Victoria Lord is a fictional character and matriarch of the Lord family on the American soap opera One Life to Live, played for over 41 years by six-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning actress Erika Slezak. The character was created as one of the main protagonists by series creator Agnes Nixon, and first cast to Gillian Spencer on the pilot aired July 15, 1968. Nixon later recast her with Slezak, who became synonymous with the character role following a continual portrayal spanning her debut March 17, 1971 through the ABC Daytime finale January 13, 2012. Slezak reprised the role in The Online Network continuance of One Life to Live aired on Hulu, iTunes, FX Canada, and the Oprah Winfrey Network from April 29, 2013 through the final episode released August 19, 2013. The role of Victoria is the mainstay original lead character of the serial, and her storylines focus on drudgery, love, and family troubles. One of the longest-running characters on American daytime television, Victoria weathers widowhood (three times), divorce (four times), a brain aneurysm, a near-death out-of-body experience (three times), being shot (two times), sent to jail, suffering a stroke, breast cancer, rape, recovered memories of being molested as a child, a heart attack, heart disease, a heart transplant, the abduction of three of her five children as infants, the deaths of two siblings, and the death of her daughter from lupus. Most notably, she suffers recurring bouts with dissociative identity disorder throughout the show narrative. Slezak's tenure as Victoria earned the actress a reputation as a leading actor in American serials, with her portrayal becoming one of the most lauded and longest-running in American soap operas. Character background Conception One Life to Live series creator Agnes Nixon conceived the central role of Victoria "Viki" Lord inspired by her relationship with her domineering father, Harry Eckhardt, and her own married family life along the Philadelphia Main Line in Bryn Mawr. Nixon took further inspiration from lead protagonist Tracy Lord of the 1939 play The Philadelphia Story, portrayed on stage and film by actress Katharine Hepburn. Casting The role of Victoria was originally cast to Gillian Spencer, who appeared from the July 1968 debut until 1970. Joanne Dorian replaced Spencer from October 1970 until March 16, 1971, when established theater actress Erika Slezak stepped into the role in the following day's episode. Slezak was told she was auditioning for a new character,