Days of Our Lives Star Suzanne Rogers Celebrates Amazing Milestone

Maggie may be having quite a hard time of it on Days of Our Lives of late after falling off the wagon, but actress Suzanne Rogers certainly has a big reason to celebrate.

That’s because she was born on July 9, 1943, in Midland, Maryland, which means that she is turning 76 years old today! Rogers, born Suzanne Cecilia Crumpler, adopted her last name in honor of one of her favorite performers – actress and dancer Ginger Rogers.

Rogers always knew that she wanted to be a performer but she never believed it would be in front of a television camera. On the contrary, Rogers first love was dance and she had taken lessons since the age of two. When she turned 17, Rogers left her hometown and headed for New York City to pursue her dream of becoming a famous dancer.

In New York, Rogers was a smash sensation on the stage and performed as a Rockette at the Radio City Music Hall. Rogers also appeared in some of the biggest Broadway musicals of the 1970s including Coco, Hallelujah Boy, and Follies.

In January of 1973, Rogers made up her mind to head to the west coast and try her luck there. She joined the prestigious Stella Adler Studio of Acting and in 1973 she joined the cast of Days of Our Lives.

The role that Rogers was cast in was a far cry from characters she had played back in New York. Maggie Simmons was an orphaned farm girl who had been crippled in the car accident that killed her parents. She hired an amnesiac Mickey Horton to help her tend to the farm and slowly fell in love with the mystery man.

When Mickey’s identity was revealed (and his memory restored) Maggie traveled back to Salem with him and became his wife. Surgery corrected her limp but Maggie still found her life complicated by a number of factors.

They included alcoholism, infertility, and a myasthenia gravis diagnosis. The last story was actually written into the show because Rogers herself suffered from the disease.

SoapHub whishes Rogers the happiest of birthdays and many more. Days of Our Lives airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes.