Victoria Lord
| Victoria Lord | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One Life to Live character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| File:VictoriaLord.png Erika Slezak as Victoria Lord | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Gillian Spencer Joanne Dorian Erika Slezak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1968–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 1, July 15, 1968 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Agnes Nixon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Victoria "Viki" Lord (previously Burke, Riley, Buchanan, Carpenter, Davidson, and Banks) is the principal fictional character on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, and the only character from the premiere episode still present on the series. Originated by Gillian Spencer on July 15, 1968,[1] Viki has been most notably portrayed for over four decades by Erika Slezak, who has appeared in the role since March 17, 1971.[2]
One of the longest-running characters on American daytime television, Viki has weathered widowhood (three times), divorce, a brain aneurysm, a near-death out-of-body experience, being shot, suffering a stroke, breast cancer, heart disease, a heart transplant, the abduction of three of her five children as infants, the deaths of two siblings, and the death of her daughter from lupus. Most notably, she has suffered from dissociative identity disorder on and off for decades.
Casting and awards
Victoria Lord was originally portrayed by Gillian Spencer from One Life to Live's premiere in 1968 until 1970.[1] The role was briefly recast with Joanne Dorian in 1970,[1] and again in 1971 with Slezak,[1][2] who has since become synonymous with the character. Two other actresses have portrayed Viki while Slezak was on maternity leave: Christine Jones in 1980 and 1981,[3] and Judith Barcroft in 1987.[3] In the summer of 2003, Slezak's real-life daughter, Amanda Davies, portrayed a teenaged Viki in flashbacks.[2]
Slezak has received six Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress for portraying Viki in 1984,[4] 1986,[5] 1992,[6] 1995,[7] 1996,[8] and 2005.[9] She holds the record for the most Daytime Emmy wins by a single actress; actors Anthony Geary and Justin Deas also each possess six Daytime Emmys, Geary for a single character and Deas for various characters.[2]
Storylines
1960s and 1970s
The eldest child of domineering millionaire publisher Victor Lord, Viki has little time for romance when One Life to Live begins in 1968. She clashes with reporter Joe Riley, but they soon fall in love; Victor disapproves and tries to keep them apart. Torn between pleasing her father and following her heart, Viki develops a wild alternate personality named Niki Smith, who falls in love with another man. Viki's illness — apparently caused by seeing her pregnant mother fall down the stairs as a child — is eventually treated, and she and Joe marry in 1969. Joe is presumed dead in a car accident in 1970, and a heartbroken Viki finds comfort with fellow reporter Steve Burke. After he is wrongly put on trial for the murder of his psychotic secretary Marcy Wade, Steve is exonerated, and he and Viki marry in 1972. A very-much alive Joe returns, having survived his supposedly deadly car accident, and Viki is forced to choose between her two husbands. Viki initially stays married to Steve out of obligation but ultimately divorces him and remarries Joe in 1974. That same year, Dr. Dorian Cramer blames board member Viki for her suspension from Llanview Hospital, and a rivalry is born that will last decades. In 1975 Dorian becomes Victor's private physician, then marries him. Viki learns she has a half-brother, Tony Lord, and Dorian plots to keep Victor's fortune for herself. In 1976, Victor dies under mysterious circumstances, Dorian wreaks havoc on the Lord family, and Viki and Joe have a son, Kevin. In 1978, Viki takes in Tina Clayton, the sixteen-year-old daughter of her best friend Irene Manning Clayton, who is dying of cancer. Shortly after Irene dies, Viki goes on trial for the murder of her nemesis Marco Dane, but she is later exonerated. Joe dies from a brain tumor in 1979, and Viki gives birth to their second son, Joe Jr., in 1980.
1980s
After a disastrous relationship with con man Ted Clayton, who brainwashes and drugs her in an attempt to get his hands on her fortune, Viki marries newspaper editor Clint Buchanan in 1982; he adopts both of her sons. Echo DiSavoy, seeking revenge on Clint for her mother's murder, seduces him in 1983 to ruin his marriage, then fakes her own death and frames him for it. Clint is later exonerated after Echo is found alive, and he and Viki reunite. Viki is shocked to discover in 1985 that her former ward Tina Clayton is in fact her half-sister, the daughter of Victor and Irene Manning, Viki's childhood friend. Thanks to the machinations of Tina's boyfriend Mitch Laurence, Viki succumbs to the pressure and Niki Smith returns. Posing as Viki, Niki divorces Clint; Viki later overcomes her illness with the realization that it had actually been triggered by her witnessing Victor and Irene in bed many years before. Clint and Viki remarry in 1986, and Viki gives birth to their daughter Jessica that same year. Jessica is kidnapped shortly after birth by Allison Perkins, a disciple of Mitch Laurence; thankfully, Jessica is returned unharmed, and Allison is institutionalized. In 1988, Viki learns that she had given birth to a baby in high school, but her father had a hypnotist erase the memory. Viki's memory is restored in 1989 when she meets Roger Gordon, the father of her child, whom she had married at the time but had been presumed dead; Viki has the marriage annulled at Clint's insistence. Roger's daughter Megan is revealed to also be Viki's daughter; she and Viki butt heads at first but ultimately get past their initial conflicts and become close.
1990s
In 1990, Viki is elected mayor of Llanview, but a shooting and subsequent stroke leaves her paralyzed and in a wheelchair; Niki Smith emerges to aid a paralyzed Viki stand up and shoot Johnny Dee Hesser when he attacks Tina. Viki recovers and later donates a kidney to Megan, who is suffering from lupus; despite the transplant, Megan dies, leaving Viki devastated. Having grown distant with Clint, Viki has an affair with Sloan Carpenter; she and Clint divorce in 1994, and she marries Sloan. Sloan dies soon after from Hodgkin's Disease, just as the existence of a second child of Victor and Irene's is revealed. Viki's stress reaches a critical point when Dorian tells Viki a secret of which she thought Viki had been aware: the fact that Victor had sexually abused his daughter as a child. With this trauma being what had actually initiated Viki's dissociative identity disorder, she splinters into several personalities, one of whom imprisons Dorian in a secret room below Llanfair. Dorian is eventually freed from her confinement, and Viki recovers after realizing she herself was the one who had smothered Victor to death in 1976. The reviled Todd Manning is proven to be Victor and Irene's illegitimate son; Viki and Todd eventually become close. After a failed reconciliation attempt with Clint, Viki meets and falls in love with Ben Davidson, who is eventually revealed to be the long-lost son of Asa Buchanan and Renee Divine. Ben's first wife, Skye Chandler, comes to town and tries in vain to keep Ben and Viki apart.
2000s
Viki is diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000, but survives after a mastectomy. She and Ben marry later that year. In 2001, a girl named Natalie Balsom makes the startling claim that she is Viki and Clint's biological daughter, which is confirmed by a DNA test. It is ultimately determined that Viki's enemy Mitch Laurence had secretly raped a drugged Viki around the same time she had conceived a child with Clint. Viki had unknowingly become pregnant with fraternal twins, one fathered by Clint (Natalie) and the other fathered by Mitch (Jessica). Mitch's daughter had been taken during delivery, and Viki had never known that she had more than one child. Mitch, however, had wanted his daughter to grow up loved by Viki in the lap of luxury, and had kidnapped Clint's child. She had been replaced with Mitch's daughter (who would become Jessica), and Clint's daughter (who would become Natalie) had been given away. Niki Smith emerges during the ordeal and plots to kill Ben in order to have her freedom, but when Ben is accidentally shot by Antonio Vega during a hostage crisis, Viki returns. Ben is left comatose after the shooting. In 2003, Victor is revealed to be alive, as he had faked his death years earlier; however, shortly after he returns, Victor dies--- but not before Viki gets a chance to confront him about the sexual abuse he inflicted upon her. In 2004, Viki is diagnosed with heart disease and eventually needs a heart transplant. Coincidentally, a comatose Ben dies just as Viki takes a turn for the worse, and his heart is transplanted into Viki, who recovers but must face widowhood once again.
In 2007, Viki and Clint start dating again, but Dorian decides she wants Clint for herself and plots to break up the couple. Dorian's schemes succeed, and Clint ends things with Viki to start a new relationship with Dorian. Feeling humiliated and defeated, Viki leaves Llanview for a much-needed vacation and finds herself in Paris, Texas, where she tries to reinvent herself by waiting tables at a local diner. It is there that she meets patron Charlie Banks, a recovering alcoholic, and the two begin seeing one another. Viki ultimately returns to Llanview once her family discovers her secret life, and Charlie's search for his estranged son Jared leads him there as well. Viki and Charlie resume their relationship, but break up when Viki discovers that Charlie had lied about the identity of his son in extenuating circumstances. In July 2008, Viki is involved in a car accident with Dorian; Viki's heart stops as a result of the crash, but Dorian manages to revive her. Reexamining her life, Viki reunites with Charlie, and they marry on August 4, 2009. Viki runs for mayor against Dorian and wins; she steps down, however, to help her family deal with the unexpected return of Mitch Laurence, who wreaks havoc on her daughters and murders Jared in the process.
2010s
Charlie, devastated over his son's death, falls off the wagon and distances himself from Viki, choosing instead to conspire with Dorian to kill Mitch; though Dorian tries to stop him at the last minute, Charlie ends up accidentally shooting Jessica, who survives. Devastated by Charlie's actions, Viki asks him for a divorce, but thanks to Dorian's meddling, Viki and Charlie reconcile.
Viki and Charlie's marriage is further complicated by the return of Echo DiSavoy, who had almost destroyed her marriage to Clint in 1983. Also a former lover of Charlie's, Echo soon announces that she and Charlie are Rex Balsom's biological parents, the result of a fling they had after Echo left Llanview 27 years earlier. Unbeknownst to Viki and Charlie, Clint is actually Rex's biological father, but not wanting anything to do with Rex (whom he considers a gold-digging troublemaker), Clint changes Rex's paternity results to show that Charlie is the young man's father. Echo, whom Clint forces to go along with his scheme, begins insinuating herself into Charlie and Viki's marriage and uses the situation ---as well as her own drinking problem--- to bond with Charlie, much to Viki's dismay. Soon enough, Clint's paternity test switch is exposed, and a devastated Charlie (who had come to love Rex as his son) turns to Echo for comfort, unaware of her role in Clint's scheme. Charlie and Echo begin a torrid affair behind Viki's back, as Charlie has developed deep feelings for Echo but is unwilling to leave his wife. Dorian, who has suspicions about Echo and Clint's dealings, forges a truce and sides with her perennial frenemy to deal with Echo and her chicanery. Tess, Jessica's wild alternate personality, returns and marries Robert Ford the biological father of her son Ryder. Viki and Clint file for custody of Ryder in order to protect the baby from Tess. Soon, a devastated Viki finds out about Charlie's affair and asks him for a divorce. Hoping to stop Viki from gaining custody of Ryder, Tess taunts her and tells Viki that she's a failure as a mother; unable to handle Tess's cruel words, Viki turns into Niki Smith. Shortly after, Jean Randolph, another one of Viki's alters, takes over. Viki ends up fainting during the hearing for Ryder's custody, and she regains control from both Niki and Jean. The judge decides against giving custody to Viki, Tess, or Robert Ford, instead allowing Joey and his wife, Aubrey, temporary custody of the baby. Though Charlie and Echo break up once he learns of all her lies, he and Viki proceed with their divorce, and he leaves Llanview to return to Paris, Texas. Viki is saddened to learn that Clint is dying and needs a heart transplant; she encourages him to fight and reminds him that she went through the same situation herself several years earlier, as she insists Clint do all he can to make amends for his behavior and get himself in good health, the two grow close once again.
Alternate personalities
Currently, all six of Viki's alternate personalities are integrated with her baseline psyche. In order of their first appearance on One Life to Live, they are:
- Nicole "Niki" Smith - a devil-may-care, sexually promiscuous party girl, approximately the same age as Viki. Niki has appeared more times than all of the other alters combined, and is very skilled at masquerading as Viki when necessary to hide her re-emergence. Niki has had two serious relationships with Vinny Wolek and Harry O'Neill, neither of whom realized at the time that Niki was an alter of Viki.
- Tommy - A teenage male alter emerged in 1995, who embodied Viki's anger and rage at her abuse. Tommy usually emerged to protect Princess (another alternate personality), and once threw Dorian Lord down the Llanfair staircase.
- Jean Randolph - Jean Randolph is the calm, cool, collected and calculating caretaker of all the other alters, who took over when Viki's abusive childhood was revealed. Her name is derived from that of Viki's mother, Eugenia Randolph Lord. Jean blackmailed con man David Vickers into divorcing Viki's sister, Tina, and also freed Viki's son, Joey, from Dorian Lord's clutches by imprisoning Dorian in a secret room in the basement of Llanfair, which led Joey to believe that Dorian left him. Jean then forced Dorian to marry David to keep them both occupied and away from Viki's loved ones.
- Princess - a manifestation of Viki as a seven year old girl. She is a traumatized child who is constantly reliving the molestation by Viki's father
- Tori - Tori emerged in 1995 and after Dorian revealed the truth of Victor's abuse to Viki. It was established that Tori was the alter who murdered Victor Lord in 1976. (It would later be revealed that Victor survived and did not die until 2003. However Dorian has planted a seed of doubt regarding that notion, suggesting that the man who re-emerged as Victor in 2003 was a fraud.) Although her declared mission was to force Viki to face the truth, she wreaked much destruction before getting around to that. Tori started undermining The Banner by feeding stories and information to rival newspaper editor Todd Manning, and she torched Llanfair, nearly killing Jessica in the blaze.
- Victor Lord - This personality is the image of her father within Viki. Very often, sexual abuse victims who develop alternate personalities develop a personality to reflect their abuser.[citation needed] The Victor Lord personality only emerged two or three times, but one of the instances that he took over led Viki to attempt suicide by cutting her own wrists to "expel" Victor from her body.
Occasionally, circumstances have forced Viki to impersonate one of her alters, particularly Niki and Jean.
References
- ^ a b c d Schemering, Christopher (September 1985). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. Ballantine Books. pp. 158–166. ISBN 0-345-32459-5 (1st edition).
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ a b c d "SOAP STAR STATS: Erika Slezak (Viki, OLTL)". SoapOperaDigest.com. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
- ^ a b Victoria Lord Davidson profile - SoapCentral.com
- ^ "Daytime Emmy Winners & Nominees: 1984". SoapOperaDigest.com. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
- ^ "Daytime Emmy Winners & Nominees: 1986". SoapOperaDigest.com. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
- ^ "Daytime Emmy Winners & Nominees: 1992". SoapOperaDigest.com. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
- ^ "Daytime Emmy Winners & Nominees: 1995". SoapOperaDigest.com. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
- ^ "Daytime Emmy Winners & Nominees: 1996". SoapOperaDigest.com. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
- ^ "Daytime Emmy Winners & Nominees: 2005". SoapOperaDigest.com. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
External links
- Victoria Lord Banks profile - SoapCentral.com
- "One Life to Live Timeline: Cult of Personalities". SoapOperaDigest.com. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
