Events

• February 4 – RCA
  RCA
  RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
  
   demonstrates an all-electronic color television
  Color television
  Color television is part of the history of television, the technology of television and practices associated with television's transmission of moving images in color video....
  
   system.
• February 18 – The first Washington, D.C.
  Washington, D.C.
  Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
  
   – New York City
  New York City
  New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
  
   telecast through AT&T
  AT&T
  AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
  
   coaxial cable
  Coaxial cable
  Coaxial cable, or coax, has an inner conductor surrounded by a flexible, tubular insulating layer, surrounded by a tubular conducting shield. The term coaxial comes from the inner conductor and the outer shield sharing the same geometric axis...
  
  , in which General Dwight Eisenhower placed a wreath at the base of the statue in the Lincoln Memorial
  Lincoln Memorial
  The Lincoln Memorial is an American memorial built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the main statue was Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the interior...
  
   and others made brief speeches, is termed a success by engineers and viewers, although Time
  Time (magazine)
  Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
  
  magazine calls it "as blurred as an early Chaplin movie."
• February 25 – The prewar U.S. 18-channel VHF allocation is officially dropped in favor of a new 13-channel VHF allocation due to the appropriation of some frequencies by the military and the relocation of FM radio. Only five of the old channels are the same as new channels in frequency and none have the same number as before.
• April 22 – CBS
  CBS
  CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
  
   transmits a Technicolor movie short and color slides over coaxial cable from Manhattan to Washington (332 kilometers) and return.
• June 7 – The BBC Television Service
  BBC One
  BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
  
   begins broadcasting again. The first words heard are "Good afternoon everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh
  Jasmine Bligh
  Jasmine Lydia Bligh was one of the first three BBC Television Service presenters in the 1930s, along with Leslie Mitchell and Elizabeth Cowell, providing continuity announcements and introducing programmes in-vision....
  
  ?". Twenty minutes later, the Mickey Mouse
  Mickey Mouse
  Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
  
   cartoon Mickey's Gala Premiere that had been the last programme transmitted seven years earlier
  1939 in television
  The year 1939 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1939.-Events:*February 23 - the first televised boxing match, the British Lightweight Champion match Eric Boon v Arthur Danaher, is shown live by the BBC and simultaneously in several...
  
   at the start of World War II
  World War II
  World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
  
  , is reshown.
• June 19 – The first televised heavyweight boxing
  Boxing
  Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
  
   title fight between Joe Louis
  Joe Louis
  Joseph Louis Barrow , better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time...
  
   and Billy Conn
  Billy Conn
  William David Conn , better known as Billy Conn, was an American Light-Heavyweight boxing champion famed for his fights with Joe Louis. He had a professional boxing record of 63 wins, 11 losses and 1 draw, with 14 wins by knockout...
  
   is broadcast from Yankee Stadium. The fight was seen by 141,000 people, the largest television audience to see a fight to that date.
• July 7 – The BBC's children's programme For The Children
  For The Children
  For The Children is a British television programme, the first to be designed especially for young children of school age. First broadcast on the BBC Television Service at 3pm on Saturday 24 April 1937, for its first two years the series was only ten minutes in length...
  
  returns, one of the few pre-war programmes to resume after the reintroduction of the service.
• August 4 – Children's puppet "Muffin the Mule
  Muffin the Mule
  Muffin the Mule is a puppet character in British television programmes for children. The original programmes featuring the character were presented by Annette Mills, sister of John Mills, & aunt to Hayley Mills, and broadcast live by the BBC from their studios at Alexandra Palace from 1946 to 1952...
  
  " debuts in an episode of For the Children. He is so popular he is given his own show later in that same year.
• October 2 – The first television network
  Television network
  A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
  
   soap opera
  Soap opera
  A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
  
  , Faraway Hill
  Faraway Hill
  Faraway Hill is the first soap opera broadcast on an American television network, running on the DuMont Television Network.-Broadcast history:...
  
  , airs on the DuMont Network.
• October 22 – Telecrime
  Telecrime
  Telecrime was a British drama series that aired on the BBC Television Service from 1938 to 1939 and in 1946. One of the first multi-episode drama series ever made, it is also one of the first television dramas written especially for television not adapted from theatre or radio...
  
  , the first television crime series from the 1930s, returns for the final run on the BBC, retitled Telecrimes.
• December 24 – The first church service is telecast, Grace Episcopal Church in New York, on WABD.
• Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo founded, which would later become Sony
  Sony
  , commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
  
  .
• Zoomar introduces the first professional zoom lens
  Zoom lens
  A zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements for which the focal length can be varied, as opposed to a fixed focal length lens...
  
   for television cameras.
• In the United States
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
  , only the DuMont Network
  DuMont Television Network
  The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
  
   and NBC
  NBC
  The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
  
   were broadcasting in the evening in 1946. DuMont ran a Western movie
  Western (genre)
  The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
  
   on Sunday night for an hour, other programming for an hour on Tuesday, and half hours on Wednesday and Thursday nights. NBC ran an hour of programming on Sunday, two hours on Thursday, and the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports
  Gillette Cavalcade of Sports
  The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports was an American network radio program and later television program that included broadcasts of a variety of sports, although it is primarily remembered by many for its focus on boxing.-Overview and background:...
  
  on Monday and Friday nights, with an additional hour on Fridays.
• The First Post War Television Sets Released by RCA
  RCA
  RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
  
  , DuMont
  DuMont Laboratories
  DuMont Laboratories was an American television equipment manufacturer. The company was founded in 1931, by inventor Allen B. DuMont. Among the company's developments were long-lasting cathode ray tubes that would be used for television. Another product out of the lab was a DuMont invention, the...
  
  , Crosley
  Crosley Broadcasting Corporation
  The Crosley Broadcasting Corporation was a radio and television broadcaster founded by radio manufacturing pioneer Powel Crosley, Jr.. The company was an early operator of radio stations in the United States. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, Crosley's flagship station was WLW...
  
  , and Belmont
  Belmont
  -Sport:* Belmont Stakes, a horse race* Belmont Bombers, a junior ice hockey team in Belmont, Ontario* Belmont Shore RFC, a rugby union team in Long Beach, California-Automobiles:* Belmont , an American electric car sold in 1916...
  
  

Debuts

• May 9 – The first regularly scheduled American variety show, Hour Glass, premieres on NBC (1946–1947).
• September 24 – Play the Game (1946)
• November 2 – Kaleidoscope
  Kaleidoscope (TV series)
  Kaleidoscope was a British television programme, transmitted on the BBC Television Service from 1946 until 1953. A light entertainment show, it was one of the most popular programmes of the immediate post-war era....
  
  (UK
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
  
  ) (1946–1953).
• November 29 – Pinwright's Progress
  Pinwright's Progress
  Pinwright's Progress was a British sitcom that aired on the BBC Television Service from 1946 to 1947 and was the world's first regular half-hour sitcom. The ten episodes, which aired fortnightly in alternation with Kaleidoscope, were broadcast live from the BBC studios at Alexandra Palace...
  
  (UK), British television's first sitcom, debuts on the BBC Television Service (1946–1947).
• Gillette Cavalcade of Sports
  Gillette Cavalcade of Sports
  The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports was an American network radio program and later television program that included broadcasts of a variety of sports, although it is primarily remembered by many for its focus on boxing.-Overview and background:...
  
  (1946–1960).
• Cash and Carry
  Cash and Carry (TV series)
  Cash and Carry is an American television game show hosted by Dennis James that ran on the then-both affiliates of the DuMont Television Network from June 20, 1946 to July 1, 1947...
  
  premieres on the DuMont network
  DuMont Television Network
  The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
  
   (1946–1947).
• Campus Hoopla
  Campus Hoopla
  Campus Hoopla was a game show that ran on the NBC Television network from December 27, 1946 until its cancellation in 1947. The show was centered around a group of teenagers in a soda shop.-Cast:*Bob Stanton - Host*Eva Marie Saint - Commercial Spokeswoman...
  
  premieres (1946–1947).
• Face to Face
  Face to Face (US TV series)
  Face to Face is an early American television game show running 15 minutes. It began broadcasting on the NBC Television network on June 9, 1946 and ran until January 26, 1947 on Sundays at 8:00 pm EST, immediately before Geographically Speaking....
  
  premieres on NBC (1946–1947).
• I Love to Eat
  I Love to Eat
  I Love to Eat is a live television series on NBC which aired from 30 August 1946 to 1947, and was a cooking show hosted by chef and cookbook author James Beard. When the show started, each episode was 15 minutes long and presented at 8:30pm EST on Fridays, immediately before The World in Your Home...
  
  premieres on NBC (1946–1947).
• Let's Rhumba
  Let's Rhumba
  Let's Rhumba is an American dance instruction program that aired on NBC from November 1946 to January 1947. Each 15 minute episode was hosted by D'Avalos. No episodes are known to survive as NBC had no archival policy at the time....
  
  premieres on NBC (1946–1947).
• Serving Through Science
  Serving Through Science
  Serving Through Science is the first educational television series broadcast in the United States. It debuted on the DuMont Television Network on August 15, 1946 and was shown Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EST. The weekly program starred Dr. Guthrie McClintock showing short films produced by Encyclopædia...
  
  premieres on DuMont (1946–1947).
• Paging You
  Paging You
  Paging You was a BBC comedy series which debuted on November 3, 1946 and was subsequently cancelled in 1948.- Cast :*Bill Fraser *Richard Hearne *Bobby Howes *Claude Hulbert *Humphrey Lestocq *Brain Reece...
  
  premieres (1946–1948).
• Television Screen Magazine
  Television Screen Magazine
  Television Screen Magazine is a NBC Television Network series which debuted 17 November 1946 and ran from 1946 to 1949. Hosts and panelists included John McCaffery, Millicent Fenwick, and George F. Putnam. The program featured a magazine-type format with various subjects and guests...
  
  premieres on NBC (1946–1949).
• You Are an Artist
  You Are an Artist
  You Are an Artist is an NBC television series, which first aired on NBC flagship station WNBT-TV in New York City on November 1, 1946 and then on the NBC Television network until 1950.-Production history:...
  
  premieres on NBC (1946–1950).
• Muffin the Mule
  Muffin the Mule
  Muffin the Mule is a puppet character in British television programmes for children. The original programmes featuring the character were presented by Annette Mills, sister of John Mills, & aunt to Hayley Mills, and broadcast live by the BBC from their studios at Alexandra Palace from 1946 to 1952...
  
  (UK
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
  
  ) premieres (1946–1955).
• Faraway Hill
  Faraway Hill
  Faraway Hill is the first soap opera broadcast on an American television network, running on the DuMont Television Network.-Broadcast history:...
  
  , the first network-televised soap opera
  Soap opera
  A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
  
  , debuts on DuMont.

Television shows

Ending this year

• November 25 – Telecrime
  Telecrime
  Telecrime was a British drama series that aired on the BBC Television Service from 1938 to 1939 and in 1946. One of the first multi-episode drama series ever made, it is also one of the first television dramas written especially for television not adapted from theatre or radio...
  
  (UK
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
  
  ) (1938–1939; 1946).
• December 17 – Play the Game (1946)

Births

• January 19 – Dolly Parton
  Dolly Parton
  Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
  
  , country singer and actress
• February 1 – Elisabeth Sladen
  Elisabeth Sladen
  Elisabeth Clara Heath-Sladen was an English actress best known for her role as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series Doctor Who. She was a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside both Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, and reprised the role many times in subsequent decades, both on...
  
  , English actress, Doctor Who
  Doctor Who
  Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
  
  (d. 2011)
• February 7 – Pete Postlethwaite
  Pete Postlethwaite
  Peter William "Pete" Postlethwaite, OBE, was an English stage, film and television actor.After minor television appearances including in The Professionals, Postlethwaite's first success came with the film Distant Voices, Still Lives in 1988. He played a mysterious lawyer, Mr...
  
  , English actor (d. 2011)
• February 20 – Brenda Blethyn
  Brenda Blethyn
  Brenda Anne Blethyn, OBE is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
  
  , English actress
• February 21 – Tyne Daly
  Tyne Daly
  Tyne Daly is an American stage and screen actress, widely known for her work as Detective Mary Beth Lacey in the television series Cagney & Lacey and as Maxine Gray in the television series Judging Amy. She is also known for her role as Alice Henderson in television series Christy...
  
  , actress, Cagney & Lacey
  Cagney & Lacey
  Cagney & Lacey is an American television series that originally aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from October 8, 1981 to May 16, 1988...
  
  
• March 21 – Timothy Dalton
  Timothy Dalton
  Timothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
  
  , Welsh actor
• April 5 – Jane Asher
  Jane Asher
  Jane Asher is an English actress. She has also developed a second career as a cake decorator and cake shop proprietor.-Early life:...
  
  , English actress
• April 12 – Ed O'Neill
  Ed O'Neill
  Edward Phillip "Ed" O'Neill, Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the main character, Al Bundy, on the Fox Network sitcom Married... with Children, for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes...
  
  , actor, Married... with Children
• April 14 – Tim Curry
  Tim Curry
  Timothy James "Tim" Curry is a British actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California....
  
  , English actor and singer
• May 1 – Joanna Lumley
  Joanna Lumley
  Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE, FRGS is a British actress, voice-over artist, former-model and author, best known for her roles in British television series Absolutely Fabulous portraying Edina Monsoon's best friend, Patsy Stone, as well as parts in The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, and Sensitive...
  
  , English actress
• May 9 – Candice Bergen
  Candice Bergen
  Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
  
  , actress and model
• June 23 – Ted Shackelford
  Ted Shackelford
  Ted Shackelford is an American actor best known for his role as Gary Ewing on the CBS television series Knots Landing, in which he starred from 1979–93...
  
  , actor, Knots Landing
  Knots Landing
  Knots Landing is an American primetime television soap opera that aired from December 27, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on CBS. Set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California, the show centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle...
  
  
• June 28 – Gilda Radner
  Gilda Radner
  Gilda Susan Radner was an American comedian and actress, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1978.-Early life:...
  
  , actress, comedienne, Saturday Night Live
  Saturday Night Live
  Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
  
  (d. 1989)
• July 13 – Cheech Marin
  Cheech Marin
  Richard Anthony "Cheech" Marin is an American comedian, actor and writer who gained recognition as part of the comedy act Cheech & Chong during the 1970s and early 1980s, and as Don Johnson's partner, Insp. Joe Dominguez on Nash Bridges...
  
  , actor and comedian
• July 22 – Danny Glover
  Danny Glover
  Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
  
  , actor and director
• August 16 – Lesley Ann Warren
  Lesley Ann Warren
  Lesley Ann Warren is an American actress and singer. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Emmy Awards and five times for Golden Globe, winning one....
  
  , actress and singer
• September 25 – Felicity Kendal
  Felicity Kendal
  Felicity Ann Kendal, CBE is an English actor known for her television and stage work.Born in 1946, Kendal spent much of her childhood in India, where her father managed a touring repertory company. First appearing on stage at the age of nine months, Kendal appeared in her first film, Shakespeare...
  
  , English actress
• October 4 – Susan Sarandon
  Susan Sarandon
  Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
  
  , actress
• October 15 – John Getz
  John Getz
  -Personal life:Getz, one of four children, was born in Davenport, Iowa, and grew up in the Mississippi River Valley. He began acting while attending the University of Iowa, where he helped found the Center for New Performing Arts...
  
  , actor
• October 16 – Suzanne Somers
  Suzanne Somers
  Suzanne Somers is an American actress, author, singer and businesswoman, known for her television roles as Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and as Carol Lambert on Step by Step....
  
  , actress and singer
• October 26 – Pat Sajak
  Pat Sajak
  Pat Sajak is a television personality, former weatherman, actor and talk show host, best known as the host of the American television game show Wheel of Fortune.-Early life:...
  
  , game show host, Wheel of Fortune
  Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
  Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
  
  
• November 6 – Sally Field
  Sally Field
  Sally Margaret Field is an American actress, singer, producer, director, and screenwriter. In each decade of her career, she has been known for major roles in American TV/film culture, including: in the 1960s, for Gidget or Sister Bertrille on The Flying Nun ; in the 1970s, for Sybil , Smokey and...
  
  , actress and singer
• December 14 – Patty Duke
  Patty Duke
  Anna Marie "Patty" Duke is an American actress of stage, film, and television. First becoming famous as a child star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16, and later starring in her eponymous sitcom for three years, she progressed to more mature roles upon playing Neely...
  
  , actress
• December 19 – Robert Urich
  Robert Urich
  Robert Urich was an American actor. He played the starring roles in the television series Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire...
  
  , actor (d. 2002)
• December 23 – Susan Lucci
  Susan Lucci
  Susan Victoria Lucci is an American actress and entrepreneur, best known for portraying Erica Kane on the daytime drama All My Children. The character is considered an icon, and Lucci has been called "Daytime's Leading Lady" by TV Guide, with New York Times and Los Angeles Times citing her as the...
  
  , actress, All My Children
  All My Children
  All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...