News
OLTL Icon Erika Slezak Gets Birthday Surprise Via Linda Dano, Bob Woods, and More!

Photo Credit: Sue Coflin/Max Photos
On Friday, One Life to Live’s six-time Daytime Emmy-winning star, Erika Slezak (Viki) celebrated her 70th birthday, and she had quite the surprise awaiting her on this special day!
If you follow former Another Word and OLTL star (Yes! She was on AMC and GH, too), Linda Dano on Twitter, you saw that the ever-creative Dano was documenting the day’s adventure …. on her way to meet Erika and surprise her for her birthday!
Dano, along with whomever was filming these video gems, captured the moments when Erika was greeted first by Linda, then by Anna Holbrook (Ex-AW, OLTL), Loyita Chapel (Ex-OLTL), and then Loyita’s husband, the one and only Bob Woods (Ex-Bo, OLTL)!
Erika’s reactions are priceless and sweet, and we have to thank Linda for sharing this with One Life and soap fans around the twitterverse.
Watch the videos after the jump of Linda, Bob, and more greeting Erika on her birthday. Then send your bday well-wishes to Erika in the comment section below.
Happy Birthday? pic.twitter.com/GUnP0I53Iw
— Linda Dano (@LindaDano) August 5, 2016
— Linda Dano (@LindaDano) August 5, 2016
Surprise its Anna Holbrook pic.twitter.com/AqjwOXKtSi
— Linda Dano (@LindaDano) August 6, 2016
Omg is that Loyita Woods where is her Bo pic.twitter.com/3UynAmA83f
— Linda Dano (@LindaDano) August 6, 2016
Happy Birthday love Bo pic.twitter.com/ggiikUcPyp
— Linda Dano (@LindaDano) August 6, 2016
Happy Birthday great lady!
Happy birthday Erika!! I miss you and Viki so much.
Happy Birthday to Erika! So good to see her and all her cronies looking well. I miss the OLTL family! God Bless to all.
Love it! Everyone looks beautiful and happy. Robert S. Woods looks so good with a beard! Thanks for posting. I miss my 2nd family very much. When I can’t see them every day, it’s just really nice to know they are chugging along and to see their lovely faces now and again.
Happy Birthday Erika !
So good to see you again.
And some of your former costars as well – you are so missed on screen. <3
What a cool thing to do! One of the many, many reasons why OLTL and its cast were so special!
Happy Birthday! U are so missed on our screens!
Oh how I missed these people and my beloved #oltl
wishing a happy belated birthday to an icon of an actress erika… you look amazing as well as everyone else that celebrated with you. missing you all!!!!!
Happy Birthday Erika! I loved you on OLTL and hope you are doing well.
I’m crying!! Love these people! They all look very happy. Me: I’m missing One Life to Live everyday.
Me too Louisa.
Same here. I just found this gem. I often think of my old friends from OLTL. Shame shame ABC.
It’s great starting off the day seeing an old friend. 🙂 Happy Birthday, Erika!
Happy Birthday! Looks like a fun day for you!! I enjoyed it – thank you & happy day!
Oh my goodness… The best cast ever, the greatest actress ever. Miss the show. Happy Birthday beautiful Erika.
Happy Birthday Erika (Vicki)! Miss getting to see you and all the OLTL cast 5 days a week! So good to see you are well and happy!
Happy Birthday! 😉
Happy, Happy Birthday Erika!!!!! 🙂 I love and I miss you and OLTL soooooooo much!!! I hope that you have a fabulous day!!! 🙂
Take good care,
Love,
Catherine Climpson
Happy birthday, dear Erika! Just like Snoop Dog, I love you, Miss Viki!
Happy Birthday Erica ! And hello everybody ! I miss you guys !
So glad to see u ! In her best billy crystal voice—u look marvelous!
Happy 21st bday Erika!!!!!
What a wonderful treat to see everyone looking so well. Very happy birthday Erika!!!!!!!! I miss you and everyone else from our beloved One Life to Live everyday.
H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y, ERIKA SLEZAK!!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE SUCH AN A+ CLASS ACT!!!!!!!!!! HAVE AN AWESOME BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Birthday Erika you are so missed!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ,ERIKA ,
Happy Birthday Erika I miss you and one life to live family enjoy your birthday
Happy birthday
Happy Birthday, Erika! Miss you very much!
Happy Birthday Erika! You look beautiful as always! It was great seeing everyone, thanks for sharing Linda Dano! I miss One Life To Live so much, it was my daily treat and I loved it!
Happy birthday to you and looking at everyone from OLTL is certainly a treat. Thank you Linda Dani for sharing this with us.
That is so cool, if I was there with those OLTL and AW stars I would have died! So cool seeing them all get together, that is really great!
Anna Holbrook! She was amazing as Sharlene on AW, her and John were perfect as the hippie types from the 60’s all grown up. She was so talented that I’m surprised another soap didn’t grab her, but I think she did a lot of prime time shows.
Happy B’day Erika! Loved you in everything you’ve been in & of course OLTL. Sure wish we could get you on #GH as Monica or Tracy’s college roommate. Best wishes
Love Erika and Linda!!!
Erika of course I’m going to wish you a VERY HAPPY BDAY FROM A FAN WITH THANKS AND LOVE FOR DECADES OF GREAT DAYTIME.
Lovely lady miss her on the soaps but their is not one that is airing today that I would want her in terrible writers !
Happy Birthday to you dear Erika Slesak….
Please Frank give her a great reccuring role on GH.
Happy Birthday , miss u on TV wish we could see u on the TV again .
Happy Birthday, Erika. Wishing every happiness and good health. Would you consider a guest appearance for a few weeks (or forever) on GH? What about nighttime? Anyway, i hope life is wonderful for you. I miss seeing you.
Happy birthday Erika. Miss seeing you every day♡
Happy Birthday Erika! You are the greatest actress to ever grace daytime television.
Happy Birthday, to the lovely and talented Erika Slesac!!
Happy Birthday to Erika Slezak who made Vicki (and all her other personas) come to life for so many years. You provided endless hours of escapism…Vicki was heart and home in the show and on the screen. Bob Woods? You are the essence of likeability and charm. If you still have the desire to work in daytime, hope you both wind up someday soon in Port Charles. 🙂
Happy Birthday to one very classy lady surrounded by a bunch of classy friends. Love to them all.
Thank you all who posted Erikas birthday celebration. She’s a beautiful woman. Happy birthday Erika
Hope she had a wonderful birthday! After watching OLTL for over 30 yrs, it was like she was a 2nd mom, except with GOOD advice (except when she was Niki… or Tommy…)!
Happy Birthday, Erika–miss all those actors and their characters so very much!
Happy Birthday, Erika! I miss this bunch so much, but I am watching old OLTL episodes and loving that! Have a great year!
I still remember the first scene I saw of Viki- it was 1971 during the Steve Burke/Marcy Wade arc- Erica Slezak was 26 years old!
Happy belated to Ms. Slezak! It looks like an awesome time, and Ms. Dano appears to be a very cool friend! Best wishes for many more celebrations!
What a treat. It is 12/29/16. I just googled Ericka’s name. I often think of her and wishing she is having a wonderful life. But deep down I want her back on one of the remaining soaps. I adore her so. It is wonderful to see Bob and his wife and Linda Dano too. My favorite soap was OLTL. I still have not forgiven ABC for the AMC/OLTL cancellation. Linda thanks for doing this for us fans out here.
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Shares He Was ‘Happy to Hear’ of The Triangle Storyline Developing Between Dante/Elizabeth/Ric

General Hospital’s Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri) opened up about the burgeoning love triangle forming between his Port Charles alter-go, Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) after recently aired scenes, plus his hopes for the future of a Dante and Liz pairing, during his appearance on the Sunday, April 23 edition of the That’s Awesome podcast with Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli).
On last week’s episodes of GH, Ric has made the decision that he wanted to propose to his ex-wife, only when he showed up at Elizabeth’s front door, he misread the scenario he walked in with Liz tending to Dante’s injured leg from the softball game. From there, the legal eagle’s jealous streak is reemerging which may cause him to act out and do something unforgivable, or will he take the high road? Stay tuned.
Speaking with Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson about where Elizabeth stands in the annals of the long-running soap, Zamprogna said, “She’s up there with Steve and Maurice (Maurice Benard) as one of the most legacy-filled people on the show.”

Courtesy/ABC
HOW DANTE AND ELIZABETH CAME ABOUT
Dominic jokes it’s a far cry for where Dante and Elizabeth previously, recalling, “We had some scenes together years ago and we were both laughing. Becky’s like, ‘Well, I guess we’re not going be paired up anytime soon.’ I remember we laughed immediately after they yelled ‘cut,”‘and said to each other, ‘Well, so much for that!'”
Fast-forward to early 2025 and as Zamprogna remembered it, “Elizabeth Korte (co-head writer, GH) came up to me at the General Hospital Christmas party, and I think it was a year and a half ago and she said, ‘We’re going to have you in scenes with Elizabeth,’ My internal monologue is going, ‘I’m not with Lulu (Alexa Havins) anymore and Sam’s (Kelly Monaco) gone, so maybe they want to see if this works.’ I didn’t want to get scenes with Becky and try to find the chemistry. I just wanted to play whatever honestly was written and came across for both of us and hope it was what people liked, and I don’t know if it is … or not.”
Knowing how beloved Elizabeth is to the GH faithfuls, Zamprogna added, “She got a big fan base with Ric … and a big fan base with with Jason … and you know, you’re going to piss somebody off. But, didn’t Ric drug Elizabeth and put Carly in a panic room?”

Photo: ABC
DANTE AND ELIZABETH PAIRING COULD STIR UP STORY FOR OTHERS IN PORT CHARLES
In closing, Dominic felt that the wide-reaching tentacles of a Dante and Elizabeth relationship is something he is 100% down for. “The triangle thing; I was happy to hear it was with Ric and her, because I felt it’s important to have her the top of it as opposed to Dante, Lulu and Elizabeth.”
Zamprogna added, “When you get into relationships on a soap, things seem to fizzle out a little bit, The buildup is what’s the fun part, and the getting to know each other, and the people who are affected by this coming together. When with this case it’s going to affect: Ric, Sonny, Lulu. There’s so much more story here. To me, it’s going to be a fun story to play.”
You can check out Dominic’s visit to That’s Awesome with Steve and Bradford below.
Now weigh-in: Are you rooting for Dante and Liz, or Dante and Ric at this juncture of the story, or neither guy for Elizabeth? Let us know your thoughts and picks via the comment section.
Beyond the Gates
‘Beyond the Gates’ Star Mike Manning Lands Role in Indie Horror Feature ‘Deify’

While Smitty tries to hold the fort down in his marriage to congressman Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) and their two teenaged children, Samantha (Najah Jackson) and Tyrell (Jaden Lucas Miller) on Beyond the Gates, Emmy-winner Mike Manning has also landed another feature film role.
According to Deadline, Manning has joined the cast of Deify with 6 other new cast members for the indie psychological horror film starring Neal McDonough and Skeet Ulrich, which was previously announced last week.
Joining Manning as the latest cast addition are: Dennis Haysbert, Ashley Greene, Casey Harnett, Kirk Avecdo, Anji White, anf Nicholas Chimera who’s directing the pic also has a part in the film.
WHAT’S THE STORY OF DEIFY?
Taking to his Instagram with the news of his casting, Manning shared, “A movie about a cult? What could possibly go wrong? Come for the enlightenment. Stay because they won’t let you leave. DEIFY is coming…”
The movie is currently shooting in Chicago and in story, “a cult leader is put on trial after causing his devoted followers to be burned alive. The film is inspired in part by events surrounding the 1993 Waco, Texas, standoff between members of the Branch Davidians church and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, one of the largest civilian firefights ever recorded on American soil.”
MIKE MANNING IS A DAYTIME EMMY NOMINEE
In addition, the multi-talented Manning is a producer on the feature. Previously, Mike was nominated last month in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards. He previously won an Emmy for his role on The Bay and for being a producer on the digital drama.
Mike’s previous credits include the role of Charlie Dale on Days of Our Lives and the Manny on This Is Us, plus various primetime and screen credits.
So intrigued to find what role Mike will play in the upcoming horror/cult film, Deify? Enjoying him as Smitty on Beyond the Gates? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
General Hospital
GH and OLTL Alum Patrick J. Gibbons Reveals the Story Behind Writing Trina’s Song on ‘General Hospital’ (Exclusive)

At the conclusion of today’s August 21 episode of General Hospital, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) sings a lullaby to baby Dez, that went into a montage to close out the episode as her father Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) reports to Pentonville and winds up in his jail cell.
However, in a fun fact, the song entitled, “A Lonely Heart To Give” was actually written by none other than former One Life to Live and General Hospital actor, Patrick J. Gibbons.
Daytime fans first met Gibbons as Sam Manning on One Life to Live. At the time, when he started on the soap, he was just 5-years-old. Gibbons played the part from 2010-2013 on ABC and Prospect Park’s editions of the show. Fast-forward to 2018, Gibbons shows up on General Hospital as Wyatt Hoover, the scout who seemed always be injured, but in the thick of the drama. Patrick had appeared on GH multiple times as Wyatt including: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023.

Photo: ABC
FROM HIS GRANDMOTHER’S DEATH CAME THE INSPIRATION FOR HIS SONG
Now in 2026, General Hospital fans are getting to learn about another side of Gibbons’ talent as a songwriter and guitar player after “A Lonely Heart to Give” debuted today! Michael Fairman TV caught up with Patrick, who is now a senior at Penn State entering his final year as a finance major, to get the back-story of how his song wound up on GH!
Gibbons explained he wrote the song in honor of his grandmother who passed away a few years ago with whom he was, very, very close with. “Randomly, my grandmother had a downfall and passed away during the second semester of my sophomore year. I was in my dorm a lot and I was just playing with my guitar. And at the time, I was really into finger-style playing. I wrote the lyric and music to it (with a little help from my guitar teacher Lou), and my mom showed the rough demo to Frank Valentini (EP, General Hospital). He’s like an uncle to me. Frank loved it so much he said, “Finish that up. I want to hear the whole thing, and I want it on the show.”
MAKING MUSIC FOR GENERAL HOSPITAL
Gibbons and his parents took the next steps! “So now, all we needed was a female voice, because I thought that would fit the song well,” Patrick shared. “At the golf club we go to my parents were at a dinner. They liked the singer that was performing and spoke to her about the song, and she says she would like to bring it to her ‘boss’ who ended up being Eric Bazilian of the Hooters fame!” (Bazilian also wrote the smash hit song “One of Us” for Joan Osborne).
Next, “We went in the studio and recorded it and the song came together and it was beautiful. We loved it. They loved it at General Hospital and now they’re putting it the show and they are coming in with a piano, instead of a guitar. Paul Glass, the GH musical director, has been keeping us updated over the last six months of how it was coming along, and when it would air, and how GH put their own arrangement to it. I can’t wait to see and hear what they did with it.”

Photo: JPI
PATRICK’S ONE LIFE TO LIVE FAMILY
Everyone knows that the One Life to Live extended family share a very tight bond, and Patrick said he does stay in touch with a few of his former One Life to Live co-stars, especially those from the Manning family! “I stayed in touch with Kassie DePaiva (ex-Blair) and sent her little videos here and there. She was like my second mom for five years. We keep in contact with Kristen Alderson (ex-Starr) over X the most, and she can’t believe how big I’ve gotten. Like, none of them can! (laughs). I also loved working with Roger Howarth (ex-Todd) and Trevor St. John (ex-Todd and Victor Jr.), and to me since I was so young, they were just my friends, ‘Roger and Trevor,’ not Todd Manning or Victor Jr.”
It was a trip to California and a visit to Port Charles that ultimately led to Gibbons second soap role of Wyatt Hoover. Patrick explains, “In 2016, Frank Valentini invited us out to Los Angeles to visit the set of General Hospital. I think he heard me say, ‘This is so much fun. I miss being on the set.’ He goes, ‘You should come out. I’ll bring you on the show. We can make you a character.'”
A few years later, Patrick’s dream became a reality! “Then, by the summer of 2018, I was playing Wyatt, the scout, and shared scenes with Wes Ramsey (Peter August), and the best was when I shared a scene with Roger Howarth and Michael Easton (ex-John, OLTL and ex-Silas, Finn et al, GH), it was like chemistry from the old days.”

Photo: PGibbons
IT’S ALL IN THE NUMBERS
As to his future aspirations, it’s a career in the finance game that has piqued Gibbons’ real-life interest. But never say never to a return to acting. Patrick explained, “I’ve always enjoyed numbers. And on top of that, one of the biggest parts of finance is being personable and outgoing.”
He continued, “That’s one of the greatest skills I developed growing up. I really love the markets. I’m super interested. I’m never going to close the door to acting. I’m always open to that because I just love it so much. It’s such a great art.”
Take note! If there are any investment bankers or private equity folks among the GH faithful looking for a young analyst next year, Patrick’s DMs are open. You can find him on X at @PatrickJGibbons.”
So, what did you think of the song sung by Trina on today’s GH that was written by Patrick J. Gibbons? Did you enjoy Patrick’s performances as One Life’s Sam and GH’s Wyatt? Would you like to see him back on GH at some point? Let us know via the comment section.
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