Susan Lucci is the grand dame of the television soap opera, having spent most of her adult life portraying the scheming temptress Erica Kane on the drama, "All My Children."
Reputed to be the highest-paid performer on daytime television, with a salary of more than $1 million a year, Lucci is perhaps better known for the dubious distinction of being nominated 19 times before winning an Emmy Award. The drought was so conspicuous that it became fodder for guffaws on "Saturday Night Live." After Lucci was invited to host the program, cast and crew members scurried around carrying Emmys of their own, as if Lucci was the only person without one.
When she finally did capture an Emmy with that 19th nomination in 1999, the audience gave her a long standing ovation and a visibly moved Lucci sobbed as she took the stage. Her costars, Kelly Ripa and Marcy Walker, also openly wept.
Fine-boned, with an aristocratic beauty, the dark-haired Lucci has played the sexy, conniving Erica Kane since "All My Children" first aired in 1970. The native of Scarsdale, New York, who was born in 1946, has aged gracefully with the role and also appeared in guest spots on the popular nighttime soap opera "Dallas." Her film credits include mostly breathless, made-for-TV fare, including "Mafia Princess," "Seduced and Betrayed" and "Blood on Her Hands."
Married since 1969 to Austrian businessman Helmut Huber, Lucci has enjoyed a personal life far removed from the turmoil of her soap-opera characters. Lucci's daughter, Liza Huber, is a soap-opera actress, and her son, Andreas Huber, is an aspiring professional golfer.
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