Soap Star News: Cady McClain Remembers Early Days As Dixie

Cady McClain had been in show biz since childhood when she landed the role of the lifetime at just 19 years old — Dixie Cooney on ABC’s All My Children.

Cady McClain: That First Emmy Win

The role even led her to winning her very first Daytime Emmy Award in 1990. She was the picture of glamour in her up-do and bright red dress but she also admits she was not living the Hollywood (or even the New York City) life of glitz.

She recently posted a pic of herself on Instagram from that Emmy-winning night and remembered what her life was like back then — and of course, the pic is with her AMC partner-in-crime, Michael E. Knight, who played Dixie’s beloved Tad.

“So grateful for this moment … 1990… NYC… winning my first Emmy and celebrating with my buddy Mike,” she wrote.

“It was a warm day and I was still living in a studio apartment with my mom…. it was one step up from our first NY apt which was a single room and futons (one folded into a sofa, one a chair). This one had a wall built in so two single beds could fit head to head! Grateful to my mom for being so adventurous and open so that I could have a chance at a different kind of life and career.”

McClain would go on to win another Emmy in 2004 for playing Rosanna Cabot on As The World Turns, but that didn’t mean she’d never return to playing Dixie — something she did several times through the decades. In fact, Dixie was on the last-ever ABC episode of AMC and McClain brought the character back for the online version of the soap that didn’t last long.

As for Knight, we can all see him regularly on General Hospital as Martin Grey, so wouldn’t it be fun if Dixie showed up and found him to be awfully familiar. We know Hilary B. Smith’s Nora can visit from Llanview, so why can’t Dixie visit from Pine Valley?