Happy birthday, Susan Walters.
Nobody, but nobody, save for perhaps her son and Jack, would celebrate Diane Jenkins on The Young and the Restless. Luckily, the same isn’t true for her portrayer, Susan Walters, who’s marking a milestone that’s worthy of celebrating.
And that’s because she was born on September 28, 1963, in Atlanta, Georgia, which means that this fan-favorite performer is turning 60 years old today!
Walters began her acting career — and took the soap world by storm — as an original cast member in ABC’s then-newest daytime offering, Loving. There, she played scheming femme Lorna Forbes from 1983 to 1986. Subsequently, she starred in the 1987 feature Russkies as well as episodes of The Facts of Life and Who’s the Boss.
Beginning in 1987, Walters forged a working relationship with uber-producer Aaron Spelling that saw her cast in the likes of Hotel (where she played Ryan Thomas), Elvis and Me (she was Priscilla Presley to Dale Midkiff’s King of Rock ‘n’ Roll), Nightingales, and Melrose Place.
Walters’s other acting credits include starring roles in NBC’s Dear John, the television adaptation of The Big Easy, as well Horse Sense, and Jumping the Ship — a mini-franchise aired on the Disney Channel.
In 2001, Walters assumed the part of Diane Jenkins on The Young and the Restless, taking over for role originator Alex Donnelley; she remained in the part until 2004. A short guest appearance in 2010 preceded her eventual return on March 23, 2022. Between her stints, Maura West (now Ava Jerome on General Hospital) had played Diane.
In addition to acting on the CBS soap, Walters is probably best remembered for appearing on MTV’s Teen Wolf as well as One Tree Hill and The Vampire Diaries, both on the CW.
Walters is married to fellow thespian Linden Ashby, whom she met on the set of Loving; he played her character’s cousin, Curtis Alden. The couple frequently appears together on the small screen — Spy Games, The War Next-Door, Drop-Dead Diva, et al. — invariably as spouses at one another’s throats. Walters and Ashby share two daughters: Frances Grace and Savannah Elizabeth.
Soap Hub would like to wish Susan Walters a very happy birthday.
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