Susan Victoria Lucci (born December 23, 1946) is a
Daytime Emmy Award-winning
American actress. Lucci has been called "Daytime's Leading Lady" by
TV Guide, with
New York Times and
Los Angeles Times citing her as the highest-paid actor in daytime television. Her salary is reportedly over $1 million a year.
Early life
Susan Lucci was born to Jeanette and Victor Lucci on December 23, 1946. She attended
Garden City High School in
Garden City, New York, graduating in 1964. She then attended
Marymount College at
Fordham University, and graduated from Marymount in 1968.
Career
Daytime television
Lucci is best known for playing the larger-than-life diva
Erica Kane on the
ABC television soap opera All My Children, on which she has appeared since the show's inception on
January 5,
1970. She and
Ray MacDonnell, who plays her former father-in-law,
Dr. Joe Martin, are the show's only original stars left on the show today. Lucci's long tenure on the show has made her an iconic presence on daytime; she is closely identified with both the role of Erica and with daytime television itself.
Lucci was nominated for the
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Emmy for her work on
All My Children almost every year since 1978. When Lucci didn't win the award after several consecutive nominations, her image in the media began to be lampooned, as she became notoriously synonymous with never winning an Emmy.
NBC's
Saturday Night Live exploited this by asking her to host an episode (unusual for a daytime serial actor), where her monologue
parodied the cast, crew, and even stagehands carrying Emmys of their own in her presence. In addition, she appeared in a 1989 television commercial for the sugar substitute "Sweet One", intended to portray her as the opposite of her villainess character, yet throwing one of Erica Kane's characteristic tantrums, shouting "11 years without an Emmy! What does a person have to do around here to get an Emmy?"
After 18 failed nominations, it came as a shock to both her and the viewing audience when she finally won in 1999.
When presenter
Shemar Moore announced Lucci's name, the audience erupted in a standing ovation, lasting several minutes. As the sobbing actress took to the stage, cameras caught
All My Children co-stars
Kelly Ripa and
Marcy Walker weeping openly, along with long-time supporter, actress and television host
Rosie O'Donnell. Actor
Ingo Rademacher was seen bowing in the aisles and talk show host
Oprah Winfrey rushing the stage cheering from the wings. Lucci's win and subsequent teary-eyed speech made headline news on television and in print for several weeks thereafter.
Primetime television and film
Lucci has appeared in a number of television shows and
television films. In 1990, she began a series of guest spots on the popular nighttime soap opera
Dallas. She hosted
NBC's
Saturday Night Live in October of that year; in one skit, she appeared as Erica Kane competing on a
game show.
In 1995, Lucci appeared in the
Lifetime television film
Ebbie. This film was an updated version of the
Dickens classic
A Christmas Carol. Lucci played a
Scrooge-like department store owner visited by Marley and the three ghosts on
Christmas. Critics praised her performance, and the film has become a holiday favorite.
Dancing with the Stars
Lucci competed in Season 7 of
Dancing with the Stars with dance partner
Tony Dovolani. Lucci said that
Dancing had asked her to appear before, but she had turned it down in part because of the travel it would require (
Dancing tapes in Los Angeles, while
All My Children tapes in New York). She changed her mind, though, in part because of the experience of fellow
All My Children star
Cameron Mathison, who finished fifth in
season 5.
[Dancing with the Stars Season 7 Cast Includes Olympic Gold-Medalist" TV Guide. August 25, 2008. Retrieved on August 25 2008.] She was voted off the show on November 5, 2008, finishing sixth in the competition.
Performances
Info-mercials
In 2008, Lucci appeared as a spokesperson for Malibu Pilates exercise equipment in an
infomercial. Lucci's
All My Children co-star
Cameron Mathison was also featured. Lucci is also a spokeswoman for "Youthful Essence," a home microdermabrasion system. Recent infomercials have featured her past and present
All My Children costars
Eva LaRue,
Walt Willey,
Eden Riegel,
Alicia Minshew and
Rebecca Budig, as well as
Emily Proctor of
CSI: Miami. In addition, Lucci has a line of clothing and jewelry that is featured on the
Home Shopping Network.
Other credits and achievements
Lucci starred in the
Broadway revival of
Annie Get Your Gun in 1999 to 2000, taking over from
Bernadette Peters.
In 1991, she launched the Susan Lucci Collection of hair care products. Her career as a businesswoman continues, with many lucrative skin care, fashion, jewelry and makeup lines selling on
HSN.
For much of the 1980s and into the 1990s, Lucci did many commercials for the local
Ford dealers in the
New York City area.
In early 2005, Lucci earned a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Personal life
Lucci's father, Victor, was a first-generation Italian-
American.
Phyllis Diller, contrary to various internet rumors, is not her mother.
[Susan Lucci: Claim disproven] Lucci has been married since
September 13,
1969 to
Austrian businessman Helmut Huber. They are the parents of soap opera actress
Liza Huber (who played
Gwen Hotchkiss on the daytime serial
Passions until that series' cancellation by
NBC in September
2007) and Andreas Huber (who did not follow his mother and sister into an acting career). She became a grandmother when her daughter, Liza, gave birth on
December 23 2006 — Lucci's 60th birthday. The baby was named Royce Alexander.
[ Her daughter Liza recently gave birth to Lucci's second grandchild.TV Guide news]
Liza gave birth to Lucci's second grandchild, Brendan, on August 16, 2008.
Awards
Won
Nominated
Daytime Emmy Awards
Nominations: (1978, 1981-1993, 1995-1999, 2001-2002)
Daytime Emmy:
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for
All My Children. Lucci holds the record for repeat nominations in one category, having been nominated a total of 21 times for this award but only won once.
Other awards
-Shared with
Walt Willey
-Shared with
Walt Willey
-Shared with
Larkin Malloy
TV/Guest roles
- All My Children (Erica Kane: 1970-Present)
- That's So Raven (Ms. Romano: 2005)
- Hope and Faith (Jacqueline Karr: 2004)
- Blood on Her Hands (Isabelle Collins: 1998)
- Seduced and Betrayed (Victoria Landers: 1995)
- Ebbie (Elizabeth 'Ebbie' Scrooge: 1995)
- French Silk (Claire Laurent: 1994)
- Between Love and Hate (Vivian Conrad: 1993)
- Double Edge (Maggie Dutton/Carmen Moore: 1992)
- The Woman Who Sinned (Victoria Robeson: 1991)
- Dallas (Hillary Taylor/Faux Sheila Foley: 1990-1991)
- The Bride in Black (Rose D'Amore-Malloy: 1990)
- Lady Mobster (Laurel Castle: 1988)
- Haunted by Her Past (aka Secret Passions) (Karen Beckett: 1987)
- Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (Darya Romanoff: 1986)
- Mafia Princess (Antoinette Giancana: 1986)
- The Fall Guy (Veronica Remy: 1984)
- Invitation to Hell (Jessica Jones: 1984)
- Fantasy Island (Gina Edwards: 1983)
- The Love Boat (Paula: 1982)
