- Eden Riegel
Infobox actor
imagesize = 150px
birthname = Eden Sonja Jane Riegel
birthdate = Birth date and age|1981|1|1|mf=y
birthplace =Washington, D.C. , U.S.
spouse= Andrew Miller
(2007–present)
homepage =
emmyawards = Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series
2005 "All My Children "Eden Sonja Jane Riegel (born
January 1 ,1981 ) is an American actress. Nominated previously on multiple occasions, she received aDaytime Emmy Award in 2005 for her portrayal ofBianca Montgomery on the daytime drama "All My Children ".cite web|title=About the Actors: Eden Riegel|publisher=soapcentral.com|accessdate=2007-11-24|url=http://www.soapcentral.com/amc/theactors/riegel.php]Early life
Born to Kurt and Lenore Riegel in
Washington, D.C. , 1981, Riegel was raised in aVirginia suburb and became interested in acting while watching her brother, Sam, perform dinner theater, which she later joined in for $10 a week.cite web| title=Here with Eden| publisher=theatermania.com
accessdate=2007-07-05 | url=http://www.theatermania.com/peterfilichia/index.cfm?mode=viewEntry&id=4B0A15AB-A02B-7BC1-F786407A9A685AB4] Her big break came when she won the role ofCosette inLes Misérables , leading to other roles on andoff-Broadway . She graduated from theProfessional Children's School and attendedHarvard University , with ambitions to become alawyer , but later left the institution. In 2000, she served as anintern at theWhite House for the summer.cite web | title=Eden Riegel. Bianca Montgomery on All My Children | publisher=wchstv.com | accessdate=2007-07-05| url=http://www.wchstv.com/abc/allmychildren/edenriegel.shtml]Career
"All My Children"
From
July 2000 toFebruary 2005 , Riegel portrayed the role ofBianca Montgomery on thesoap opera "All My Children ". In December 2000, Riegel's character "came out" to her mother,Erica Kane (Susan Lucci ), becoming the onlylesbian on a daytime soap opera at that time.cite book | author = C. Lee Harrington | title = [http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-3090675_ITM Homosexuality on All My Children: transforming the daytime landscape] | id = ISBN | publisher = Blackwell Publishing | year = 2003] In 2003, Bianca and characterLena Kundera (Olga Sosnovska ) made history when they shared the first lesbian kiss on American daytime television.cite news|first=Sarah|last=Warn|title=All My Children: A Lesbian Kiss to Build a Dream On?|accessdate=2007-11-24|publisher=AfterEllen.com |url=http://www.afterellen.com/archive/ellen/TV/amc-kiss.html] cite news|title=Soap Opera to Showcase First Lesbian Kiss|publisher=firstcoastnews.com |accessdate=2007-11-24|url=http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/news-article.aspx?storyid=2998] In 2004, with Lena out of the picture, Bianca shared a kiss with close friend and confidanteMaggie Stone (Elizabeth Hendrickson ), making "TV Guide 's" list of best same-sex kisses on television.cite news|title=TV's 20 Best Same-Sex Kisses|publisher="TV Guide "|date=2005-02-14|accessdate=2007-12-04] TV.com originally reported the wrong kiss. Bianca and Maggie's second kiss made "TV Guide's" list, not their first. cite news |title=Making History: Bianca and Maggie's first kiss on "AMC" is Number Four on TV Guide's list of the best same-sex kisses on TV! |publisher="TV Guide "|date=2005-02-14|accessdate=2007-08-02|url=http://www.tv.com/all-my-children/show/62/news.html&sort=&pg_updates=2] Riegel's character was awarded the firstGay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation award for "Favorite OUT Image of the Year" in 2004.cite news|title=GLAAD Award|publisher=glaad.org |accessdate=2007-07-02 |url=http://www.glaad.org/media/release_detail.php?id=3652] During the baby switch storyline of 2004-2005, when Bianca's daughter was kidnapped and switched with the son of Babe Carey Chandler (Alexa Havins ), Riegel also portrayed Bianca on fellow ABC soap opera "One Life to Live ".She was nominated for three
Daytime Emmy Award s for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series (2001, 2002, 2004) before finally winning the award in 2005. She won twoSoap Opera Digest Awards in 2001 for Outstanding Female Newcomer, and in 2005 for Outstanding Younger Lead Actress.Later that year, Riegel, along with best friend and co-star
Elizabeth Hendrickson , exited "All My Children", with their last show airing onFebruary 24 2005 . Riegel then moved toLos Angeles, California to pursue other acting ventures. She made a brief return to the soap opera when her television mother (Erica) was married inMay 2005 , and returned for an extended stay fromDecember 16 2005 toJanuary 10 2006 . Her daughter, Miranda, was aged accordingly. Riegel returned again for short visit fromMay 24 2006 until mid-June, in a storyline connected with her sister Kendall's (Alicia Minshew ) pregnancy and coma. In August 2006, Riegel's to "All My Children" as a contract player was announced. The actress taped her first scenes on September 12, which first aired on October 11. Riegel commuted back and forth between her home and family in Los Angeles and New York, where "All My Children" tapes. In 2007, she parted ways with the show once again, but reappeared in the episode datedAugust 14 2007 , when Bianca phoned in to check on Kendall from Paris, and in December for aChristmas visit.Riegel has recently agreed to return to the series with "All My Children" newcomer
Tamara Braun . Braun will portray Reese Williams, Bianca's new lover/girlfriend. Bianca first airs onOctober 17 2008 . Reese will follow onOctober 30 2008 . According to published reports, Riegel will be a contract player.cite news| first=Jesse | last= Murray|title="All My Children" Welcomes Bianca and Tamara Braun!
publisher=SOAPnet.com|date=2008-09-18|accessdate=2008-09-19|url=http://www.soapnet.go.com/soapnet/article/path-articleNum_12979/category_shows]Other projects
Prior to joining "All My Children", Riegel had a small role on the daytime drama "
As the World Turns " as anAIDS patient, appeared in "Law & Order " and portrayed a minor character in thefeature film "American Pie". She sang and didvoice acting work in the film "The Prince of Egypt ". While portraying Bianca, she remained active in other acting avenues, doing a small guest role on "American Dreams " and appearing in theNew York play "The Sex Lives of Superheroes".It was announced that Riegel will join the cast of "
The Year One ", aHarold Ramis film that starsJack Black andMichael Cera . The film is a comedy about two men wandering through civilization during Biblical times, and is scheduled for a Summer 2009 release. [ [http://www.movieweb.com/news/56/26256.php movieweb.com] ]She is currently starring in the web series "
Imaginary Bitches ", playing the role of "Eden", a single girl who deals with the lonely reality that her best friends are all in serious relationships by creating some imaginary friends...who turn out to be total bitches. The show is edited by Riegel's half-sisterTatiana S. Riegel , writen by brotherSam Riegel , and was created by Andrew Miller.cite news| url=http://news.tubefilter.tv/2008/07/31/catching-up-with-andrew-miller-creator-of-hit-series-imaginary-bitches/ |title=Catching up with Andrew Miller, Creator of Hit-Series ‘Imaginary Bitches’ |publisher="Tubefilter News"|date=2008-07-31 |accessdate=2007-07-31]Personal life
Riegel has an older brother, Sam, and a half-sister, Tatiana (known as "Tanya" to her family and friends). Tatiana is, like
Bianca Montgomery , a lesbian. Riegel discussed the portrayal of Bianca with Tatiana and with the producers of "All My Children" in order to ensure that the character was not a stereotype.cite news| url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2002_Jan_22/ai_81790809 |first=Web|last=Behrens |title=Sister act: All My Children's Eden Riegel got expert advice on playing a lesbian—from her out sister, Tatiana - Television - Brief Article |publisher="The Advocate "|date=2002-01-22 |accessdate=2007-07-14]In
March 2007 , Riegel became engaged to her boyfriend, Andrew Miller (mentioned above), who was a high school classmate ofCameron Mathison 's (Ryan Lavery of "All My Children"). [ [http://www.soaps.com/allmychildren/news/716/Eden_Riegel_Engaged Eden Riegel Engaged] ] They were married onSeptember 30 2007 .Riegel is a huge fan of the
NHL team theToronto Maple Leafs .She is good friends with actresses
Rebecca Budig andElizabeth Hendrickson .Awards and nominations
ee also
*
Bianca Montgomery and Maggie Stone
*Supercouple References
External links
*imdb name|0726180
* [http://www.edenriegel.net/ Eden Riegel's official website]
* [http://www.riegelrebels.org/ Riegel Rebels] - Eden Riegel's official fan club
* [http://www.soapcentral.com/amc/news/2006/0410-riegel.php/ - Soap Opera Central's article about Eden Riegel's return to All My Children in May]
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