Susan Lucci Opens Up About Profound Love, Loss — and Finding Herself Again — in Her New Memoir ‘La Lucci’

After the abrupt end of All My Children, where she played Erica Kane for more than four decades, the loss of her husband of 53 years and her close-knit mother, and a series of personal and family health crises, the television icon shares her journey through grief—and how she learned to let the light back in.

“Remain grateful, even when life doesn’t always feel fair.” The advice is part of a section in Susan Lucci’s impactful new memoir, La Lucci, where she pens a letter to her younger self.

The insight is one of many she shares in La Lucci, a profoundly candid, and inspiring memoir titled after the affectionate nickname given to her on the set of All My Children, where she played the self-centered, ambitious, villainous Erica Kane for more than 40 years — arguably the “most famous soap opera character in the history of daytime TV” (TV Guide).

Written with Laura Morton, La Lucci is the follow-up to Lucci’s New York Times best-seller All My Life (2011), also written with Morton.

Much like her long run at All My Children, the book is quite the ride — filled with a range of emotions: happy, sad, determined, devastated, fearful, joyful, funny, fierce.

“One of the Hardest Things I’ve Ever Written”

“Writing a letter to my 21-year-old college graduate self was one of the hardest things for me to write,” says Lucci, the Emmy-winning actress, who received her long-overdue nod after 19 Emmy nominations for playing a role that is the stuff of television legend.

In La Lucci, Lucci shares that she was “blindsided” when All My Children was canceled in 2011, likening it to “a nasty divorce” and “a shock to the system” that left her wondering if she could move on, or ever work again. (She did.)

“A lot of life happened to me over the course of these last 15 years,” says Lucci, who was again blindsided in March 2022, when she lost her beloved husband of 53 years, television producer Helmut Huber, to a stroke at age 84.

The Courage to Write About Profound Loss

“For a while there it felt like I was living in this awful space somewhere between the life I once had and the life I didn’t ask for,” she writes, never playing to pity or self-indulgence.

Instead, she says she was propelled to write the book because of “so much gratitude and love” in her heart — a feeling she describes as “a pull, a draw, to want to give back” — and that by doing so she is “serving a higher purpose.”

It was a courageous choice.

Sharing on a deep, raw, emotional level about the loss of Helmut, “the love of her life,” and her journey from profound grief to finding herself and her resilience again is the crux of the new memoir.

Lucci’s story will be of great value to anyone who has experienced deep loss, love, doubt, and uncertainty — and who wants to move forward and embrace life again.

The book also features nearly 100 never-before-seen photos, a list of books that helped her through her grief, and a section where she answers her fans’ most-asked questions.

We at SPARK had a few of our own.

INTERVIEW: Susan Lucci

Writing a book, especially such a deeply personal memoir, is a challenge. How did you feel after writing it?

SL: I felt good, and I felt proud of the book, to tell you the truth. I started after my husband passed away. I keep paper and pen next to my bed, and I’d wake up at 2 a.m., and things were pouring out of me.

At the same time, our good friend Nelson DeMille had been encouraging me to write a second memoir, and that’s pretty good when a writer of his caliber encourages you to write a memoir. I didn’t think he even knew I had written a memoir.

It’s hard to open up to do this kind of personal book.

SL: Yes, and it was a goal, to be more candid — and it was good to let people know, to let people in, to connect.

Laura Morton and I sat together for hours, and she recorded every conversation, and when we weren’t sitting next to each other, we did a lot of Zooms. I loved the process.

I answered to the best of my ability and she just brings me out in a certain way.

In this book, I have a more candid voice than I did when I wrote the first book.

There’s also a strength in vulnerability.

SL: I had to learn that, I recognized it the minute I fell in love. I call it “despicable vulnerability” because you know that if it ends in any way — and you don’t want it to — you are devastated. It’s painful, and that’s all true.

The book is also about the journey of getting myself up off the floor. And being able to put one foot in front of the other.

“Who Am I Now?”

Many people relate to deep loss. How did you get to the place where you said, “I’ve got to lift myself up” — and asked, “Who am I now?” What was that process like for you?

SL: Such a good question … “Who am I now?” I was totally lost. I didn’t even know what I did. I couldn’t believe that — when I finally realized that I had a career. Acting was something I wanted to do since I was a little girl. I really thought I would never step on a stage again or be in front of the camera.

But then, after several weeks, maybe eight weeks, after Helmut passed, I realized that I had been blessed — blessed with a talent that allowed me to do what I do and all that I used to do, and I should do it again. And it could actually be my saving grace — and it has been — one of the things, definitely.

Moving Forward, Not Moving On

With grief, you write about how you don’t move on, you move forward.

SL: Yes, you get up, you put one foot in front of the other.

I recognized that I had been given the gift of life. I always had a gift of life — it is a gift — and I will not thumb my nose at that gift. I want to be the best I can with that gift. Even though I would always think in the beginning that when I lost my husband, I lost my life too.

And so it’s a process, and everybody’s different. There are no teaching moments in this book; it’s just saying what my story is.

I don’t want anybody to feel alone because it is something we all go through. It connects us, and it’s the human condition, and I think it helps to see how other people can handle this.

Would She Reprise Erica Kane?

Is it true what you told Kelly Ripa recently on her SiriusXM show — that you’d be interested in reprising Erica Kane after Ripa revealed she and her husband, Mark Consuelos, are in the early stages of developing two All My Children movies for Lifetime?

SL: I would love to. I think what I’ve learned in the course of time is how important it is to be in the right hands, and certainly I know with Kelly and Mark producing, I’d be in the best of hands in this regard.

The writing is very important. I was in the best of hands with Agnes Nixon and after Marc Cherry. I’ve been in some pretty good hands — so surely, of course, I would want to play that part if all those things are in place. I miss being part of a team. I love being with actors with the same goal in mind.

The Role of a Lifetime She Almost Turned Down

Did you have any idea when you took the part of Erica Kane that it would last for more than 40 years? How did it change your life?

SL: Oh, it changed my life in all very positive ways. But to begin with, to answer your question, I had to be convinced to sign my contract.

Seriously?

SL: Yes, because it was for three years, and I was just out of college — college was four years, high school was four years, so three years felt like it was almost as long.

When I graduated from college, I was to audition for Juilliard — it was called the John Houseman Theater at that point — and I was asked to audition for them, and that was a big deal. The thing is, you had to commit to three years there and not audition, so that was in my mind.

The head of the department from Yale didn’t want me to be on TV, let alone daytime TV. He thought I should be in film or on stage. I had to be convinced.

The Audition Scene that Clinched It

SL: At the time they said, “Don’t worry if you don’t like it, we can get you out of your contract,” but I loved the part.

The audition scene was really terrific — an eight-page scene between Erica and Mona, the long-suffering mother, and they had a knockdown, drag-down fight. In those pages, it was not the usual mother-daughter relationship as I had ever seen it portrayed before. Mostly in the past, they were very “reverential.”

When I took the role, Erica was 15 years old. My mother and I used to laugh, as I wasn’t always reverential when I was 15.

When it came time for contract renewal, I would always think about it, but I came up with the same thing … when I walked into the studio, my inside world was singing. I was happy.

It allowed me to have the life I wanted.

What’s Next

Any career goals or parts that you still want to play?

SL: There are certain things that do still intrigue me, like playing Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof — that would be great. It would be fun to play it now, too. And I think Tennessee Williams is still one of the greatest writers of parts for women.

Also, I did do a film that’s going to be released pretty soon — Jonah Hill’s movie on Apple TV+ (Outcome, with Jonah Hill and Keanu Reeves).

Can you talk about the role?

SL: I’m not allowed to … I will say that Jonah Hill was spectacular to work with.

Stepping Outside Her Comfort Zone

Do you think you’ll be doing more comedic roles like you did in Joy Behar’s off-Broadway show My First Ex-Husband?

SL: That’s another thing — getting out of my comfort zone. That’s such a good thing.

And in the movie, I am out of my comfort zone, and in Joy’s play I was definitely out of my comfort zone, and that was something I’ve never done before. It was comedy, but it was also part stand-up, and I had never ever done anything like that. So it was exciting.

Then there’s some growth, too. I do like that.

On Reinvention and Gratitude

In terms of your outlook now, is there a particular insight that has helped you move forward?

SL: I think it’s gratitude. I think realizing that I had been blessed in many ways — my mother would say that to me — and she was right. I know that, and I’m so grateful for that, and that really has been a tremendous help.

I don’t know what will happen going forward. I read something recently that said, “Give up thinking about the outcome.” You are to stay present and to see what happens.

That’s kind of the fun of life — you don’t know. But I’m open to anything. We’ll see.

La Lucci with Laura Morton is out Feb. 3, 2026 (Blackstone) and available wherever books are sold.

Susan Lucci will talk about her new memoir at the 92nd Street Y on Feb. 3 at 3 p.m. in conversation with Joan Lunden. Ticket prices include a copy of La Lucci. Info: 92ny.org.

For more information, visit susanlucci.com.

Angela LaGreca

Editor, Co-Founder/Publisher

Angela LaGreca, Editor-in-chief and co-Founder/Publisher of Spark Hamptons, is a four-time Emmy Award-winning journalist, producer, writer and comedian/host. Her TV credits include NBC’s “Today,” ABC’s “The View,” and, most recently, the primetime cable news program “Cuomo” on NewsNation. On the East End, she was the Creative Director at LTV, VP Features/Events/Photo Editor at Dan’s Papers, and has performed at Guild Hall, Bay Street Theater and the WHBPAC. Her publishing career began at Modern Photography, where she was managing editor. LaGreca lives in Manhattan and East Hampton and can be reached at angelatvmedia@gmail.com and angela@sparkhamptons.com .