Gail Russell

Her death was attributed to alcohol. Additionally, she has won many Soap Opera Digest Awards, including one for Favorite Couple with Mark Derwin in 2000. She appeared in two more films after that, but was not able to control her addiction, and on August 26, 1961, Gail was found dead in her apartment in Los Angeles, California at the age of 36. She has won the "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series" Daytime Emmy in 1984, 1986, 1992, 1995, and 1996 (the most won by any daytime actress). She divorced Madison in 1954, and returned to work in a minor role in the western Seven Men From Now (1956), and had a bigger role in The Tattered Dress (1957). Viki also found out that she had two long-lost daughters: Megan (played by Jessica Tuck from 1989 through 1992) and Natalie (Melissa Archer); this is in addition to her other children, Kevin (most recently played by Dan Gauthier), Joey (Bruce Michael Hall), and Jessica (Bree Williamson). Over the next 10 years she tried to regain control of her life. She has also had to go through the process of many divorces (such that her full legal name is now Victoria Lord Riley Burke Riley Buchanan Buchanan Carpenter Davidson), the deaths of loved ones, breast cancer, stroke, and heart disease.

She continued working after 1947, and married Guy Madison in 1949, but by 1950 it was well known that she had become a victim of alcoholism, and Paramount did not renew her contract. Victoria, who is known as "Viki", has had to live with Dissociative Identity Disorder (also known as DID). Gail later appeared in the more popular films, Calcutta (1947) with Alan Ladd, and Angel and the Badman (1947) with John Wayne. Slezak's character has gone through many tragedies. Gail appeared in several more films in the early and mid 1940s, the most notable being Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944), in which she co-starred with Diana Lynn. She portrays Victoria "Viki" Lord on the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live, a role she has depicted since March 17, 1971. At the age of 19 she appeared in her first film, Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour (1943). She is the daughter of actor Walter Slezak.

Although she was shy and had no acting experience, Paramount had great expectations for her and employed an acting coach to work with her. Erika Slezak (born August 5, 1946 in Hollywood, California) is an American actress of Austrian descent. Gail's extraordinary beauty brought her to the attention of Paramount Studios in 1942. Gail Russell (September 21, 1924 - August 27, 1961) was an American actress.