- Victoria Lord Davidson
Infobox soap character
name = Victoria Davidson
series = One Life to Live
portrayer =Gillian Spencer (1968-1970) Schemering, Christopher. "The Soap Opera Encyclopedia ",September 1985 , pg. 158-166, ISBN 0-345-32459-5 (1st edition)] [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0817957/ Gillian Spencer - IMDb.com] ]
Joanne Dorian (1970-1971) [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0233654/ Joanne Dorian - IMDb.com] ]
Erika Slezak (1971-present)
Christine Jones (1981) [http://www.soapcentral.com/oltl/whoswho/victoria.php Victoria Lord Davidson profile - SoapCentral.com] ]
Judith Barcroft (1986)
Amanda Davies (2003, teenage version)
first =July 15 1968
last =
cause =
creator =Agnes Nixon
caption1 =Erika Slezak as Victoria Davidson in the "One Life to Live " opening sequence
caption2 =
caption3 =
nickname = Blondie
alias = Niki Smith, Tommy, Jean Randolph, Princess, Tori, Victor Lord
(alternate personalities)
gender = Female
born =
death =
age =
occupation = Publisher of "The Banner"
Goodwill ambassador
title =
residence = Llanfair, 1177 Regency Drive,Llanview, Pennsylvania
parents =Victor Lord (deceased)Eugenia Randolph Lord (deceased)
Dorian Cramer Lord (stepmother)
siblings =Meredith Lord Wolek (deceased)
Tony Harris Lord (half-brother, deceased)
Tina Lord (half-sister)
Todd Manning (half-brother)
spouse = Roger Gordon (pre-1968, annulled)
Joe Riley (1969-1970, presumed widowed; 1974-1979, widowed)
Steve Burke (1972-1974, divorced)
Clint Buchanan (1982-1985, divorced; 1986-1994, divorced)
Sloan Carpenter (1994-1995, widowed)
Ben Davidson (2000-2004, widowed)
romances =Ted Clayton
Tom Dennison
Governor Harrison Brooks
Douglas Kline (2007)
Charlie Banks (2007-present);As Niki SmithVinny Wolek
Harry O'Neill
children =Megan Gordon (deceased)
Kevin Buchanan
Joey Buchanan
Jessica Buchanan
Natalie Buchanan
grandchildren =Duke Buchanan (deceased)
Kevin Buchanan, Jr. (deceased)
Megan Buchanan (deceased)
Bree Buchanan
grandparents = Randolph Lord (deceased)
Virginia "Ginny" Fletcher Lord (deceased)
aunts/uncles = Powell Lord I (deceased)
Gwendolyn Lord
Dorothy Randolph
cousins =Richard Abbott
Powell Lord II (deceased)
Powell Lord III
nieces/nephews =Daniel Wolek
Brian Kendall (deceased)
C.J. Roberts
Sarah Roberts
Starr Manning
Jack Manning
Sam Manning
relatives =Zane Buchanan (great-grandson)
color = #99BADDVictoria "Viki" Davidson (née Lord; previously Gordon, Burke, Riley, Buchanan, and Carpenter) is the principal
fictional character on the ABCsoap opera "One Life to Live ", and only the character from the premiere episode still present on the series. Originated byGillian Spencer onJuly 15 1968 , she has been portrayed byErika Slezak sinceMarch 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 weatheredwidow hood (three times),rape , divorce, a brain aneurysm, a near-death out-of-body experience, a supposed time travel experience, being shot, suffering astroke ,breast cancer ,heart disease , a heart transplant, and the abduction of three of her five children as infants. Victoria Lord resides at 1177 Regency Drive at the Lord estate of Llanfair in the fictional city of Llanview, a suburb of Philadelphia.toryline
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 abrain tumor , marriesClint 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 Lord andTodd Manning as well as the lateMeredith Lord Wolek and the late Tony Lord. Viki has had five children: Megan Gordon Harrison (dies from lupus in 1992),Kevin Buchanan ,Joey Buchanan , Jessica Buchanan Brennan, andNatalie Buchanan . She is grandmother to Bree Brennan, the lateDuke Buchanan who passed away in 2006, the lateMegan Buchanan and the lateKevin Buchanan Jr. who were stillborn in 1999 and 2004 respectively. She is also a great-grandmother to Duke's son, Zane.For several decades, Viki has had 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.Shortly after the death of
Asa Buchanan , Viki leaves Llanview behind, and finds herself at a truck stop inParis, Texas . There, Viki lands a waitressing job, befriending fellow waitresses,Noelle Ortiz andGigi Morasco . Viki meets a man named Charlie Banks, and the two later begin seeing one another. A short time later,Marcie McBain , who is wanted by the FBI for kidnapping her adoptive son, takes Viki as her hostage. Viki begins to suffer chest pains as a result of not taking her heart medication. Marcie's husband, Dr. Michael McBain, treats Viki, and soon replaces her as Marcie's hostage. Viki is released, and soon returns home.Discovering that Charlie's search for his estranged son has brought him to Llanview, Viki continues her relationship with him, until she learns that he had lied about being the father of
Rex Balsom . Viki is involved in a car accident with Dorian, after the brakes were tampered with by Jessica's alter, Tess. Viki dies, and encounters her deceased loved ones inHeaven . Dorian is able to revive Viki, and she is admitted to the hospital. After making a complete recovery, Viki begins re-building her relationship with Charlie. After a reunion with her half-sisterTina Lord , Viki leaves Llanview to promote organ donation.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.
Viki has a short list of people who she has scorned and fought with over the years:
Dorian Lord , Talbot Huddleston, Marco Dane,Maria Roberts , Ivan Kipling,Carlo Hesser , Gina Russo andMitch Laurence .Background history
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 withJoanne 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 2003, Slezak's real-life daughter, Amanda Davies, portrayed a teenage version of Viki in flashbacks.Cultural impact
Awards
Slezak later went on to win six
Daytime Emmy Award s 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 withJustin Deas andAnthony Geary . Slezak also shares the record for the most Daytime Emmy wins for playing the same character with Geary.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 withVinny Wolek and Harry O'Neill, neither of whom realized at the time that Niki was an alter of Viki.
* Tommy - an angry teenage boy. Tommy is very protective of Viki, often violenty so.
* Jean Randolph - a representation of Viki's mother,Eugenia Randolph Lord . Intent on maintaining order and balance in Viki's life, Jean once imprisoned Dorian in Llanfair's "secret room" to protect the secret of Viki's molestation. Jean has faulty vision and requires eyeglasses to see properly.
* Princess - a manifestation of Viki as a seven year old girl. Princess is a traumatized child who is constantly reliving the molestation by Viki's father
* Tori - a cunning, young adult version of Viki. Tori is the most dangerous of the alters. She (seemingly) murdered Viki's father in the 1970s. Later in the 1990s, she set fire to Llanfair, unconcerned that Viki's daughter Jessica was trapped inside.
* Victor Lord - a representation of Viki's father, the realVictor Lord . He is the one alter whose existence does not revolve around protecting Viki, and he actually tried to goad her into committing suicide.References
External links
* [http://abc.go.com/daytime/onelifetolive/characters/bio?pn=characterbio&character=Victoria%20Lord%20Davidson Victoria Lord Davidson profile - ABC.com]
* [http://www.soapcentral.com/oltl/whoswho/victoria.php Victoria Lord Davidson profile - SoapCentral.com]
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