Daytime Emmys flashback: Hillary B. Smith (‘One Life to Live’) won 30 years ago for defending the indefensible
When the nominations for the 21st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced in 1994, one outcome was immediately made certain. There was no way that Susan Lucci of “All My Children” could lose … Because for the first time in 13 years, she wasn’t in the running for Best Actress for her role as Erica Kane.
The snub caught everyone in the industry by surprise, especially since Lucci was considered to have had a remarkable year on the show. (She would rebound with her 15th nomination the next year, and finally win the Emmy on her 19th try in 1999.)
Those selected in lieu of Lucci in 1994 included her “All My Children” co-star Julia Barr as Brooke English, the Daytime Emmys’ reigning Best Actress Linda Dano as Felicia Gallant on “Another World,” Fiona Hutchison as Jenna Bradshaw on “Guiding Light,” Hillary B. Smith as Nora Gannon on “One Life to Live” and Kathleen Widdoes as Emma Snyder on “As the World Turns.” It was Barr’s fifth nom in the category, though she had been named Best Supporting Actress in 1990. Dano had prevailed the year before and contended as a supporting player in 1992. Widdoes had three supporting noms to her credit; this was her first time cited as lead. Smith was the only first-timer.
The race was initially seen as being wide open. Barr and Dano had managed to seduce the Emmy blue ribbon panelists before. Hutchison seemingly benefited from the luster of “Guiding Light,” the year’s most nominated show. And Smith had a front-burner storyline in which her attorney character Nora had to defend three fraternity brothers accused of raping their classmate Marty Saybrooke (played by Best Supporting Actress hopeful Susan Haskell). Widdoes was an underdog; Mimi Torchin of Soap Opera Weekly told E! on the red carpet that “Widdoes is a great actress, but I think that she’s a supporting actress.”
When asked about her prediction in the tough contest, Torchin gave Barr the edge. However, she did acknowledge the strength of Smith’s material, especially given her presence in the high-profile campus rape storyline on “One Life to Live.” Smith’s performance reel submitted to Emmy voters showcased Nora’s emotional closing argument during the trial. While Nora had initially believed her clients to be innocent, she later realized that they were guilty and had conflicting feelings about defending them. As she put it, a courtroom victory would be a “crushing defeat for justice.” In a plot twist in the great tradition of daytime dramas, Nora would turn on the three men whom she was defending and beg the jury to “see the truth” — that they had in fact violently raped Marty.
While Nora’s actions ultimately had no impact on the jury (the judge declared a mistrial), Smith’s dramatics clearly impressed the Emmy jurors. Four-time Best Actor champ David Canary of “All My Children” (who would win number five in 2001) opened the envelope and declared Smith the lucky lady.
Smith had actually started to shake her head before the big reveal, suggesting that she was not anticipating a verdict in her favor. She proclaimed on stage that “This is the best birthday present I’ve ever gotten,” as she had turned 37 that day. She graciously mentioned the talents of her fellow nominees, and thanked the entire “One Life to Live” team for making her triumph possible.
The rape storyline turned out to be a boon for the show. Haskell took home the Supporting Actress trophy over Sharon Wyatt as Tiffany Hill on “General Hospital.” (Torchin had said on the red carpet that Wyatt’s “gut-wrenching” scenes might be hard to beat.) Roger Howarth was named Best Younger Actor for his turn as Todd Manning, who instigated the assault. And “One Life to Live” also received the prestigious Best Writing Team award. Many wondered if the show would have taken Best Drama Series had it made the lineup. (“All My Children” curiously nabbed the top award, despite losing every other category in which it was nominated.)
Smith would earn one more Best Actress nomination in 2000, losing to Susan Flannery from “The Bold and the Beautiful.” Haskell would receive a Best Actress bookend in 2009. Howarth was promoted to the Supporting Actor category in 1995, though Jerry verDorn from “Guiding Light” would outshine him. Howarth would later compete for Best Actor for “As the World Turns” in 2004 and 2005, only to be outspun by Anthony Geary on “General Hospital” and Christian LeBlanc on “The Young and the Restless,” respectively.
”One Life to Live” went off the air in 2012, though there was a brief online revival in 2013. Smith would resume the role of Nora for guest appearances on “General Hospital” in 2017. Her work on “One Life to Live,” particularly during the infamous rape trial, still stands as one of daytime’s finest performances. So it’s a good thing that the Emmy went Smith’s way in 1994. As Nora herself might have put it, anything less would have been a “crushing defeat for justice.”
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