Soap Opera History

Judith Light Facts: Celebrities Who Started on Soaps

Published by

Shado Saeyang

5 years ago

Judith Light is a television, film, and theater actress who is best known for her work on Who’s the Boss?, Ugly Betty, Law & Order: SVU, and Transparent. She also got her start on a soap.

Not to mention, Light was just in the new Netflix series, The Politician, and she continues to work on Broadway. From where she was born and raised to her advocacy work, here are five fast facts about the beloved actress.

Who Is Judith Light?

Light was born on February 9 in Trenton, New Jersey. She grew up there and attended St. Mary’s Hall — Doane Academy. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in drama and started working in theater. In fact, her professional debut came when she was in a production of Richard III.

Soap Beginnings
The actress was hesitant to work on a sitcom or soap but changed her mind when she learned what the pay would be and realized the reach of a soap could help her make a difference with the audience. She landed the role of Karen Wolek on One Life to Live. In one of the most memorable scenes in soap opera history, Karen broke down on the witness stand and revealed that she was just a common hooker like Katrina Karr.

Winner, Winner
Thanks to her amazing work on OLTL, Light won her first Daytime Emmy Award in 1980 for Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She won her second in 1981. She has since been nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards, and she just won the Isabelle Stevenson Award at the 2019 Tony Awards.

LGBTQ Advocate

Light has been an advocate for the LGBTQ community for many decades and began fighting for people with HIV/Aids in the 80s. In fact, she was one of the first celebrities to advocate against the stigma attached to gay people with AIDS. She has been on the board of both the Matthew Shepard Foundation and the Point Foundation, which works to help students who are discriminated against based on their sexual orientation.

Getting Personal With Judith Light
Light has been married to television actor (and former OLTL love interest) Robert Desiderio since 1985. Though they’re still together, they live separately — she lives in New York and he lives in California. They decided to never have kids because Light didn’t want to give up her acting career, which she revealed she’d want to do if she did have children.