Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 23, 1990 TAG: 9006230404
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A fan once walked up to Susan Lucci (who plays Erica Kane on "All My Children"), punched her in the arm and said, "All my friends in Syracuse made me promise I'd do that if I ever ran into you."
Lynn Herring, who plays Lucy Coe on "General Hospital," described a similar scenario: "I had one little old lady call me a tramp and step on my foot, and everyone in the bank turned to look at me."
These actresses and other stars of daytime television, who persevere in spite of the bad rap that traditionally plagues the genre, will be honored Thursday at the 17th annual Daytime Emmy Awards from the Mariott Marquis Hotel in New York City. ABC (WSET-Channel 13 in the Roanoke viewing area) will telecast the program beginning at 3 p.m.
Oprah Winfrey, who has her own Emmy Award-winning daytime talk show and stars in the prime-time series "Brewster Place," will be host of the awards program that recognizes achievements in children's shows, talk shows and soap operas.
Lucci represents one of the soap world's most extreme cases of perseverance. She has been nominated for, and has lost, the Emmy Award for outstanding lead actress 10 times for the same role. This year marks her 11th nomination, as she competes with past winner Kim Zimmer of "Guiding Light," Elizabeth Hubbard of "As The World Turns," Finola Hughes of "General Hospital" and Jeanne Cooper of "The Young and the Restless."
The Emmy has not been elusive only to Lucci. "All My Children" has never won the Emmy for outstanding drama series, although this year it received 13 nominations, second only to "The Young and the Restless" and "Guiding Light," which each earned 14. Those three soap operas, plus "Santa Barbara," are vying for the title of outstanding drama series this year.
Despite the empty spot on her mantle, Lucci remains one of the genre's most famous characters and most fiery temptresses. Since "All My Children" had its debut on Jan. 5, 1970, Lucci has taken Kane through two decades of growth, from a troubled teen to an international beauty to a magazine publisher. Although her character has been married seven times, making Kane's life far removed from that of an average viewer, she currently faces a challenge typical to many women in the '90s: juggling motherhood, career and romance.
"Erica is probably the best part ever written for a woman," said Lucci, reportedly one of the highest-paid performers in daytime television. She has received a tremendous amount of publicity for losing all her previous Emmy nominations, in addition to the attention she has garnered as the soap world's undeclared spokeswoman on talk shows and magazine covers.
Fiendish female villains are not only popular among the shows' loyal audiences, but they are gladly embraced by the actresses who play them.
"The variety is what I like," said Herring, who is nominated for outstanding supporting actress. "Resident villainess Lucy is not typically one level. I'm playing something different every day. I think bad characters are easier to write for. I've never gotten bored. Being nasty breaks the day up. Sometimes I'll be driving down the freeway with that adrenaline rush from an emotional scene I just played. The 45-minute drive to get to Topanga Canyon gets the Lucy out of me," said Herring, who has played Lucy since the character's creation four years ago.
Herring said that the chance for an Emmy nomination is heightened by a character who is versatile.
"I had a great story line this year. I had an affair with a slimy lawyer at the same time I got a rich man to leave his wife of 14 years. So the audience was shocked and teed off."
Herring, who will be a presenter for the awards show for the first time this year, said that daytime television is being taken more seriously lately.
"Daytime has had a negative rap in the past. It's changed a lot. People appreciate it more now. (People used to think a soap opera) wasn't the same category of acting. But we're getting an hour show out a day. We are so different" from prime-time series, she said.
That difference is acknowledged by the fact that daytime television has its own separate Emmy Awards, which Herring thinks is appropriate because "we are a unique group. All our viewers can watch during the day. But I wish we had a mention in the nighttime Emmys. It's closer and closer to happening."
by CNB