READER PANEL

PROFILE

Cady McClain

ON SOAP OPERA DIGEST AND WEEKLY ONLINE

SOAP STAR STATS

Cady McClain (Rosanna, ATWT)

— PGP

Vital Statistics

Birthdate:: October 13
Birthplace:: Burbank, CA
Star Sign:: Libra
Years On Show:: 2002-2005; 2007-present
Marital Status:: Not married
Children:: None

THE 411

Cady (pronounced "Katie") McClain was born and raised, along with her sister, Molly, in Southern California. Money was tight after her parents divorced, and with her mother's blessing, McClain began her acting career at age 9 — singing "I am stuck on Band-Aids" in a commercial. Numerous other ads and guest-starring roles followed, and after her junior year, McClain left school and got her high school equivalency diploma. At age 17, she and her mom moved to New York and two years later, she was cast in the role for which she is still most often recognized, ALL MY CHILDREN's Dixie Cooney (for which she won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Ingenue in 1990 and two Soap Opera Digest Awards — Outstanding Heroine, 1991, and Favorite Return, 1999). After years in and out of Pine Valley, during which the actress worked in theater and pursued higher education, McClain left in 2002. She soon surprised everyone by turning up on ATWT, where she was Carly's haughty, wealthy half sister, Rosanna — a far cry from down-home naif Dixie. McClain won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2004. In early 2006, she delighted AMC fans by bringing a wiser, edgier Dixie back to Pine Valley. Dixie met a shocking demise as an accidental victim of PV's Satin Slayer in early 2007 and returned to ATWT in July. The actress is romantically linked with former leading man Hunt Block (ex-Craig, ATWT).

ET CETERA

Five Random Facts
—Made the Guinness Book of World Records at age 7 for a tap-dancing session with 500 other people.
—Studied at the Art Students League and the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.
—Recorded an album, BlueGlitterFish, which is available on her Web site, where you can also view her original artwork.
—Saw the Dalai Lama in India
—She’s dated Terrell Anthony (ex-Rusty, GL), Paul Michael Valley (ex-Ryan, AW) and Patrick Stuart (ex-Will, AMC)

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Other Soap Roles
ALL MY CHILDREN (Dixie, 1988-96; 1998-2002; 2006-2007)
TV Movie Roles
A FATHER'S HOMECOMING (1988)
HOME FIRES (1987)
WHO WILL LOVE MY CHILDREN? (Virginia, 1983)
Guest-Starring TV Roles
SPENSER: FOR HIRE (Laurie, 1988)
CHEERS (Joyce, 1987)
ONE BIG FAMILY (Paige, 1987)
ST. ELSEWHERE (Erin, 1983-85)
Film Roles
Retreat (Paige, 2004)
Alma Mater (Gwen, 2002)
Simple Justice (Janet, 1990)
My Favorite Year (Tess, 1982)

NO ANGEL

“Problems come up when that other voice, what I call your guardian a--hole, sits on the other shoulder. And that voice tells me, ‘No, you’re not good enough, you can’t do that. Who do you think you are that you could possibly do that?’ And that’s the voice that you have to fight. We’re all here to help each other out and create joy and that sort of thing. I try and live my life that way, but it’s not easy.”—Soap Opera Weekly, 7/27/93

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE

“Growing up, we had no money; [we lived] hand-to-mouth in California. I remember waiting in line for welfare when I was 15. I got out of that line and told my mom, ‘I don’t want to take. I want to earn my money. I can do it.’ That was a very strong moment in my life.”—Soap Opera Digest, 9/26/95

“I took care of my mom for years. It was like having a child and my child died. That is so depressing, but it’s true. It doesn’t make me want to have one.” —Weekly, 3/27/01

JOB SECURITY

“I have in the back of my head my second lives, other things I’d like to do. I’d like to join the Peace Corps for a year and build houses in Mexico. I would like to go back to school for a year. But also, as a professional actress, sometimes your opportunities are now. I’ve been acting since I was 9, and I know what it’s like to not have a job. And a lot of those years I was growing up and I didn’t know what I wanted to be. I’ve just recently come to accept that I’m an actor.”—Digest, 6/11/02