‘One Life To Live’ Actress Passes Away At 42

Amanda Davies, a long-running presence on ABC’s popular “One Life to Live” soap opera, has died at just 42.

The young actress, born into a soap opera family, played the teenage version of the show’s matriach Victoria “Viki” Lord, as played by Erika Slezak, who was Davies’ real-life mother. Slezak announced her daughter’s death on her own website.

“It is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing of Erika’s daughter Amanda Elizabeth Davies who died very suddenly. The family is heartbroken and would appreciate privacy at this time,” Slezak wrote in a statement.

No cause of death has been given, and the family has not responded to an inquiry from the New York Post. A rep for the family confirmed the news to Entertainment Weekly.

As the daughter of Slezak and husband Brian Davies, also an actor, Davies had Broadway in her blood and was first introduced to the show as “Teenage Viki” in 2002. Slezak played the motherly role for more than four decades from the show’s 1971 launch to its shuttering in 2012. During that time she won a record six Daytime Emmys for her performances. Slezak herself came from a lineage of Hollywood: her father was Walter Slezak, a Tony-winning actor who also made brief appearances on “One Life.”

Amanda Davies held her own in her mother’s shadow, playing a reliable role and participating in a brief web series revival of the show in 2013.

“This just broke my heart. My thoughts are with dear Erika at this time. I know how much she loved her children,” TV journalist Michael Fairman wrote on X.

This just broke my heart. My thoughts are with dear Erika at this time. I know how much she loved her children.💔

Erika Slezak’s Daughter, Amanda Davies, Passes Away Suddenly at 42 – https://t.co/d7KsFSQQLd #AmandaDaviesRIP #ErikaSlezak #OneLifetoLive pic.twitter.com/sPLqVyZ2UJ

— MIchael Fairman (@MichaelFairman) January 29, 2024

Davies’ death is the second in recent months to his the cast of the popular show. Kamar de los Reyes, a Puerto Rican actor who played police officer Antonio Vega, died on Christmas Eve at the age of 56 after a battle with cancer. Last year, Andrea Evans, who played the teenage Lord character before Davies, passed away at 66. Slezak recalled how her colleague tagged along as she learned the ropes about living in the Big Apple.

“Andrea and I worked together for so long,” Slezak wrote on her website at the time. “On her first day at work, she was living one block away from me and I walked her to work. She was just a child — never been to N.Y.C. — so sweet and kind and loving. Amazing that she played such a complicated, confused and selfish character so well.”