Daytime Emmys flashback: Susan Lucci finally won on her 19th nomination
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She stole men from other women and then threw them aside. She steamrolled over anyone in her path to achieve fame and success. She backstabbed and connived. We hated her. We loved her. We loved to hate her. And we wept with her when she occasionally showed vulnerability. She is one of the most — if not the most — famous soap opera characters of all time, and her portrayer was the basis of one of the most infamous award show dramas of all time.
Susan Lucci debuted the character of Erica Kane on the 10th episode of “All My Children” in 1970. Her fierce portrayal of the ambitious heroine soon made her the star of the serial, and she received her first Daytime Emmy nomination for Best Actress in 1978, which she lost to Laurie Heineman from “Another World.” Three years would pass before she’d receive another, which she lost to Judith Light from “One Life to Live.” Then she received another the next year, and the next, and the next. . . she lost 17 times consecutively, most frequently to Kim Zimmer from “Guiding Light” (three times) and Erika Slezak from “One Life to Live” (five times).
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During those 17 years, it undoubtedly stung each time another name was announced, even as she became the most iconic and highest-paid performer in daytime television. As her name became synonymous with failed awards bids, though, the actress proved to have as much spunk as her character. In 1990, after 11 failed bids, she hosted “Saturday Night Live” and made light of her numerous losses. During her monologue she did a “flashback” to her backstage preparations, during which she encountered various cast and crew members who had their own Emmys on display, or used the statues as props, concluding with several using theirs as corn-on-the-cob holders that culminated in an Emmy Award food fight. She also did a commercial for the sugar substitute Sweet One in full Erica Kane mode, declaring that with Sweet One, she has everything she wants — “except that Emmy!”
Over the years the “All My Children” writers provided Lucci with “sure-fire” Emmy-winning storylines. In 1994 Frances Heflin, Lucci’s onscreen mother, passed away, and her character Mona was killed off as well. Fans felt sure Erica’s heartfelt reaction would get Lucci that Emmy, but it wasn’t to be. In 1993 Erica’s long-lost daughter, who had been the result of a rape, was introduced. In 1995 an actress did win for that storyline — Sarah Michelle Gellar won Best Younger Actress for her role as that younger version of Erica herself, Kendall Hart, but again Lucci was unable to get the gold. In 1998, however, a plot in which Erica’s other daughter, Bianca, was diagnosed with anorexia while one of Erica’s (many) ex-husbands tried to take her child away from her, gave Lucci another ripe storyline. And this time it paid off.
On May 21, 1999, actor Shemar Moore (“The Young and the Restless”) sauntered onto the stage to announce the outstanding daytime diva. After the nominees were presented, he opened the envelope and declared, “The streak is over!” and the crowd went wild. A standing ovation, an audience of her peers in tears and shrieks of joy, indicated that one of the longest losing streaks in awards history had finally ended. Susan Lucci had her Emmy on nomination number-19.
She stood at the microphone for more than a full minute before beginning her speech with “I truly believed this would never happen,” waiting for the cheering crowd to quiet down. Instead of focusing on the fact that she lost 18 times, she thanked the voters for considering her work worthy of 19 nominations. She claimed that she wasn’t meant to win before that night, because otherwise she wouldn’t have that collection of “poems and letters and drawings and balloons and chocolate cakes” that her children had given her to make her feel better.
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She thanked her husband, whom she had married in 1969 — the opposite of the many-times married Erica Kane. She thanked the writers and casting directors of “All My Children” for seeing her as “more than an ethnic type.” As she acknowledged that she was being signaled to “wrap it up,” the audience booed, encouraging her to continue. She carried on, claiming her spotlight in true Erica Kane fashion despite the play-off music, and continued to thank the numerous people who had helped her throughout her career. After declaring that she was supposed to “only be on every other Tuesday,” she thanked her fans and promised to never let them down. She finished with, “I’m going back to that studio Monday and I’m going to play Erica Kane for all she’s worth.”
And she did, until the series’ conclusion in 2012; in total, she portrayed Erica Kane for 41 years. She received two more Emmy nominations for her efforts, in 2001 and 2002, but did not win. She really didn’t need to, though. She has her Emmy, she holds the title of queen of daytime TV, and she had one of the most memorable winning moments in awards history with one of the most gracious and eloquent speeches ever spoken.
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