Days Of Our Lives Relationship Timeline: Tom And Alice Horton

For nearly two decades, Tom and Alice Horton were the heart and soul of "Days of Our Lives" and even after death, they remain the core of the show today. On November 8, 1965, "DOOL" premiered with the voice of Macdonald Carey, who played Tom Horton until his death in 1994, uttering those famous words, "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the Days of Our Lives." The story centered around Dr. Tom Horton, his wife, Alice Horton, and their four children, Tommy, Addie, Mickey, and Marie.

They were the matriarch and patriarch of Salem and after Frances Reid who played Alice, and subsequently Alice, passed away in 2010, the Horton family created Horton Square and dedicated it to them. It's where much of a social action on the soap still takes place in 2022 as everyone who is anyone walks through the square each day, passing the plaque dedicated to the town's premier pair.

Since Tom and Alice were already an established couple with grandchildren when "Days of Our Lives" first aired in 1965, creators Ted and Betty Corday wrote a backstory for them that fans never saw on screen. According to Soap Central, Tom Horton was born in 1910 as the son of a doctor and married his high school sweetheart, Alice Grayson, in 1930. They went on to have four children, and countless grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even great-great grandchildren.

Alice Grayson was born in 1911 and raised right in Salem, marrying her sweetheart, Dr. Tom, in 1930. Known for her impeccable donut-making skills and her wry sense of humor, Alice was the adventurous type and she eventually learned that Tom was the creative type, sides of themselves they didn't even reveal to the audience until the 1980s. Like her husband Tom, Alice loved caring for people and as the head volunteer at Salem University hospital where Tom worked, per Soaps.com.

The 1980s was a time of young love on soaps, so "Days of Our Lives" chose to insert its oldest cast members in some younger storylines. Tom became a beatnik poet named Norm de Plume and would perform in disguise at a bar named Shenanigans. When Alice discovered her husband's secret, she loved him even more. This also meant he wasn't having an affair,  per Soap Central.

As for Alice, she threw herself into granddaughter Hope's (Kristian Alfonso) adventures with Bo Brady (Peter Reckell). When Bo wanted to break his innocent brother, Roman (Wayne Northrop), out of jail, Alice innocently delivered donuts for her old friend in lockup at the Salem Police Department. However, Alice had also secretly baked her donuts with a drug that made it appear as if Roman died. If Roman was dead, it was easier for him to go on the run, per Soap Central.

Alice also helped her granddaughter, Jennifer (Melissa Reeves), pose as her old boarding school friend, Katerina Von Leuschner (Crystal Chapel) during an adventure they took to trick the evil Laurence Alamain (Michael Sabatino).

The "Days of Our Lives" writers attempted to throw a wrench in Tom and Alice's love story in 1991 when they learned their original 1930 marriage was invalid. That means they had all those kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids while living in sin. Alice could not handle that, so she and Tom remarried as soon as they could to make things official. Although their marriage may not have been legal for more than half a century, Tom and Alice were certainly devoted to one another.

Sadly, Tom died in 1994, leaving Alice to throw herself into running The Horton Center, the community center she and Tom founded together. Alice remained an active part of Salem life for more than a decade after Tom passed away. Although actress Frances Reid died in 2010, she was not well during the last years of her life, so she last aired in 2007. Alice was said to be out of town visiting family when she finally passed months after Reid's off-screen death, per Soaps.com.