Susan Lucci
Hollywood’s Most Sensational Leading Lady
The Ever Elegant Icon IS Entertainment Royalty
Susan Lucci is the highly celebrated actress and a NY Times best-selling author with the autobiography, “All My Life.” She is best known for her Emmy award as an actress for her role as Erica Kane on ABC’s “All My Children.” Among her many honors, she was named one of VH1’s 200 top icons of all-time, one of E! Entertainment’s “Top Entertainers of the Year” and one of Barbara Walters’ “Ten Most Fascinating People.” She was also the recipient of the prestigious New York City Gracie Award, the Muse Award for Women in Film & Television, and she is the only daytime actress to ever have won the People’s Choice Award. She is also proud to serve as an Ambassador for the newly established National Women’s Museum in Washington, DC. Acting and singing are only two of Lucci’s many passions. Within the past 10 years she became a successful entrepreneur launching a Susan Lucci Collection of hair care products, two fragrances, jewelry, shoes, accessory lines and a lingerie line for “beauty of all ages.” She lives in Garden City, New York, with her husband, Helmut Huber. In this exclusive interview, Lucci shares her beauty secrets, the philosophy behind her long career and why all women should listen to their bodies.
Q: You are such an amazing model for owning your own classy and reserved identity. What advice do you have for other women who hope to follow in your steps? “I think it’s a good idea when you begin to decide if you’re in it for the long run and if you are, make your choices carefully. My dad believed very much in getting the best education I could get. I think that’s really important. Then you have great tools, you are better able to judge what the good decisions are. You’re better able to do good work and get more opportunity. Then you are based on something concrete. Maybe this sounds very old-school, but that’s what I believe can hold well going forward, having that good foundation.”
Q: What is your favorite beauty routine? What is the secret to your youthful look? “I think we all get a certain gene pool, and I’ve been very lucky. Both my parents have great skin and my mom is still with me and she’s still beautiful. I am disciplined about my skin care and taking my make-up off, no matter how late it is. I drink a lot of hot water and lemon throughout the course of the day… It’s very soothing, but it also balances your pH and your metabolism. That is a lot of good things to get from a little cup of hot water and lemon. I also do pilates almost every single day; my full routine it’s probably 25 minutes.”
Q: What can you tell us about your process in writing “All My Life”? “I have always felt like I was shot from a cannon. I am someone who is always going forward… I’ve never been somebody who looks back. Doing this book gave me the opportunity to look back. That was a rare and wonderful opportunity and it probably was a big help in growing. I’m so grateful for that opportunity; I am also grateful for the fact that it became a New York Time’s Best Seller. When it’s your name on a book, and they say you’re going to open a Barnes and Noble on Fifth Avenue, you just hope that somebody shows up.”
Q: How did your recent health scare, impact your life? What is your message to other women? “You know, I’ve always been really healthy and I do my check-ups and all of that. Frankly, the doctors would write on my check-ups, ‘Excellent, excellent.’ I have always been very happy about that. My mother just turned 102 in March. So you know, we thought that I have all my mother’s genes. In October, I was at a restaurant with my husband. I had a very distinct kind of pressure in the center of my chest. It radiated around my rib cage to my back. It went away, it was just a momentary thing. I didn’t think much of it until about two weeks later. I had the same feeling. I knew, but I didn’t. You know how you kind of tell yourself these things as women. We don’t often take our symptoms very seriously. About a week after… I felt something in my chest that was just undeniable pressure. I sat down on the loveseat and the manager came over. She asked me if I was OK. She asked me what I was feeling. I told her that it felt like an elephant was pressing on my chest and it was radiating around my rib cage to my back. She very calmly and generously said to me, ‘You know, my car is right outside. Why don’t I drive you to the hospital.’ I was so lucky on so many levels. First of all, the reason I could even describe it felt like an elephant is because I just happened to have heard a woman years ago being interviewed on a TV show. She was talking about how women’s symptoms are different than men’s. That’s what she was describing, she had an elephant resting on her chest. I never would have thought that. On top of everything else, I had good luck because the store manager Judy also had a degree in nursing. She recognized right away what was going on. I was reluctant to call the hospital because I thought I was overreacting. I didn’t want to bother the doctor. Besides, I thought, ‘I have too much to do.’ This is so typical of how we as women are. The doctor said he would meet me at the emergency room. “Your symptoms are significant.” He did a cat scan and it turned out that I had a 90 percent blockage in my main artery. It was calcium which is something my dad had. DNA plays a part in this as well. They put in two stents that night. I was discharged the next day. The doctor said that he usually tells a patient to alter their diet and increase their exercise. But he said, ‘I know you and I know what you do and it’s not that.’ So he explained that what I had was in my DNA or stress, one of those two factors.”
Q: Was there a non-profit who has supported your awareness campaign? “The American Heart Association. They have been wonderful and have helped me to get my story out there. I want to share my story so that I can help someone. I was so happy with the media attention. CNN and everyone just were on board giving me an opportunity to tell my story. Women should be aware that they need to put themselves on their to-do list, that we need to listen to our bodies and take care of ourselves as well as everyone else in our lives.”
Q: You have been married for 49 years. What do you attribute your successful marriage to? “My husband has always been a rock for me. He never once resented my career. You know I’m going to tell you that I got very lucky because I was married young. My husband has been very much a rock to me and very grounding, real and very, very, funny and smart and not to mention really handsome! I was with him from the beginning of my career. He never once resented it. Listen. I don’t think a man or a woman being married to an actor is an easy job. It’s not for everybody, and did everything to help me. He never stood in my way. He is creative and has handled the business part of show business… That’s been wonderful for me.”
Q: What does it feel like to be where you are in life right now? “I’m happy you know. I think I’ve been very lucky until last year, I had no health issues and this is one is being managed. I’m feeling great and actually two days after they put the stent in, I was on stage here in New York. So it hasn’t slowed me down or stopped me from doing anything. I’m happy!”
Q: What can we expect next from you? “I’m actually in pre-production for the first of three movies with the Hallmark Network. I’m very excited about it. For the first time, I am also the executive producer on the project. I’m going to be playing one of the lead characters who I love. I love everything about it. I’ve been in on the collaboration from the very beginning and it’s very creative and very exciting. I’m really having such a good time.”
