Susan Lucci began playing Erica Kane on the soap opera All My Children in 1970. Kane was a slinky, sneaky temptress and soon became the show's signature schemer. As the years went by and Susan Lucci became the grande dame of American soap operas, she also became famous for something else: being nominated for Emmy Awards without winning. Lucci was nominated 19 times altogether before finally, triumphantly, winning the daytime Emmy for best actress in 1999. All My Children was finally canceled by ABC in 2011. Susan Lucci has also starred in a string of breathless TV movies, including Mafia Princess (1986), The Bride in Black (1990), Seduced and Betrayed (1995) and Blood On Her Hands (1998). Lucci appeared on the 2008 edition of the TV show Dancing With The Stars, with competitors including Cloris Leachman and Kim Kardashian. Her 2011 autobiography was titled All My Life.

Extra credit: Susan Lucci is not the daughter of comedienne Phyllis Diller, despite long-running Internet rumors. The two are unrelated... Some sources list her birth year as 1947; Lucci is tight-lipped about her age, but it is known that she graduated from high school in 1964.