Just The Facts
Birthday: February 2
Hails From: Grand Rapids, MI
All In The Family: Husband A.C. Weary and their children Rachel (21), Max (16) and Jacob (13).
Official Web Site: www.okzfc.com
Currently Reading: The Da Vinci Code
Broadway Bound: "The lead woman in Mamma Mia would be my ideal part in musical theater right now."
Favorite Ski Resort: Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico. "I like it because there are no snowboarders allowed, so it's just pure downhill skiing."
Where She Keeps Her Emmys: "They move around. Right now they're on the top of a bookshelf in our living room."
Does She Think About Winning Another One? "I don't think about it, but everybody else does [laughs]."

Did You Know?
  *Her mom has watched GL since Zimmer was a child.
  *She once interviewed GL fan John Edwards.
  *Son Jake recently appeared on the show

For years, Kim Zimmer has been told that she's the star of GUIDING LIGHT. It was an epithet given to her by countless executives, one that magazines have been known to exploit, one that fans ardently supported (or grudgingly accepted) — but one that she always rejected, unsure that a soap could have any single actor assume that title. "I would always say that no one is a star on this show. This is an ensemble," she declares firmly. But that was then. Now, more than 20 years after starting on GL, Zimmer has found herself in an odd position — claiming the power that people presumed she already had.

And it's not because she is a diva who insists on getting her way simply for kicks. Take this interview, for instance. After a several-hour photo shoot, Zimmer spends the rest of the day answering any question that is thrown at her. Nothing is off-limits. Her pauses aren't buying time to rephrase a point diplomatically, but to search for the words that will best describe what she wants to convey. She is still an animated force, a high-wattage personality, and perhaps she's just coming to terms with that. She has changed her mind about a few things, but, as always, she's not afraid to share her opinions, popular or not. "Now, I know being a star is more about them respecting you enough to acknowledge the fact that they need you, that you have an important part to play in what is GUIDING LIGHT. And if that is the definition of a star, then I'm more comfortable with that now than I ever was before. Maybe it's just [being a] wise old bitch," she laughs.

Zimmer found herself in this newfound place of contentment after taking a good, hard look at her life and finally liking (for the most part) what she saw. "I've just come to peace with the fact that I wasn't going to be a movie star. I wasn't going to be 'Kim Zimmer: Live At Caesars Palace.' I am happy with what I've spent my life doing," she explains. "I still have my demons that I battle, [like] seeing all these young, beautiful women come on the show, and as you're putting on your size 12, they're putting on their size minus 2. I so adoringly remember Beverlee McKinsey [ex-Alexandra] and the stuff she used to say to me, like, 'Oh, you pretty little thing.' [It was] stuff I would take offense to that I find myself saying to Lindsey [McKeon, Marah] or Aubrey [Dollar, Marina] or to all these pretty little things. I think, 'Oh, I didn't mean that bitchy.' You know, I'm becoming Beverlee McKinsey, which isn't a bad thing. She's a great dame, and I would like to be remembered that way, too."