Victoria Lord Davidson
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| Victoria Lord | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Erika Slezak as Victoria Lord Davidson in the One Life to Live opening sequence |
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| One Life to Live | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Gillian Spencer (1968-1970) [1] [2] Joanne Dorian (1970-1971) [1][3] Erika Slezak (1971-present) [1] Christine Jones (1981) [4] Judith Barcroft (1986) [4] Amanda Davies (2003, teenage version) |
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| First appearance | July 15, 1968 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Agnes Nixon | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aliases | Niki Smith, Jean Randolph, Tori, Victor Lord, Tommy, Princess | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gender | Female | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Age | 60s | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Publisher of The Banner | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Llanfair, 1177 Regency Drive, Llanview, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Victoria "Viki" Lord Davidson (previously Gordon, Burke, Riley, Buchanan, and Carpenter) is an original and the principal fictional character on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. She has been portrayed by Erika Slezak since March 17, 1971.
Viki is considered one of the most complex characters on daytime television, suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) as a result of the sexual abuse endured at the hands of her father, Victor Lord. Furthermore, Viki has weathered widowhood (three times), rape, divorce, a brain aneurysm, a near-death out-of-body experience, a supposed time travel experience, being shot, suffering a stroke, breast cancer, and most recently, heart disease and a heart transplant. Victoria Lord resides at 1177 Regency Drive at the Lord estate of Llanfair in the fictional city of Llanview, a suburb of Philadelphia.
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[edit] Storyline
Additionally, Viki has been involved with a series of men. She marries Roger Gordon as a teen, then later Joe Riley and Steve Burke; she remarries Joe, and then after his death from a brain tumor, marries Clint Buchanan. After the return of one of her most popular alter egos, Niki Smith, she divorces Clint, and upon her recovery, remarries him. Their marriage falls apart after Viki engages in a relationship with Sloan Carpenter, and years after Sloan's death, she marries Clint's brother, Ben Davidson. Her full legal name following all of these relationships is "Victoria Lord Gordon Riley Burke Riley Buchanan Buchanan Carpenter Davidson," but she goes by simply "Victoria Lord Davidson."
Viki's siblings are Tina Clayton Lord and Todd Manning as well as the late Meredith Lord Wolek and the late Tony Lord. Viki has had five children: Megan Gordon Harrison (dies from lupus in 1992), Kevin Riley Buchanan, Sr., Joseph "Joey" Francis Riley Buchanan, Jr., Jessica Buchanan, and Natalie Buchanan, as well as grandchildren. She is also a great-grandmother to Duke Buchanan's son Zane.
For many years, Viki has an ongoing feud with fellow Llanview resident, Dorian Cramer Lord. This stems from an incident in the 1970s when Dorian was fired from Llanview Hospital and had her medical license revoked as a result of a patient's death. Dorian, convinced that Victoria has voted for her departure from the hospital, but, unbeknownst to Dorian, is for her staying, swears revenge against her. This long-standing conflict intensifies when Dorian marries Viki's father, Victor — hence the last name "Lord." Ever since, Viki and Dorian endure Viki's multiple personalities, many injuries, being trapped together in an avalanche and much more. Further, their families have a long history of romantic entanglements, which inevitably serve to only inflame their rivalry.
In Viki's current storyline, she had walked away from her life in Llanview, to find a new purpose. Settling in the town of Paris, Texas, she worked at a diner as a waitress. Viki made several friends in Paris, TX including Gigi Morasco, her son Shane, Noelle Ortiz and Moe Stubbs. She also met Charlie Banks, her newest love interest. Viki has since returned to Llanview. Gigi, Shane and Charlie have also relocated to Llanview and are living with Viki and Natalie at Llanfair.
[edit] Town perception
In spite of her many personal setbacks, Victoria is one of the most respected women in Llanview and has served as both the Mayor of Llanview and the President of Llanview University. She is forced to resign as University President in 2005 when Dorian forges checks to make it look as if Viki has misappropriated funds from the University and put them into Buchanan Enterprises accounts.
[edit] Background history
[edit] Casting
Victoria Lord was originally portrayed by Gillian Spencer from One Life to Live's premiere in 1968 until 1970. The role was briefly recast with Joanne Dorian in 1970, and again in 1971 with Erika Slezak, who has since become synonymous with the character.
Two other actresses have portrayed Viki while Erika Slezak was on maternity leave: Christine Jones in 1980 and 1981, and Judith Barcroft in 1987. In the summer of 2002, Slezak's real-life daughter, Amanda Davies, portrayed a teenage version of Viki in a flashback.
[edit] Cultural impact
[edit] Awards
Slezak later went on to win six Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (in 1984, 1986, 1992, 1995, 1996, and 2005) breaking a record for the actress with the most Daytime Emmys and tying the record for most awards by an actor with Justin Deas. Slezak also holds the record for the most Daytime Emmy wins for playing the same character.
[edit] Multiple personalities
- "Niki Smith" (integrated into Viki)
- "Tommy" (integrated into Viki)
- "Jean Randolph" (integrated into Viki)
- "Princess" (integrated into Viki)
- "Tori" (integrated into Viki)
- "Victor Lord" (integrated into Viki)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Schemering, Christopher. The Soap Opera Encyclopedia, September 1985, pg. 158-166, ISBN 0-345-32459-5 (1st edition)
- ^ Gillian Spencer - IMDb.com
- ^ Joanne Dorian - IMDb.com
- ^ a b Victoria Lord Davidson profile - SoapCentral.com
[edit] External links
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