Susan Lucci has celebrated a huge achievement in her 54-year career. On Friday, amidst the 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, Lucci was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. When it came time to accept this momentous honor, Lucci’s thoughts turned to her husband, the late Helmut Huber, to whom she gave abundant credit for her achievement.
During the entirety of ABC’s All My Children, from 1970 to 2011, audiences knew Lucci, today 76, as Erica Kane, recognized as one of the most popular soap opera characters to date, who TV Guide calls “unequivocally the most famous soap opera character in the history of daytime TV.” Lucci received 21 nominations for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Lucci has also made it to VH1‘s list of 200 Top Icons of All Time and her salary of over $1 million a year raised the bar for what women should expect compare to their male counterparts.
Susan Lucci accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys
53-year-old Shemar Moore presented Lucci with her Lifetime Achievement Award; It was also Moore who gave Lucci her 1999 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
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“She’s been in TV series as well as film and stage,” said Lucci in her speech, “she’s been ranked as one of the 50 greatest television stars of all time and I couldn’t agree more.” Moore outlined Lucci’s many accomplishments and career highlights, including maintaining the role of Erica Kane for four decades. After, a video montage played some of these big moments for the audience to see.
Finally, messages from her colleagues played, offering her congratulations. When it was Lucci’s turn to speak, she was equally as appreciative of others as they were of her.
Susan Lucci reflects on this momentous occasion
Ascending the stage, Lucci, clad in an orange dress bedazzled in strips of shimmering silver, expressed her gratitude to everyone in the room. “How lucky am I to dream my dreams of becoming an actress and grow up and have my dreams come true?” she marveled. “There were obstacles and there were roadblocks — they were wannabe obstacles and roadblocks — but tonight’s a night to celebrate.”
She extended words of thanks to her fans “for loving Erica Kane, even when she wasn’t so lovable,” adding, “Thanks to them, I got to continue to play her again and again.”
Lucci focused on where her own journey began and thanked her parents “for the example they set for me … for telling me I could shoot for the moon and the stars, and to never be afraid.” Then she looked to where All My Children began and praised series creator Agnes Nixon as a “trailblazer” and “visionary storyteller” who “gave me the part of the lifetime.” She called her All My Children castmates the “most accomplished and talented actors in NY.”
She also thanked those who were with her each day in a very personal way. “The icing on the cake tonight is that my son Andreas is with me,” said Lucci, “It means so much to me to have you here with me. I feel your dad’s presence here with us tonight too. I thank my husband Helmut Huber because he has everything to do with me standing up here tonight and receiving this incredible award.”
Congratulations to the legendary Susan Lucci!