This article appeared in a March 1991 issue of TV Guide. The article is accompanied by a photo of Erika Slezak (Viki). Brain surgery, blackmail and amnesia ... Erika's a true soap survivor by Michael Logan

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This week, Erika Slezak celebrates her 20th anniversary as the Queen of Unsolved Miseries - a title no other daytime diva comes even close to owning. As Viki Lord Buchanan on ABC's One Life To Live, Slezak has endured the requisite suds tragedies (murder charges, kidnapped kids, custody battles). But she has also suffered through some humdingers, including pornographic blackmail, an 8-year memory lapse and a slutty split personality named Niki. During brain surgery, Viki had an out-of-body experience that put her in Heaven. She has also regressed to the Wild West. And visited the lost underground civilization of Eterna, where she discovered a daughter she didn't know she had.

Lest we feel too sorry for Slezak, it should be noted that she's won two Best Actress Emmys for her troubles - and is currently being touted for a third. And, at age 44, she is having the time of her life. "I'm lucky - there are only a few parts that have ever lasted this long!" remarks Slezak, who thought she had died and gone to Heaven when she landed OLTL in 1971 - at a whopping $190 a week. "Some days I wonder why nobody's caught on to me. I still feel like that nervous little girl who walked in here with no TV experience."

Though Slezak (the granddaughter of Metropolitan Opera legend Leo Slezak and daughter of actor Walter Slezak) seemed chromosomally destined to shine, she has never ventured into primetime or feature films. And while she's a graduate of London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, her most notable extracurricular activity since joining OLTL was a series of Sunsweet prune commercials. "I cling to the soap because it affords me the best of both worlds," says Slezak, referring to life on Long Island with her spouse, Broadway veteran Brian Davies and their children Michael, 11, and Amanda, 9. "The show lets me off for school plays, field trips and Parents' Night. I don't think there's another job that would give me that freedom."

Or such outlandish theatrics. Still Slezak claims she's prepared for another decade on OLTL. And she doesn't think her storylines are that screwy. "The show has done others that were more far-fetched - like the time several characters had mind-control devices implanted in the backs of their heads. I wasn't involved in that one." That's comforting ... but is she bragging or complaining?