Emma Samms

Last updated

Emma Samms

MBE
Emma Samms at the 62nd Academy Awards-Cropped.jpg
Samms at the 62nd Academy Awards in 1990
Born
Emma Elizabeth Wylie Samuelson

(1960-08-28) 28 August 1960 (age 63)
London, England
Occupations
  • Actress
  • writer
  • director
Years active1979–present
Known for General Hospital
Dynasty
The Colbys
Doctors
Spouses
Bansi Nagji
​
​
(m. 1991;div. 1992)​
Tim Dillon
​
​
(m. 1994;div. 1995)​
John Holloway
​
​
(m. 1996;div. 2003)​
​
(m. 2021)​
Children2

Emma Elizabeth Wylie Samuelson [1] MBE known professionally as Emma Samms, (born 28 August 1960) [2] is an English actress and TV host, known for her role as Holly Sutton on the American daytime soap opera General Hospital and as the second actress to play Fallon Carrington Colby on the prime time soap opera Dynasty . She also portrayed the recurring role of Amanda Vardalis on the British soap opera Doctors .

Contents

Early life

Samms was raised in the Jewish religion. [3]

Career

Samms first played Holly Sutton Scorpio on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital from 1982 to 1985. [4] [5] With Samms choosing to leave the series amicably to go to ABC's Dynasty , her character Holly seemingly perished in a plane crash. [6] On 10 April 1985 Samms appeared in the fifth-season episode "Kidnapped" as Fallon Carrington Colby, a role originated by Pamela Sue Martin in 1981. [7] The character was immediately transplanted into the new Dynasty spin-off The Colbys for two seasons (1985–1987). After the spinoff was cancelled, Samms and the character of Fallon returned to Dynasty in the 23 September 1987 eighth-season premiere "The Siege - Part 1". [8] Samms remained with Dynasty for two seasons until its last episode on 11 May 1989. She later returned for the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion .

After the show's run, Samms appeared in several film and television roles. In 1989, Samms made a guest appearance on the sitcom My Two Dads playing Marcy Bradford, the deceased mother of Nicole Bradford (Staci Keanan) and the woman whom the two fathers (Paul Reiser; Greg Evigan) fought over. [ citation needed ]

"Fan favorite" Samms had been so popular at General Hospital that Holly was brought back from the dead in January 1992 after a seven-year absence. [6] [9] She stayed in the role until 1993, [5] during this time also playing Holly's lookalike half-sister Paloma Perez, a heroic revolutionary.

In 1995, Samms appeared as the villainous Grayson Louder in the prime time soap opera Models Inc. , a spin-off of Melrose Place , both produced by former Dynasty producer Aaron Spelling. [10] She also appeared in the TV movie Treacherous Beauties.

Emma Samms (on right) with Dynasty co-stars Joan Collins (center) and Stephanie Beacham in London, 2009 Ladies of Dynasty.jpg
Emma Samms (on right) with Dynasty co-stars Joan Collins (center) and Stephanie Beacham in London, 2009

Samms appeared in four episodes of the BBC series Holby City in 2003 and had a recurring run on the BBC daytime series Doctors as Amanda Vardalis in 2005. She made a seven-episode return to General Hospital as Holly in February 2006. After serving as a presenter (alongside General Hospital co-star Tristan Rogers) for the Daytime Emmy Awards on 28 April 2006, she reappeared on General Hospital for a three-week run starting 1 May 2006, and then again on 30 June 2006. She subsequently stepped into the BBC Children in Need reality series Celebrity Scissorhands as a hairdresser from 3–17 November 2006. On 20 September 2007 Samms guested on the long-running ITV series The Bill as drug addict Ella Winstanley.

In August 2009, Samms performed at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in Shall We Dance, a dance revue of musicals by Richard Rodgers, choreographed by Adam Cooper who stars, alongside his wife Sarah Wildor. [11]

In June 2014 Samms was announced as a contestant in BBC gymnastics show Tumble . She was the second celebrity to be eliminated. [12]

In 2018, Samms performed alongside 26 other celebrities on a new Christmas song, called Rock With Rudolph, which was written and produced by Grahame and Jack Corbyn. The song was released digitally through independent record label Saga Entertainment, on 30 November 2018 in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital under the artist name The Celebs. The music video debuted exclusively with The Sun on 29 November 2018 and had its first TV showing on Good Morning Britain on 30 November 2018. The song peaked at number two on the iTunes pop chart. [13] [14] Later in 2018, Samms reprised her role as Amanda Vardalis on Doctors. [15]

Samms continues to make appearances on General Hospital. She returned in May 2009, [16] [17] March 2012, August 2013, July 2015, and September 2020.

On 22 August 2022, it was announced that Emma Samms would be returning to General Hospital, reprising the role of Holly Sutton, which she has been playing since 1982. Her episodes were scheduled to start airing in October 2022. According to Deadline, "She’s now set to return to the ABC sudser in October. Fans last saw Holly on September 18, 2020; though presumed dead, Holly was found alive and locked in a cell in Monte Carlo." [18] “I can’t believe that it’s been 40 years since I first appeared on General Hospital and that, once again, I get to play the wonderful character of Holly Sutton,” Samms told Deadline. “No one is more interested in what’s happened to her since we saw her two years ago, being held captive by a mysterious villain, than me!” [18]

Personal life

Samms twice declined offers to appear in Playboy , once during her run on General Hospital and the second during Dynasty. Instead, she appeared on the cover of the February 1988 issue of Inside Sports in a bikini, as well as additional swimsuit shots inside the magazine. [19]

In 1983, Samms and her cousin, film producer Peter Samuelson, co-founded the Starlight Children's Foundation, an organization that helps seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities. The organization was their response to losing Samms's brother and Samuelson's cousin, Jamie, who died at age nine from aplastic anemia.

In 1984 Samms and Tristan Rogers went public with their romance, [5] but the relationship ended around the time she left General Hospital the next year. Engaged to Marvin Hamlisch in the early 1980s, Samms has been married four times: to Bansi Nagji (1991–92), and to Tim Dillon (1994–95). She married John Holloway (1996-2003), and the couple had two children. In 2021, Samms married journalist and TV presenter Simon McCoy. [20]

Samms was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to seriously and terminally ill children. [21]

In April 2018, Samms said that she had been dealing with Bell's palsy, an illness that causes temporary facial paralysis. A month later, she sent an update on Twitter, writing "paralysis on my face is 90% better".

She tested positive for COVID-19 during the global pandemic in March 2020 and has developed long-term complications from her initial infection. [22]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1979 Arabian Adventure Princess Zuleira
1990 The Shrimp on the Barbie Alexandra "Alex" Hobart
1991 Delirious Rachel Hedison / Laura Claybourne
1994 Terminal Voyage Becker
2002 The Little Unicorn Lucy Regan
2005 The Marksman Amanda JacksDirect-to-Video
2013 Vendetta Sandra Vickers
2018 Rock With Rudolph HerselfMusic Video [14]

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1981 Goliath Awaits Lea McKenzieTV movie
1982–85, 1992–93, 2006, 2009, 2012–13, 2015, 2020, 2022–23 General Hospital Holly Sutton Scorpio 329 episodes
1984 Ellis Island Violet WeilerMini series
1985–1989 Dynasty Fallon Carrington Colby 57 episodes
1985–1987 The Colbys Fallon Carrington Colby49 episodes
1986 Murder in Three Acts EggTV movie
1987 The New Mike Hammer Jamie JinxEpisode: "Green Lipstick"
1988 Murder She Wrote Pamela LeedsEpisode: "Snow White, Blood Red"
1988 Newhart Emma SammsEpisode: "A Midseason's Night Dream"
1989 The Lady and the Highwayman Barbara CastlemaineTV movie
1989 My Two Dads MarcyEpisode: "In Her Dreams"
1989 The Magic of David Copperfield As Emma Samms (Special Guest/Host)XI: Explosive Encounter.
1991 Dynasty: The Reunion Fallon Carrington Colby2 episodes
1991 Bejewelled StaceyTV movie
1992 Get a Life Tricia PaddingtonEpisode: "Girlfriend 2000"
1994–1995 Models Inc. Grayson Louder12 episodes
1994 Diagnosis Murder Cleopatra QuinlinEpisode: "Murder with Mirrors"
1994 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Arianna Carlin LuthorEpisode: "Madame Ex"
1994Treacherous beautiesAnne Marie KerrTV film
2002 Pretend You Don't See Her Lacey Farrell / Alice CarrollTV film
2003 Holby City Elizabeth Woods4 episodes
2005, 2018 Doctors Amanda Vardalis 40 episodes
2011 Casualty Rachel GreerEpisode: "Memory Games"
2017Love BlossomsCarrie SteilmanTV movie/Hallmark Channel

Related Research Articles

<i>Dynasty</i> (1981 TV series) 1980s American prime time television soap opera

Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981, to May 11, 1989. The series, created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, revolves around the Carringtons, a wealthy family residing in Denver, Colorado. Dynasty stars John Forsythe as oil magnate Blake Carrington, Linda Evans as his new wife Krystle, and later Joan Collins as his former wife Alexis.

<i>The Colbys</i> American soap opera

The Colbys is an American prime time television soap opera that originally aired on ABC from November 20, 1985, to March 26, 1987. Created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and Eileen and Robert Pollock and produced by Aaron Spelling, it is a spin-off of Dynasty and revolves around the Colbys, another vastly wealthy family who own a large multinational conglomerate and are connected to the Carringtons of Dynasty. Intended to surpass its predecessor in opulence, the series' producers were handed an immensely high budget for the era, and cast a handful of well-known movie stars among its leads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finola Hughes</span> British actress

Finola Hughes is a British actress, best known for her role as Anna Devane on the ABC soap operas General Hospital and All My Children, and her portrayal of Laura in the 1983 film Staying Alive, the sequel to Saturday Night Fever.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genie Francis</span> American actress

Genie Francis is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Laura Spencer on the television soap opera General Hospital from 1977 to present, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2007.

<i>Dynasty: The Reunion</i> American TV series or program

Dynasty: The Reunion is a 1991 American television miniseries that served as a reunion of the 1981–1989 prime time soap opera Dynasty which continues the story of the Carringtons, a wealthy family living in Denver, Colorado. Directed by Irving J. Moore, the four-hour miniseries was broadcast in two parts on ABC on October 20 and 22, 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamara Braun</span> American actress

Tamara Braun is an American actress known for her work on daytime television. She portrayed the role of Carly Corinthos on General Hospital from 2001–2005 and Reese Williams on All My Children from 2008 to 2009. In 2009, Braun won the Daytime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Ava Vitali on Days of Our Lives. She departed the series in 2008, briefly returning in the role of Taylor Walker during 2011. In 2015, Braun resumed the role of Ava as part of the series' 50th anniversary commemoration, remaining until 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyler Christopher (actor)</span> American actor (1972–2023)

Tyler Christopher Baker was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Nikolas Cassadine and Connor Bishop (2004–2005) on the ABC soap opera General Hospital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amelia Heinle</span> American actress (born 1973)

Amelia March Luckinbill is an American actress best known for her roles in American soap operas.

John James Anderson is an American actor and producer best known to television audiences for playing the character of Jeff Colby in both the prime-time soap opera Dynasty and its spin-off series Dynasty II The Colbys throughout the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dillon Quartermaine</span> Fictional character from General Hospital

Dillon Quartermaine is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexis Colby</span> Fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty

Alexis Carrington Colby is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty. She is the ex-wife of Blake Carrington whose schemes cause one problem after another for him and their children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fallon Carrington</span> Soap opera character

Fallon Carrington is a fictional character from the ABC television series Dynasty and its spin-off The Colbys. Created by Richard and Esther Shapiro, the role of Fallon was originated by Pamela Sue Martin in the show's first episode in 1981, and Martin left at the end of the fourth season in 1984. Fallon was recast with Emma Samms in 1985, and the character was spun off onto a companion series called The Colbys. After the cancellation of the second series, Fallon returned to Dynasty in 1987, and remained on the series until its finale in 1989. Samms later reprised the role for the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion. Elizabeth Gillies plays Fallon in The CW's 2017 reboot series Dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Colby</span> Soap opera character

Jeffrey Broderick "Jeff" Colby is a fictional character on the ABC prime time soap opera Dynasty, created by Richard and Esther Shapiro. Portrayed by John James, Jeff Colby was introduced in the show's first episode in 1981 and appeared as a series regular for six seasons until transferring to the spin-off companion series, The Colbys. The character returned to Dynasty upon the cancellation of The Colbys in 1987 and remained with the series until its final episode in 1989. James later reprised his role for the 1991 miniseries, Dynasty: The Reunion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly Sutton-Scorpio</span> Fictional soap opera character

Holly Sutton-Scorpio is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network, portrayed by Emma Samms. She originally appeared from July 1, 1982, to September 5, 1985. With Samms choosing to leave the series amicably to go to ABC's prime time hit Dynasty and its spin-off The Colbys, Holly seemingly perished in a plane crash. "Fan favorite" Samms had been so popular at General Hospital that Holly was brought back from the dead on January 16, 1992, after a seven-year absence. She stayed in the role until July 22, 1993, during this time also playing Holly's lookalike half-sister Paloma, a heroic revolutionary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dante Falconeri</span> Fictional character from General Hospital

Dante Falconeri is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network, played by Dominic Zamprogna. Zamprogna made his debut on June 22, 2009. In 2018, Zamprogna announced his decision to leave the role, and departed on June 28, 2018; he later returned for a one-off episode on November 12, 2018. In 2019, he again reprised the role from March 15 to March 29. The following year, he returned in a full-time capacity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethan Lovett</span> Fictional character

Ethan Lovett is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network. The role was originated by Nathan Parsons, who appeared from January 30, 2009, to March 7, 2012. Parsons returned for guest appearances in April 2013, July 2015 and September 2020, respectively. In April 2023, the role was portrayed by James Ryan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Parsons</span> American actor

Nathan Dean Parsons is an American actor, known for his work in daytime television on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital as the character of Ethan Lovett. He also had roles on primetime television shows as vampire James Kent on the seventh and final season of the HBO drama series True Blood, and the role of exiled werewolf Jackson Kenner on The CW drama series The Originals. Recently, he has been on Once Upon a Time as Hansel/Jack/Nick Branson and is currently portraying the lead of Max Evans in The CW series Roswell, New Mexico.

<i>Dynasty</i> (1981 TV series, season 6) Season of television series

The sixth season of Dynasty originally aired in the United States on ABC from September 25, 1985, through May 21, 1986. The series, created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, revolves around the Carringtons, a wealthy family residing in Denver, Colorado.

<i>Dynasty</i> (1981 TV series, season 9) Television season

The ninth and final season of Dynasty originally aired in the United States on ABC from November 3, 1988, through May 11, 1989. The series, created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, revolves around the Carringtons, a wealthy family residing in Denver, Colorado.

References

  1. ↑ "Michael SAMUELSON". Thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  2. ↑ "Today's famous birthdays list for August 28, 2022". Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ↑ TV Guide, Volume 36. Triangle Publications. 1976.
  4. ↑ Schemering, Christopher (September 1985). "General Hospital". The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. pp. 108–119. ISBN   978-0-345-32459-7.
  5. 1 2 3 Waggett, Gerard J. (November 1997). "General Hospital". The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. Harper Paperbacks. pp.  112–134. ISBN   978-0-06-101157-3.
  6. 1 2 Harris, Mike; Carter, Alan (24 January 1992). "Daytime TV dirt". Entertainment Weekly . No. 102. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  7. ↑ Schemering (1985). Soap Encyclopedia. "Dynasty", pp. 80-84.
  8. ↑ "The Colbys". Soap Opera Digest . 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2019– via PressReader.com.
  9. ↑ Carter, Alan (26 June 1992). "Emma Samms: Cool Soap Actress". Entertainment Weekly. No. 124–125. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  10. ↑ Shaw, Jessica (18 November 1994). "Remodeling Inc.". Entertainment Weekly. No. 249. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  11. ↑ ROSLYN SULCAS (24 August 2009). "Invoking Richard Rodgers, That Muse of Movement, at Sadler's Wells". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  12. ↑ "Amelle Berrabah And Emma Samms Sign Up for Gymnastics Show". Femalefirst.co.uk. 14 June 2014. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  13. ↑ Barker, Faye (30 November 2018). "TV stars sing for Great Ormond Street Christmas charity single". ITV News. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  14. 1 2 "The Celebs - Rock With Rudolph". YouTube. TheCelebsVEVO. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  15. ↑ Jones, Allison (21–27 April 2018). "The bad wife". Inside Soap . pp. 40–41.
  16. ↑ West, Abby (10 March 2009). "Emma Samms to return to General Hospital". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on 14 March 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  17. ↑ "General Hospital recap (15 May 2009) - Soaps.com". Archived from the original on 18 May 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  18. 1 2 "'General Hospital': Emma Samms Finally Returning After Suffering From Long Covid". Deadline.com. 22 August 2022.
  19. ↑ "SI undressed". ESPN Page 2. 20 May 2003. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  20. ↑ "Twitter".
  21. ↑ "No. 61608". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2016. p. B23.
  22. ↑ https://expressdigest.com/british-dynasty-star-emma-samms-59-tells-of-six-month-long-covid-hell-2/ [ dead link ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.