Susan Lucci turns 79! See her transformation through the years

Susan is best known for portraying Erica Kane on ABC's All My Children. She landed the role in 1970 – first appearing in an episode on January 16 – when she was just 24-years-old. The actress adored her character. In February of this year, she spoke with People about Erica Kane and the groundbreaking stories told on All My Children, saying: "I'm certainly the luckiest to have been in the hands of [All My Children creator] Agnes Nixon and been given her trust to play this incredible part."

One of those groundbreaking stories occurred in 1973 – the same year as the Roe vs. Wade decision – when Erica chose to have a legal abortion. Erica was one of the first women on television to be both complex and career driven.

In 1976, Susan's character married Tom Cudahy, played by Richard Shoberg, in what was a highly anticipated event. While Erica got married eleven times throughout All My Children's run, the wedding to Tom gave fans an iconic wedding look. Susan as Erica wore an elegant long-sleeved dress with a beaded choker necklace.

While her soap opera character couldn't seem to keep a man, in her real life, Susan only had eyes for one guy. The actress married her Austrian-born husband, Helmut Huber, on September 16, 1969. The couple were together for 52 years, until Helmut's death on March 28, 2022.

During their marriage, they had two children – Liza, 50, and Andreas, 36.

Susan has been public about her grief of losing Helmut, sharing with Good Day New York in February 2023: "Everybody's different, and I just miss him and he's worth missing. He was really, really the love of my life."

Susan was notably nominated for 21 Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress. In 1999, after 18 nominations, Susan finally won an Emmy. During her speech, the actress declared: "I'm going back to that studio on Monday and I'm going to play Erica Kane for all she's worth."

In 2023, Susan won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. She told the crowd: "How lucky am I to dream my dreams of becoming an actress and grow up and have my dreams come true? There were obstacles and there were roadblocks — they were wannabe obstacles and roadblocks — but tonight's a night to celebrate."

35 years after All My Children premiered, Susan received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. At the ceremony, she was joined by her daughter, Liza, and Andreas, and her husband before he passed away.

Bob Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company, honored Susan at the ceremony, and her All My Children co-star, David Canary, attended the ceremony.

In 2018, Susan started experiencing chest pains, and convinced herself it would go away on its own. However, they came back again, and by the third time, it "felt like an elephant pressing down on my chest.

She told People that she went to St. Francis Hospital in New York, where she met with their Head of Cardiology, Dr. Shlofmitz. A CT scan revealed a 90 per cent blockage in her main artery and a 70 per cent blockage in another branch. He went on to perform emergency life-saving surgery on the actress.

Susan is now happy and healthy, living in her recently updated house in the Hamptons.