Eileen Davidson

Born and raised in Southern California, Eileen Davidson started her career as a model in Mexico City and California. After appearances in the television series The Phoenix and the movie The House on Sorority Row, the actress was cast as Ashley Abbott on Young and Restless in 1982. After exiting the soap in 1988, Davidson starred in the short-lived prime-time sitcom Broken Badges before returning to daytime in as Kelly Capwell on Santa Barbara, which she played until 1993.

That same year, Davidson joined the cast of Days of Our Lives as Kristen Blake, later adding the characters of Susan Banks, Sister Mary Moira Banks, Thomas Banks, and Penelope Kent to her roster. She left DAYS in 1998, then reprised the role of Ashley on Y&R from 1999-2007 and Bold and Beautiful from 2007-08. The actress ultimately returned both to Y&R (where she still appears) and to DAYS, and has won two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress, one for DAYS (2014) and another for Y&R (2018). Davidson has also appeared in movies like 7 Days to Vegas, Middleton Christmas, and Holiday in the Vineyards and was a cast member on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills from 2014-16. She is also a published author, co-writing the soap opera mystery novel Death in Daytime as well as three sequels. She has one son, Jesse, with husband Vince Van Patten (ex-Christian, Y&R).