They decided to go the in vitro route, as did Shawn and Mimi. Unfortunately, the mysterious gloved hand had other ideas and played around with the petri dishes. Belle ended up pregnant with Shawn's baby and Mimi's surrogate with Philip's. When Belle refused to even consider an abortion, Philip was outraged. In a fit of anger, he went to the track, "borrowed" Max's car and ended up in a terrible accident. He wasn't seriously injured, but, especially after overhearing Shawn tell Belle he loved her, he knew he had to fight for his wife.

Upon Mimi's urging, the two couples sat down to discuss custody arrangements. Both Mimi and Philip thought it was a great idea; Shawn and Belle, not so much. Shawn and Philip ended up at Brady's Pub in a drinking contest. Shawn ended up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning; while he was there, someone (Chelsea) left a file in his room that told the truth about Claire's father. Everyone read it, but no one believed it. Philip thought that whoever had messed with their in vitro process had also done this and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. A DNA test proved that in fact, Shawn was Claire's father.

Caught in the middle was Belle, who was carrying - thanks to the gloved hand - Shawn's baby. Belle became gravely ill, and Philip had to make the horrible decision to have the pregnancy terminated to save Belle's life. Belle was devastated, and told Philip she was not sure that they had a future together. Philip also learned that both Kate and Victor had known Claire's true paternity all along. After paying off the surrogate who was carrying his baby with Mimi, a broken Philip left Salem and re-enlisted.

Philip was seriously injured in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan, and Victor secretly arranged to have a plastic surgeon do a face transplant to repair the damage. Victor hid Philip in his mansion while he recovered, and snuck Claire in for visits. When Philip was well enough, he made his presence known in Salem by suing for full custody of Claire - and winning! Desperate, Shawn and Belle kidnapped Claire and went on the run.

Philip and Victor tracked Shawn and Belle around the globe, finally finding them on a remote island. Philip managed to take Belle and Claire and headed back to Salem by boat. Shawn caught up with him, but they were forced to put their differences aside when a storm hit. The ship was rescued, but poor little Claire had been lost at sea. An exhaustive search turned up nothing, and the trio feared the girl was dead. However, after returning to Salem, they learned she had been rescued, but the rescuer was passing Claire off as her own child. At long last, Shawn, Belle and Philip caught up to her and were reunited. In exchange for Philip relinquishing custody, Belle agreed to let him visit with Claire. Though Philip did so, he was hurt when he realized the little girl now called Shawn "Daddy."

It turned out that Philip did have a child of his own, however. The surrogate who had been carrying Philip and Mimi's child had not gotten an abortion as she was paid to do. Once Philip learned this, he went on a mission to find the boy, and Belle - feeling sorry for Philip - was right by his side. Though Philip eventually found Tyler, he ended up allowing the baby to be adopted by a loving couple so he could have a stable home life.

Throughout the ordeal, Philip and Belle had grown closer. They had officially divorced and Belle planned to marry Shawn. Philip was not ready to give her up so quickly, and pursued her despite her protests. They finally gave in to their attraction and made love a few days before her wedding to Shawn. Belle regretted it immediately after and swore it would never happen again, but Philip was not swayed, even after Belle took her vows.

Chloe returned to Salem just in time for the group's high school reunion and immediately suspected that all was not picture-perfect amongst her old friends. She pushed Philip for information, but he instead quizzed her about her apparently failed marriage to Brady. Chloe admitted that Brady was missing and she was a suspect. She offered to sleep with Philip in exchange for his help, but - still in love with Belle - he offered his help with no strings.

Finally, Belle confessed to Shawn, who immediately left her. Philip saw his chance, but Belle was determined to win Shawn's forgiveness. As the mystery of Brady's disappearance grew, Claire was kidnapped again - this time by Crystal, a psychic who claimed she was trying to protect the little girl from the danger that got Brady. Shawn, Belle and Philip - this time with Chloe's help - banded together and traveled to Ireland, where they were reunited with Claire. Brady, though, was nowhere to be found.

The group joined other Salemites on John Black's jet to go back home, but the plane crashed. At the crash site, Philip and Chloe grew closer and almost made love. However, they both resisted their desire, as Chloe was still a married woman and Philip did not want to make that mistake again.

After everyone was settled back in Salem, Victor named Philip his successor at the Kiriakis shipping business. Now Philip is locked in a battle over control of the docks with John Black, who has been ruthless since his takeover of the DiMera fortune. How far will Philip go to protect his family business? And now that Belle has left town with Shawn, is there another woman who will win his heart?

Jay Kenneth Johnson plays Philip Kiriakis

Jay Kenneth Johnson reprises his role on NBC's hit daytime drama "Days of our Lives" as the dark and mysterious "Philip Kiriakis."

Growing up in Springfield, MO, Johnson always loved both theatre and athletics. As a star defensive back for his high school football team and a star in his school plays and musicals, he learned the creativity, teamwork and discipline needed to excel in both fields. Majoring in theatre at Southwest Missouri State, he realized that acting was his true passion and decided to move to Hollywood.

Johnson has been seen on a variety of television series; he had a recurring role on "Scrubs" and was a regular on "North Shore." He has also had guest-starring roles on "CSI: Miami," "Charmed" and "CSI: NY." On the big screen, he appeared in the independent comedy "Hack!"

In his spare time, Johnson enjoys playing sports, rollerblading, going to the beach and reading. He also loves music, playing piano and guitar, and would like to start his own band.