Whatever Happened To Susan Lucci?

At one time, the name Susan Lucci was synonymous with daytime television. She was an original cast member of ABC's "All My Children," the soap opera that aired from 1970 to 2011 with Lucci around for the entire 41-year ride.

In fact, Lucci was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a drama series a whopping 18 times before finally taking home the gold statuette in 1999. According to Entertainment Weekly, Lucci admitted that she didn't even hear presenter Shemar Moore call her name at first.

"After I think, what was the ninth time, I started to black out, I don't know if it was self-protective," she recalled in 2020. "My biggest fear [was] that someday, I might just think they called my name and go up there."

While Lucci was not portraying the indomitable Erica Kane on the 2013 reboot that streamed on Hulu and aired on OWN, (via The New York Times), she was still out making a name for herself, outside of fictional town of Pine Valley. 

Susan Lucci was just 23 years old when she first appeared in "All My Children"'s black and white premier episode in 1970, according to Today. Even when she played Erica Kane, she branched out and worked on countless TV movies, including "Mafia Princess," "The Bride in Black," "Lady Mobster," and "Haunted By Her Past." You can also catch her on re-runs of "Fantasy Island" and "Love Boat," according to IMDb.

After "All My Children" ended in 2011, Lucci did not have trouble finding work and had regular roles in the primetime series "Hot In Cleveland" and "Devious Maids." She even made a cameo appearance in the feature film, "Joy" in 2015, in which she played a fictional soap actress portraying her fictional soap character, (via IMDb).

But perhaps Lucci's most important work after playing Erica Kane came from her being herself after a terrifying incident back in 2018.

Susan Lucci was 72 years old when she started feeling chest pain while shopping and took herself to an emergency room. She told the Today show that the doctor informed her that she had a 90% blockage in her main artery; that diagnosis led to surgery where two stents were put in.

The following year, Lucci went on the Today show with a message for women: "I think the takeaway is, for women in particular, to put yourself on your to-do list because even when I felt the elephant pressing on my chest and even when [the store manager] Judy said, 'I will drive you to the hospital,' I was thinking, 'But I have to go here. I have to do this.' You know, it was the middle of the afternoon and I have no time for this and I'm sure it'll go away."

According to Forbes, in 2020, the survivor was named as The American Heart Association's Go Red Ambassador.

While she is living her life and paying attention to her heart health, Susan Lucci also looks forward to the possibility of going full circle in her career. Her former "All My Children" co-stars, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, are developing a primetime sequel to the daytime soap for ABC called "Pine Valley." There has been talk of bringing back several former "All My Children" stars for the long-anticipated reboot.

Lucci has made it no secret that she'd love to play Erica again. According to Soap Opera Network, Lucci told Dr. Oz in April of 2021 that she hopes to be brought on.

"I know the fans want that very, very much," Lucci explained. "And, I still believe that Erica Kane is one of the best parts ever written for a woman so I certainly hope so ... It would be wonderful to play her again and with the company of actors."