Erika Alma Hermina Slezak (; born August 5, 1946) is an American actress, best known for her role as Victoria "Viki" Lord on the American daytime

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...

'' from 1971 through the television finale in 2012 and again in the online revival in 2013. She is one of the longest-serving serial actors in American media. For her portrayal of Viki, she has won six

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

, the most of any daytime drama actress.

Life and career

Slezak was born in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

, of

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

German-Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

descent, the daughter of

Tony award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

-winning Austrian actor

Walter Slezak Walter Slezak (; 3 May 1902 – 21 April 1983) was an Austrian-born film and stage actor active between 1922 and 1976. He mainly appeared in German films before migrating to the United States in 1930 and performing in numerous Hollywood producti ...

and Johanna "Kaasi" Van Rijn, and the granddaughter of opera tenor

Leo Slezak Leo Slezak (; 18 August 1873 – 1 June 1946) was a Moravian dramatic tenor. He was associated in particular with Austrian opera as well as the title role in Verdi's ''Otello''. He is the father of actors Walter Slezak and Margarete Slezak and ...

. Her godmother was

Alma Mahler-Werfel Alma Maria Mahler Gropius Werfel (born Alma Margaretha Maria Schindler; 31 August 1879 – 11 December 1964) was an Austrian composer, author, editor, and socialite. At 15, she was mentored by Max Burckhard. Musically active from her early year ...

. She was born two months after her grandfather died. Raised in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

, Slezak attended high school at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Eden Hall in

Torresdale, Philadelphia Torresdale, also formerly known as Torrisdale, is a neighborhood in the Far Northeast section of Philadelphia. Torresdale is located along the Delaware River between Holmesburg and Bensalem Township in neighboring Bucks County. The adjacent co ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. At age 17, she became one of the youngest individuals ever accepted into

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

's prestigious

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...

, later graduating in 1966. Establishing a noteworthy reputation in theater, she performed in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

''One Life to Live''

In 1971, Slezak auditioned for the role of nurse Mary Kennecott on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...

''. She was not cast on that show, but the network offered her the role of Victoria "Viki" Lord Riley on ''

'' (''OLTL''). In her 42 years in the role, Slezak won six

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

s, which is an Emmy record for a female performer. In 2007, Slezak voiced strong criticism of ''OLTL'' then- head writer,

Dena Higley Dena Higley (born September 26, 1958) is an American writer, speaker and author. Early life and career Higley grew up in East County, San Diego and was the first of three children. She moved to Los Angeles as a teenager eventually graduating from ...

. In the March 2007 edition of Slezak's fan club newsletter, she stated, "Dena doesn't care about the rich history of the show, which is evident in what she writes" and that Higley "wants to write stories that she thinks are interesting but nobody else does."

Ron Carlivati Ronald David Carlivati (born November 25, 1968) is an American screenwriter. He is best known for his tenures as head writer on the ABC Daytime soap operas ''One Life to Live'' and ''General Hospital''. He is currently serving a position as head w ...

was subsequently made co-head writer, with Higley ultimately leaving the series in September 2007. In April 2011, ABC announced that ''OLTL'' would be cancelled, with its final airdate in January 2012. However, media company Prospect Park licensed the creative rights to the show from ABC in July 2011 and announced that they would migrate the series to an online format. In September 2011, Slezak confirmed she would be participating in the new version show, along with other regular cast members. The Prospect Park project stalled in November 2011, and ''OLTL'' ended its run on ABC as scheduled. In early 2013, Prospect Park announced it was moving forward with their online versions of ''One Life to Live'' and ''All My Children'', with Slezak confirmed on board. The revived series, taped in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

, premiered on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

Hulu Plus Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series l ...

, and

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

on April 29, 2013 and ran through August 19, 2013.

Other projects

Slezak portrayed Jean Roberts in the 1996

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

adaptation of Danielle Steel's novel '' Full Circle''. In April 2018, Slezak appeared as Dr. Eileen Jacoby on the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

series '' The Resident'', in the episode "Haunted". In 2019, she starred alongside Jeff Daniels in the drama film ''

Guest Artist In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...

'', based on the actor's 2006 play of the same name. Later that year, she guest-starred in the CBS police drama '' Blue Bloods''. She returned to series in 2022. In 2019, Slezak was interviewed for an episode of the ABC news program ''

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

'' which focused on the murder of actress

Rebecca Schaeffer Rebecca Lucile Schaeffer (November 6, 1967 – July 18, 1989) was an American actress and model. She began her career as a teen model before moving on to acting. In 1986, she landed the role of Patricia "Patti" Russell in the CBS comedy ''My Sis ...

. Schaeffer had a recurring role on ''One Life to Live'' in the mid-1980s.

Personal life

Slezak is married to Brian Davies, and is the mother of two children, Michael (born 1980) and Amanda (born 1981). In 2003, Amanda played a teenaged Victoria in flashback scenes on ''One Life to Live''.

Awards and nominations

Slezak has won six

s in the category of " Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series" out of nine nominations for her role as Victoria. Nominated in 1983, 1988, and 2012, she won in 1984, 1986, 1992, 1995, 1996 and 2005, making the record for most wins by an actress and, along with

Justin Deas Justin Deas (born March 30, 1948, in Connellsville, Pennsylvania) is an American actor. He is known primarily for his work on daytime soap operas. Personal life Deas received his Bachelor of Arts from the College of William & Mary. Deas married ...

, is second to 8-time winner

Anthony Geary Anthony Geary (born May 29, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for playing the role of Luke Spencer on the ABC daytime drama ''General Hospital''. He originated the role of Luke in 1978 and received a record eight Daytime Emmy Awards for O ...

, for the most wins for playing one character. Additionally, Slezak won a ''Soap Opera Digest'' Award for Favorite Couple with

Mark Derwin Mark Derwin (born October 28, 1960) is an American film and television actor. Derwin began his career on ''Days of Our Lives'' in 1987 with a minor role as Jeremiah Brown. In 1988, Derwin appeared in the role of Adrian Hunter on ''The Young and ...

in 2000. ;

wins ; ''Soap Opera Digest'' Award wins

Filmography

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Slezak, Erika 1946 births Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American people of Austrian descent American people of Czech descent American people of Dutch descent American people of German-Jewish descent American television actresses American soap opera actresses Daytime Emmy Award winners Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series winners Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Actresses from Greenwich, Connecticut