Eden Riegel
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Eden Riegel (born January 1, 1980 in Washington, D.C.) is an American actress.
From 2000 to 2005, she has played the role of Bianca Montgomery on the soap opera All My Children. In October 2000, Riegel's character became the only lesbian currently on the daytime serials when she came out to her mother on the program. She won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Female Newcomer in 2001.
Since then, Riegel has become a symbol in the gay community. Many former soap fans, including Ellen DeGeneres, have expressed renewed interest in All My Children since Bianca came out. In 2003, her story hit fever pitch when Bianca and her love interest, Lena Kundera (Olga Sosnovska) were scheduled to share the first lesbian kiss on American daytime television. In 2004, with Lena out of the picture, Bianca shared a kiss with close friend and confidante Maggie Stone (Elizabeth Hendrickson). She was awarded the first Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation award for Favorite OUT image of the year award in 2004.
During the baby swap storyline when Bianca's daughter was kidnaped and switched with the son of Babe Chandler (Alexa Havins) Riegel also played Bianca Montgomery on One Life to Live.
Before Riegel joined the show, she appeared in Les Misérables on Broadway, and attended Harvard University. While attending Harvard, she worked as a Congressional intern. Prior to joining the AMC she had a small role on the soap opera As The World Turns as an AIDS patient and played a minor character in the feature film American Pie. She also did voice acting work in the film The Prince of Egypt.
While working on AMC she remained active in other acting work doing a small guest role on American Dreams and appearing in the New York stageplay The Sex Lives of Superheros. She also appeared in talk shows like SoapTalk, Soap Center and The View. When she shared the first same sex kiss on daytime television she was interviewed by numerous news outlets including CNN.
She was nominated for three Daytime Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series" in 2001, 2002 and 2004 for her work on the soap. Her name has been submitted for nomination consideration for the 2005 Daytime Emmys. She also won two Soap Opera Digest Awards, in 2001 for "Outstanding Female Newcomer" and in 2005 for "Outstanding Younger Lead Actress".
Both Eden Riegel and Elizabeth Hendrickson exited All My Children on February 24th 2005 and have moved to Los Angeles to pursue other acting ventures. She made a brief return to the soap when her on screen mother Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) and Jackson Montgomery (Walt Willey) were married in May 2005.
On May 20, 2005 Riegel won a Daytime Emmy for "Outstanding Younger Actress" for her All My Children role.
Awards (Won)
- (2005) Daytime Emmy Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series for All My Children
(2004) Favorite OUT Image of the Year Award for All My Children
- (2005) Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Younger Lead Actress for All My Children
- (2001) Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Female Newcomer for All My Children
Award (Nominated)
- (2004) Daytime Emmy Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series for All My Children
- (2002) Daytime Emmy Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series for All My Children
- (2001) Daytime Emmy Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series for All My Children
External links
- Eden Riegel's official website
- Riegel Rebels - Eden Riegel's official fan club