All My Childrenshook up the daytime soap opera world when it premiered in 1970. While most daytime soaps focused on older, mostly wealthy people in privileged situations,All My Childrenintroduced Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, a young woman who caused as many problems as she faced, and from there Lucci went on to receive 21 Daytime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. However, she only won once (1999). Despite that, she carried the new soap from its first episode to its last in 2011.
Lucci wasn’t the only memorable character from the series, as the 41 years it was on the air saw several great actors step through the doors. While the soap mostly focused in its early days on younger characters,there were also veterans of television, movies, and the stage,with some getting their start as early as the 1940s, and one even nabbing her first role whenshe appeared inCitizen Kane. Since the show premiered in 1970, many actors from the soap have passed on, but fans never forgot them.
Adam And Stuart Chandler
Billy Miller As Richie Novak
Date Of Birth: June 11, 2025
Actor: Billy Miller was a soap opera veteran, and the first soap opera he starred in wasAll My Children, which was only the second acting role of his career when he was 27. After his stint onAll My Children, he joined the cast ofThe Young and the Restlessas Billy Miller and earned five Daytime Emmy nominations, winning three times. He also worked onGeneral Hospital, and his last role came on an episode ofNCISin 2022. Miller died by suicide in 2023 following a bipolar depression diagnosis (viaTV Line).
The Young and the Restless (2008-2014)
Truth Be Told (2019-2020)
Alex Dunn
Character:Billy Miller played Richie Novak onAll My Children.Novak was a criminal who arrived in town, who said his name was Wes and began terrorizing the town in frightening ways. His crimes included theft, blackmail, kidnapping, and even murder. It turned out he was Annie Lavery’s (Melissa Claire Egan) brother, and while he was a villain, he had an emotional ending, with an eventual leukemia diagnosis
Jeffrey Carlson As Zoe Luper
Date Of Birth: August 09, 2025
Actor:Jeffrey Carlson always had a connection toAll My Childrensince his mother named him after Jeff Martin, a popular character from the soap opera. He started his career on Broadway before her casting in the daytime soap opera in 2006. Before this, Carlson appeared in the moviesThe Killing Floor, Backseat,andHitch, as well as in an episode ofLaw & Order: SVU.However,All My Childrenwas his last role. Carlson died 16 years later from idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (viaSCP Magazine).
Law & Order: SVU (2004)
Justin Wexler
Character:Jeffrey Carlson played Zoe Luper, and made history as the first transgender character on daytime television. She was a rock star named Zarf who arrived in Pine Valley and is suspected of murder. He was innocent, but eventually developed feelings for Biana Montgomery and began to transition into Zoe in the series. This was a well-received storyline, asAll My Childrenwon the 2007 GLAAD Media Award — the fourth time it won at the ceremony.
John Callahan As Edmund Grey
Date Of Birth: August 19, 2025
Actor: John Callahan got his start in 1982 and moved into the world of soap operas in 1984 when he signed ontoGeneral Hospital. He then moved to nighttime soapFalcon Crestand then back to daytime television onSanta Barbarabefore catching his breakout role onAll My Children. He finished his soap opera career onDays of Our Livesfrom 2008 to 2010. Callahan died in 2020, one day after he suffered a stroke (viaTHR). He was 66.
Days Of Our Lives (2008)
Dr. Baker
Character:John Callahan played Edmund Grey, joiningAll My Childrenin 1992. He was a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who kidnapped Dimitri Marick’s (Michael Nader) girlfriend and used her to prove he was Dimitri’s brother. Fans watched him fall in love with and marry Dr. Maria Santos (Eva LaRue). However, his anger issues and a paralyzing accident drove him to madness, where he was eventually murdered while investigating a shooting.
Ruth Warrick As Phoebe Tyler Wallingford
Date Of Birth: June 27, 2025
Actor: Ruth Warrick is an actress who got her first role in a movie considered one of the greatest in Hollywood history. She played Emily Monroe Norton Kane, the first wife of Charles Foster Kane inCitizen Kane. She then got steady work in movies until the 1960s, when she moved to television. She appeared in shows likeFather of the BrideandPeyton Placebefore she picked up her role inAll My Children, which she had from 1970 to 2005, an impressive 35-year run. She died at 88 from pneumonia complications.
Father of the Bride (1961-2962)
The Great Bank Robbery (1969)
Mrs. Applebee
Character:Ruth Warrick played Phoebe Tyler Wallingfordfor 511 episodes over 35 years onAll My Children. Phoebe is the Grande Dame of Pine Valley, a socialite who is a doctor’s wife and part of one of the wealthiest families in the town. She is the ultimate snob and often meddles in her kids' and grandchildren’s lives throughout her time on the show, always causing problems and always remaining entertaining.
James Mitchell As Palmer Cortlandt
Date Of Birth: July 01, 2025
Actor: James Mitchell started as a dancer in stage plays before moving to movies and television. He got his start in the 1950s and 1960s, splitting his time between plays and television dramas likeThe Edge of Night, Where the Heart Is, and more. He finally got his biggest breakout role in 1979 when he signed on toAll My Children. His original contract was only a one-year deal, but the producers were impressed and he remained on the show until 2009. He died in 2010 at 80 following pneumonia.
Where the Heart Is (1969-1973)
Julian Hathaway
Character:James Mitchell plays Palmer Cortlandt. Palmer showed up in Pine Valley as a self-made rich man who soon became a father figure toAll My Children’smain character, Erica Kane. He was born in poverty and made his wealth through hard work, and while he lost it more than once over his 31 years on the soap opera, he always earned it back. He also shared a hardened rivalry with fellow businessperson Adam Chandler.
Hugh Hale Franklin As Dr. Charles Tyler
Date Of Birth: July 13, 2025
Actor: Before his role onAll My Children, Hugh Franklin was a Broadway star who also appeared on a couple of shows before his big role. He appeared in plays likeHarriet, The Cherry Orchard,andAlice in Wonderland. He also had roles in soap operas,As the World Turns(Ralph Brown),Dark Shadows(Richard Garner), andLove of Life(Ed Bridgeman). He was forced to retire fromAll My Childrenin 1983 when his hearing worsened. He then died in 1986 after battling cancer.
Love of Life (1967-1969)
N.Y.P.D. (1967-1968)
Various Roles
Character:Hugh Franklin plays Dr. Charles Tyler onAll My Children. Tyler is the Chief of Staff at Pine Valley Hospital and is a tough but kind doctor. He was a cast member from the very first episode and married Phoebe English before he fell in love with his secretary Mona Kane. This gives him the chance to serve as a father to his new stepdaughter Erica Kane. He also had a tragedy in his life, as his daughter Anne died in a car bomb.
Frances Heflin As Mona Kane Tyler
Date Of Birth: August 09, 2025
Actor: Frances Heflin was an Oklahoma-born actress who got her start on Broadway in the 1940s and appeared in several plays there before also starring in productions in London’s West End. She ended up getting several television roles starting in the 1940s, with some notable appearances until she got her breakout in 1970 when she signed on toAll My Childrenas Erica Kane’s mother. She also had minor movie roles, but her debut on the big screen didn’t happen until 1970. Heflin died of lung cancer in 1994 at the age of 73.
Mr. Billion (1977)
Mrs. Apple Pie
Character:Frances Heflin played Mona Kane,and was one of the original actors onAll MyChildren. She was the divorced mother of Erica Kane and ended up cheating with Dr. Charles Tyler before he finally divorced his wife to marry her. Despite this start, Mona was always one of the moral characters onAll My Children, although she still had her misdeeds, as everyone onAll My Childrenhas done. However, unlike others, she always took responsibility. She appeared on the show for 24 years.
David Canary As Adam And Stuart Chandler
Date Of Birth: July 20, 2025
Actor: David Canary was a massively successful actor onAll My Children. He actually earned 16 Daytime Emmy Award nominations and won five times, which was more than Susan Lucci won for her role as Erica Kane. When he got his start in acting, he gave up an NFL career despite the Denver Broncos drafting him in 1960, and he moved on to Los Angeles, where he found success on the big and small screen. His biggest role beforeAll My Childrenwas on the Western seriesBonanza. Canary died in 2015 at the age of 77.
One Life to Live (2000-2005)
Adam Chandler
Character:David Canary appeared as two different characters onAll MyChildren. He played Adam Chandler, a ruthless business tycoon who is Palmer Courtlandt’s main nemesis. Chandler arrived in Pine Valley seeking revenge when his sister died by suicide after Palmer left her. Canary also plays Stuart Chandler, Adam’s twin brother, whom he accidentally kills. Canary played Adam on the show from 1983 until 2011, making him one of the longest-running cast members.
Marj Dusay As Vanessa Bennett
Date Of Birth: July 31, 2025
Actor: Marj Dusay got her start as a comedy actor, working in an improv group that included Rob Reiner and Richard Dreyfuss. Her first role was actually in an Elvis Presley film calledClambakein 1967, and then she moved on to acting in guest roles in several TV shows. When it comes to her soap opera career, she had roles onSanta Barbara,Days of Our Lives, andGuiding Light, on top of her role as a main character onAll My Children. Dusay died in 2020 at the age of 83.
Days of Our Lives (1993)
Vivian Alamain
Character:Marj Dusay plays Vanessa Bennett, a character who first appeared onAll My Childrenin 1988. She has two sons, Leo DuPres (Josh Duhamel) and Dr. David Hayward (Vincent Irizarry), and is very overbearing to them both. She is also one of the show’s main villains during her time there, Erica Kane’s biggest nemesis, and someone who tries to actually kill her before she is discovered to be Pine Valley’s main drug lord.
Candice Earley Nolan As Donna Beck Tyler
Date Of Birth: August 02, 2025
Actor: Candice Earley was another Oklahoma-born actress who got her start on Broadway. Her early roles included plays likeHair, Grease, andJesus Christ Superstar. However, her only major television role came onAll My Children, and she didn’t have any other notable movie or TV roles outside of her appearance in one episode ofRyan’s Hope. Earley died at 68 following an eight-year battle with MSA.
Ryan’s Hope (1977)
Nurse
Character:Candice Earley played Donna Beck onAll My Children,although she was a replacement actress, taking the role from Francesca Poston. Donna is a teenage sex worker whom Dr. Chuck Tykler helps after she is hospitalize,d and the two eventually fall in love. Donna had several big stories onAll My Children, from memory loss to failed marriages to losing her children. She lasted on the show from 1977 to 1992, although she returned to visit several times.
