Susan Lucci not dissuaded

When young, actress Susan Lucci was told she looked "too ethnic" to aim for a career in acting. She persisted in her dream, however, and became a legend in soaps, playing Erica Kane in All My Children for 41 years, which ended its run (on TV, at least, it may yet find a second life) last month.

Nominated many times for best actress in the Emmys, she didn't win for many years, smiled off being an object of jokes for not winning -- and finally won, on her 19th nomination. "I'm going back to the studio and play Erica for all I'm worth" -- were her words on accepting the award, beaming a huge smile.

She lives in the same town she was raised in (Garden City, Long Island), and though Erica Kane had some 11 husbands, Susan Lucci, has had just one. She is a model of persistence and determination. The race is not to the swift, but to the steady....