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Stop the presses, because this is big. And we mean real big! It looks like One Life to Live‘s Erika Slezak, who played heroine Viki Lord for over forty years on the former ABC sudser, is joining General Hospital!
The news broke on her official site, when fan club president Walter Miller wrote that, according to Slezak herself, “Erika has just informed me she has signed a short-term contract with ABC’s General Hospital. At this time, Erika does not know which character she will be playing or when her scenes will air, but is excited to be working again with Executive Producer Frank Valentini and the cast of GH!”
Valentini, of course, served as One Life to Live executive producer from 2003 until the show left ABC in 2012, at which point he moved over to General Hospital. So he and Slezak worked closely together for years. And while the legendary actress has appeared in everything from films to Blue Bloods in recent years, this would make her first return to daytime since One Life to Live went off the air (a second time) in 2013.
Though there aren’t currently any One Life to Live transplants on ABC’s sole remaining daytime soap, Slezak is in good company. At various times over the years, General Hospital has brought Llanview characters like Todd, Michael McBain, Starr, Nora and Blair over for visits. And Roger Howarth, Michael Easton and Kristen Alderson all continued on in Port Charles with new characters after their One Life to Live alter egos departed.
Once upon a time in Llanview, Howarth’s Todd and Slezak’s Viki turned out to be siblings.
Credit: Ann Limongello/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
Ultimately, that means that the sky’s the limit as to whom Slezak could be playing, whether someone totally new, or a familiar face. That’s about all we have for now, but it’s more than enough to get our minds running with the possibilities. Miller promises to update some more as details emerge and we’ll be sure to report on it here.
