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Rae Cummings Buchanan on the ABC Television Network's "One Life To Live"
Linda Dano, one of television's most beloved Daytime stars, returned to ABC Daytime in June 1999. Ms. Dano reprised the role of "One Life to Live's" Gretel Cummings, a character she had played on the show from 1978-80 and, in an unprecedented programming move, she takes the character and crosses over to all four ABC Daytime soaps, including "All My Children," "General Hospital" and "Port Charles." As the host of the live stage show at Disney's Super Soap Weekend talk shows, Ms. Dano's off-beat personality and spontaneous questions always give fans a different look at their favorite ABC personalities. When Gretel returned to Llanview in 1999, she was a respected therapist answering to the name of Rae. In July 2002 her well-guarded secret was exposed, revealing that she is not actually a therapist and sending her life into total upheaval. In a strategic move to regain control, Gretel blackmailed the rich and powerful Asa Buchanan (Phil Carey) into marriage.
Ms. Dano is well-known to Daytime audiences for her 17-year run as "Another World's" Felicia Gallant, for which she won the Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy Award in 1993. She is an accomplished television and feature film actress, talk-show host, designer, author, entrepreneur and columnist, among other talents. She hosted Lifetime Television's talk show, "Attitudes," for six years and, in 2001, returned to the network with the new weekly lifestyle show, "Lifetime Now!" Ms. Dano currently combines live television appearances on QVC with her exclusive fashion accessory business as host of "Looking Great With Linda Dano." Her popular books, Looking Great . . . It Doesn't Have to Hurt and Living Great, were released in 1997 and 1998, respectively. She has been president and CEO of Strictly Personal, a New York-based fashion consulting service, for over a decade, and pens monthly columns, including "Fashion File" for "Soap Opera Digest" and "InStyle" for New Choices Magazine.
Ms. Dano began her acting career at 20th Century Fox Studios and has a long list of feature film roles to her credit, including "Hello, Dolly!," "The Boston Strangler," "Wishbone Cutter" and "Star." She has also appeared in dozens of television series such as "Homicide: Life on the Street," "The Rockford Files," "Police Woman," "Barney Miller" and "Starsky and Hutch," and was a series regular on "The Montefuscos." Her television movies include "Rage of Angels II," "Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss" and "When the Vows Break."
The governor of the State of Connecticut designated a day in Linda Dano's honor for her work on behalf of charitable causes. She is the 2000 recipient of the Women's Health Leadership Award, an Honorary Chair for the National Alzheimer's Association, a spokesperson for the National Osteoporosis Association, and a member of the Board of Directors for HeartShare Human Services. Her popular website is LindaDano.com.
Ms. Dano resides in Connecticut with her husband, retired advertising executive Frank Attardi, and her mother, in a restored house that dates back to 1730. In their spare time, Ms. Dano and Mr. Attardi collect seventeenth and eighteenth-century furnishings for their home.
• Linda Dano's Professional Credits List
Related Web sites:
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The Official Linda Dano Web site
A well-organized and professional Web site featuring the latest news, fashion and style tips, awards and charity events, soap talk and contact information.
©
Copyright by Katherine Thurston,
About Guide to One Life to Live, October, 2002.
Biography used
with permission from ABC MediaNet
