Erika Alma Hermina Slezak

Erika Alma Hermina Slezak was born August 5, 1946, in Hollywood, California, into a family deeply rooted in the performing arts. Her father, Walter Slezak, was a distinguished stage and screen actor and Tony Award winner, while her mother, Johanna Van Rijn, was a Dutch-born former opera singer who also pursued an interest in ceramics. Her paternal grandfather, Leo Slezak, was an acclaimed operatic tenor, and her aunt, Margarete Slezak, was an actress and singer. Erika grew up with her older sister, Ingrid, and younger brother, Leo.

Erika's middle name Alma was given to her in honor of her godmother, Alma Mahler, widow of celebrated composer Gustav Mahler. German was spoken in the Slezak household, and Erika learned German before English. Although she grew up surrounded by accomplished performers, she was determined to establish a career on her own merits.

At just 17, Erika was accepted into London's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), becoming one of its youngest students. During her training, she received the Bossom Prize for diction, a particularly notable achievement for a young American studying among predominantly British classmates. Her honors at RADA also included a Bronze Medal for first place in the winter term and a Silver Medal for second place in the spring term. Erika's rigorous classical training would provide the foundation for the career that followed.

After completing her studies, Erika returned to the United States and began her professional career on the stage. She spent three seasons with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater and performed at Houston's Alley Theatre, as well as in other regional and Off-Broadway productions. Her stage work encompassed a wide range of classical and contemporary roles. In 1974, she played Elizabeth in the Roundabout Theatre's Off-Broadway production of W. Somerset Maugham's The Circle, where she met actor Brian Davies, whom she would later marry.

On March 17, 1971, Erika made her television debut as Victoria “Viki” Lord on ABC's One Life to Live. It was a role that would become one of the most enduring in daytime television. For more than four decades, Erika remained at the heart of the series, portraying Viki throughout the remainder of its ABC run and returning to the role for the show's online continuation in 2013.

In 1974, Erika had the special opportunity to work alongside her father, Walter Slezak, when he guest-starred in four episodes of One Life to Live as Viki's godfather, Lazlo Braedecker. During one scene, Walter surprised Erika by changing his scripted dialogue and telling Viki, “You could be my own daughter.” With the cameras still rolling, Erika had to continue the scene in tears—a treasured memory of the only time father and daughter worked together on television.

Over those years, Viki became one of daytime television's most complex and beloved characters. Erika portrayed her through marriages, motherhood, family tragedies, romance, illness and some of One Life to Live's most ambitious storylines. Among the most demanding were the stories involving Viki's dissociative identity disorder, which required Erika to create and portray several distinctly different alternate personalities while maintaining Viki as the emotional center of the character. The role gave her an extraordinary opportunity to demonstrate her range, encompassing drama, humor, romance and heartbreak—sometimes within the same storyline.

Her work brought extraordinary recognition. Erika won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series six times—in 1984, 1986, 1992, 1995, 1996 and 2005—for her portrayal of Viki. She broke the category's record in 1995, extended that record with another victory in 1996, and then broke her own record again with her sixth win in 2005. Her six victories established an extraordinary benchmark in Daytime Emmy history and remain one of the defining achievements of her career.

Yet Erika's contribution to One Life to Live cannot be measured by awards alone. For generations of viewers, Viki Lord was one of the faces most closely identified with the program. During Erika's long tenure, she worked with generations of actors, writers, producers and directors and was entrusted with storylines ranging from intimate family drama to socially significant and technically challenging material. Her longevity gave her the unusual opportunity to allow one character to grow and change across more than 40 years.

Underlying that longevity was Erika's approach to acting as a craft. Her classical training, professionalism and respect for the collaborative nature of acting became hallmarks of her work. Through Viki, she created a character whose history unfolded alongside the lives of the viewers who watched her, establishing a connection between performer, character and audience that endured for decades.

Although Viki Lord is the role with which Erika will always be most closely associated, her career extends well beyond One Life to Live. She has appeared in other television productions, including primetime and television movies, while continuing to draw upon the theatrical training with which her career began. In 2019, she appeared as Helen opposite Jeff Daniels in the independent film Guest Artist, directed by Timothy Busfield.

In 2025, Erika made a welcome return to daytime television, joining ABC's General Hospital in the newly created role of Veronica “Ronnie” Bard, the younger sister of the late Monica Quartermaine. The guest role marked her return to daytime drama more than a decade after One Life to Live's online continuation and gave Erika the opportunity to create an entirely new character, distinctly different from Viki Lord.

Away from the screen, Erika married actor Brian Davies in 1978. Together they had two children, Michael and Amanda. Family has remained an important part of Erika's life throughout her career as she balanced the demanding schedule of daytime television with life away from the studio. Amanda sadly passed away in 2024.

From a 17-year-old American drama student at RADA to an accomplished stage actress, six-time Emmy winner, film and television performer, and the woman who brought Victoria Lord to life for more than four decades, Erika Slezak has built an extraordinary career distinguished by longevity, versatility, professionalism and devotion to her craft. Her portrayal of Viki remains an enduring part of the history of One Life to Live and American daytime television, while her later work—including her return to daytime on General Hospital—continues a remarkable career that has touched generations of viewers.