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It was a sad day for soap fans Thursday, when ABC announced that they would be canceling All My Children and One Life to Live. But how did All My Children star Susan Lucci take the news that her character for the past 40 years, the iconic Erica Kane, will no longer be around?
Just as you'd expect -- with grace and dignity.
"It's been a fantastic journey," Lucci, 64, said in a statement. "I loved playing Erica Kane and working with (show creator) Agnes Nixon and all the incredible people involved with All My Children. I'm looking forward to all kinds of new and exciting opportunities."
Lucci started on the show in 1970, and in her four decades as the glamorous Kane, she's played out just about every scenario that daytime dramas allow. With ten marriages, jail stints, addictions, infidelities and so much more, Lucci's Erica Kane has done it all.
And in 1999, Lucci finally won the Daytime Emmy for best actress, after losing 18 times before!
When news of the shows' canceling first began to swirl, AMC alum Kelly Ripa said she couldn't even fathom the show coming to an end.
"I can't even think about that," the Live with Regis and Kelly host said.
Ripa met husband Mark Consuelos on the set in 1995, when they began playing opposite each other. They went on to elope in 1996 and have three children together.
"All My Children means so much more to me than any place, because (Mark and I) met there, we had our children there, it was a big part of our lives, and I think that to cancel a show that has been on television for so many years, what are you going to replace it with? I mean I just don’t know. I just feel like it’s such a training ground for so many actors."
The canceling of these daytime dramas is the end of an an era for so many people. For those who grew up with characters like Erica Kane and Hayley Santos (Ripa's character) it's very much like losing a part of the family.
