Victoria Wyndham
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Victoria Camargo, known professionally as Victoria Wyndham (born May 22, 1945), is an American actress best known for her role as Rachel Cory on the
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 ...
'' Another World''.


Personal life

Born Victoria Camargo, Wyndham is the daughter of Florence Skeels and
Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...
stage and screen actor
Ralph Camargo Ralph Jaime Camargo (February 27, 1912 – January 15, 1992) was an American actor, best known for his work in theater. He was also well known for being "the voice of Dynamic," narrating many short films in the 1950s and 1960s for the Fires ...
. Her sister is stage actress Felice Camargo. Wyndham's sons are actor Christian Camargo (né Christian Minnick) and photographer Darian Minnick.


Early career

Wyndham first started her acting career as understudy in the role of Hodel in the Broadway production of ''
Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on ''Tevye and his Daughters'' (or ''Tevye the ...
''. She went on to perform cabaret with
Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the vari ...
for two years at Upstairs at the Downstairs.


Daytime television credits

Wyndham first made a name for herself when she played Charlotte Waring Fletcher Bauer, (posing as Tracy Delmar) on the soap opera ''
Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...
'' from 1967 to 1971. When she left ''The Guiding Light'', she became a hot commodity in casting circles, with many soap operas offering contracts to her. She admitted in a ''
TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine interview that she almost did not follow through with a career in
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 ...
s. Wyndham said, "When I first went into soaps, I didn't tell my serious acting friends. I thought they'd laugh. But now I'm proud of my work; some of the best acting, best moments are in this medium." She was subsequently cast on the
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 ...
'' Another World'' in the role of Rachel, for which she is perhaps best known. Wyndham succeeded actress
Robin Strasser Robin Victory in Europe Strasser (born May 7, 1945) is an American actress, best known for her role as Dorian Lord on the ABC daytime soap opera ''One Life to Live''. Life and career Strasser's middle name is a tribute to her being born the day ...
in the role and portrayed Rachel from 1972 until the show ended in 1999. Wyndham also was a writer. When Wyndham took over the role from Strasser, the character was a villain. The head writer at the time,
Harding Lemay Harding Lemay (March 16, 1922 – May 26, 2018), also known as Pete Lemay, was an American screenwriter and playwright. He was best known for his stint as head writer of the soap opera '' Another World''. Career Lemay was head writer of the s ...
, was impressed by Wyndham's range and decided to take the character in different directions. The character of Rachel was reformed after being paired with a much-older book publisher,
Mackenzie Cory This is a list of some of the major characters that have appeared in the soap opera '' Another World'', which originally aired from May 4, 1964, to June 25, 1999. A ;Joyce Abernathy :Played by Rena Sofer, 1987 ;Dave Adama :Played by John Mattey ...
( Douglass Watson). It made Wyndham very popular with fans and proved to be very lucrative as well. Although highly regarded, Wyndham did have one peculiar run-in with a fan: author Annie Gilbert, in the book ''All My Afternoons'', noted that Wyndham was mildly assaulted when an enraged fan, fed up with Rachel's scheming ways and thinking Wyndham was her character, attempted to punch her at a Lord & Taylor store in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, all the while screaming, "I hate you! I hate you!" In the later years of the program, Wyndham took on the double role of Justine Duvalier, Rachel's new husband Carl's ex-lover. She played the dual role for two years (1995 and 1996) before Justine was killed off. Wyndham was honored with a special episode showcasing her noteworthy performances on ''Another World'' in July 1997. At the time of the show's cancellation, she was the longest-running performer on the series.


Current work

Wyndham appeared in an episode of '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' on January 2, 2007, as "Rita Colino," a former wife of the dead partner of
Brian Dennehy Brian Manion Dennehy (; July 9, 1938 – April 15, 2020) was an American actor of stage, television, and film. He won two Tony Awards, an Olivier Award, and a Golden Globe, and received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Dennehy had roles in ...
's character.


Awards, honors and nominations


References


External links

*
Victoria Wyndham
at
Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It was conceived and created by Karen Hauser in 1996 and is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade assoc ...
* December 2007 Wikinews interview with Victoria Wyndham {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyndham, Victoria Actresses from Chicago American soap opera actresses American television actresses 1945 births Living people American actresses of Mexican descent 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses