One Life to Live

Background:

“Acting is no near translation or abstraction from life, it is life itself.” Judith Light

An American versatile actress who has successfully undertaken daytime series, prime time sitcoms as well as New York stage, Judith Light was launched to prominence as Karen Wolek, a reformed prostitute, on the ABC long-running soap opera “One Life to Live” (1977-1983). Delivering an outstanding acting, she won two Daytime Emmy Awards and two Soapy Awards. The tall and blonde artist with large, aesthetic eyes and mouth made a flourishing transformation to the prime-time shows with the hit sitcom “Who's the Boss?” (1984-1992), in which she memorably starred as the working single mother Angela Bower. Her follow-up shows after “Who's the Boss?,” “Phenom” (ABC, 1993-1994), “The Simple Life” (CBS, 1998) and “The Stones” (CBS, 2004), however, proved to have short lives. In the meantime, Light focused her attention on making television films.

More recently, Light revitalized her TV career with her Emmy-nominating turn as the alcoholic mother Claire Meade on the popular sitcom “Ugly Betty” (2006-present). Formerly a recurring performer, she has been boosted to cast regular in the 2007-2008 season. The role also brought Light a Prism Award. She also has a recurring role as Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (2002-2007).

On stage, Light is maybe well-recognized for portraying Dr. Vivian Bearing in Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “WIT” (1999-2000). Her other stage credits include her Broadway debut, “A Doll's House” (1975), “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “As You like It” and “Sorrows & Rejoicings” (2002).

Apart from acting, Light is known as a strong supporter of Gay rights. She has participated in numerous LGBT charities, and in 1993, she spoke at the March on Washington. She also has helped ex- “Who's the Boss?” co-star Danny Pintauro to come out of the closet. She becomes the first heterosexual to sit on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Services Center, and to honor her, in 1998, the center named its library after her. Light is also a renowned AIDS activist. She has volunteered her time to such organizations as Heart Strings, Project Angel Food and The NAMES Project.

Light has been married to TV actor Robert Desiderio since 1985.

Sugar Lips

Childhood and Family:

An only child, Judith Ellen Licht, who would later be famous as Judith Light, was born on February 9, 1949 in Trenton, New Jersey. Her father, Benjamin “Benny” Licht, owned an important furniture store in Trenton. She attended St. Mary's Hall in Burlington, New Jersey, and spent a summer program studying acting at Carnegie-Mellon University between her junior and senior years of high school. This exposure led to the decision of enrolling in that prestigious institution from which Judith received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1971.

On January 1, 1985, Judith was married to New York-born television actor Robert Desiderio (born on September 9, 1951). She met her husband when they were both working on the soap opera “One Life to Live.” Judith's nickname is Sugar Lips.

Ugly Betty

Career:

Developing a love for performing arts at a Pennsylvania summer camp at age 12, Judith Light toured a summer with the USO in a production of “Guys and Dolls,” playing Adelaide, while still a student at Carnegie-Mellon, and made her professional stage debut in “Richard III” at the California Shakespeare Festival in 1970. She went on to spent the next five years with Milwaukee and Seattle repertory companies before debuting on Broadway in 1975 with a supporting role in a revival of Henrik Ibsen's “A Doll's House,” opposite Liv Ullmann. A series of Broadway and off-Broadway productions followed after the performance, including roles in “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “As You like It.”

In 1977, Light took her first crack at the small screen with a guest role as Laetitia 'Tish' Palmerance on an episode of “Kojak,” but it was her next TV assignment that gave the relatively newcomer real impetus. Light was cast as the long-suffering Karen Wolek in the 1968 ABC soap opera “One Life to Live,”a role that had been previously played by actresses Kathryn Breech and Julia Duffy. During her stint on the show from 1977 to 1983 playing housewife turned prostitute, she picked up two Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series (1980 and 1981) and two Soapys for Outstanding Actress (1979 and 1980). The success subsequently launched Light as one of the queens of TV soap operas.

After leaving the daytime drama, Light entered the primetime TV with a costarring role opposite Anthony Geary in the made-for-TV film “Intimate Agony” (1983), which was followed by guest spots on several primetime series like “St. Elsewhere” (1983), “Family Ties” (1983) and “Remington Steel” (1984). Her next big breakthrough arrived when Light landed the female lead on the ABC sitcom “Who's the Boss?,”which ran for eight seasons from 1984 to 1992. On the hit sitcom, which was once hailed as one of TV Guide's “Best Sitcom of All Time,” she portrayed Angela Bower, a forceful advertising executive and single mother of one, who hired former baseball player and single father Tony Micelli (played by Tony Danza) as her housekeeper.

While starring on the series, Light also stayed busy with work on a number of television films. She teamed up with John Aylward and Joseph Hacker in the NBC thriller “Stamp of a Killer” (1987), starred as the mother of a young AIDS victim in ABC's “The Ryan White Story” (1989) and was cast as a singer named Vickie Vine on NBC's “My Boyfriend's Back” (1989), opposite Jill Eikenberry and Sandy Duncan. She also played a defense lawyer in “In Defense of a Married Man” (1990), along side Michael Ontkean, and starred in the ABC drama “Wife, Mother, Murderer” (1991), based on a true story of an Alabama woman who poisons her husband and tries to kill her daughter so that she can marries again.

After “Who's the Boss?” came to an end, Light attempted to return to series television with “Phenom” (1993-1994), in which she starred as the mother of a tennis prodigy, but the sitcom only lasted for a season. She next costarred with Peter Strauss on the CBS TV-film “Men Don't Tell” (1993), a popular drama dealing with the issue of husband abuse, joined forces with Judd Hirsch for the compelling fact-based drama “Betrayal of Trust” (1994), about the ultimate betrayal between patient and doctor, portrayed Alice Needham on ABC's “Against Their Will: Women In Prison” (1994, with Stacey Keach) and starred along side Jack Wagner and Tracey Gold on “The Lady Killer” (1995), a sexual thriller for CBS-TV. Other TV film credits include “A Husband, A Wife, and A Lover” (CBS, 1996), “Murder At My Door” (Fox, 1996), “A Step Toward Tomorrow” (CBS, 1996), “Too Close to Home” (CBS, 1997) and “Carriers” (CBS, 1999).

Light made next effort after the short-lived “Phenom” with 1998's “The Simple Life.” Despite having a great supporting cast with an highly talented lead actress, the show failed to attract audiences. The fact, combined with poor time-slots ans lack of network support, led to its quick cancellation. The following year saw her revisit the NYC stage for the the Margaret Edson Pulitzer-winning off-Broadway production “Wit” and received good reviews for her performance as a cancer-stricken teacher. She later recreated the role for the national tour, and in 2002 she took on a costarring role in Athol Fugard's off-Broadway staging of “Sorrows & Rejoicings.”

Still in 2002, Light began her recurring role on the well-liked NBC drama series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” playing Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly, and appeared in an episode of 'Spin City,” as Christine. Two years later, she returned to a regular work in CBS's “The Stones,” starring as Barbara Stone, but the comedy/drama was soon axed by the network.

In October 2006, Light scored a recurring role as Claire Meade, Daniel and Alexis Meade's alcoholic mother, on the ABC new series “Ugly Betty,” starring America Ferrera in the title role of a smart, sweet and hard working woman with ugly appearance who works in the high-fashion magazine “Mode.” Thanks to her impressive acting, she was promoted to cast regular in the 2007-2008 season and is now part of an ongoing plot line about her escape from prison and purpose to win back her former husband Bradford (played by Alan Dale). She even nabbed her first Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series and a Prism for Performance in a Comedy Series (both 2007).

Recently, Light also appeared in an episode of the NBC sitcom “Twenty Good Years” (2006), as Gina. The same year also found the actress making a feature film called “Ira and Abby” (2006), which won a Film Discovery Jury Award for Best Feature at the U.S Comedy Arts Festival, and a short movie, “The Shoemaker” (2006), opposite Danny Aiello. In 2007, Light acted with Chad Allen and Robert Gant in the drama film “Save Me,” in which husband Robert Desiderio wrote the screenplay, and appeared as a customer in “A Broken Sole,” directed by Anthony Marsellis.

Awards:

• Prism: Performance in a Comedy Series, “Ugly Betty,” 2007

• GLAAD Media: Vision Award, 1998

• Daytime Emmy: Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series, “One Life to Live,” 1981

• Daytime Emmy: Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series, “One Life to Live,” 1980

• Soapy: Outstanding Actress, “One Life to Live,” 1980

• Soapy: Outstanding Actress, “One Life to Live,” 1979