Soap Opera Veteran Michelle Stafford Celebrates Her Birthday

Phyllis Summers may be celebrating her new position as “Chief Executive Security Officer” at the Grand Phoenix Hotel (and the recently acquired 25% stake in the business) but actress Michelle Stafford certainly has another reason to be festive.

That’s because she was born on September 14, 1965, in Chicago, Illinois which means that this talented performer is turning 54 years old today!

After graduating from high school, Stafford pursued her dreams of becoming a model but she was nearly felled by a brain tumor. Luckily the growth was benign and a radical procedural was performed to remove it.

In 1990, Stafford was cast in her first television role and debuted on Tribes the daily half-hour soap opera produced by the FOX network. Although not necessarily a hit the show did generate enough interest to have its 13-week guarantee extended by six more.

Four years later, Stafford joined the cast of the CBS daytime series The Young and the Restless as Phyllis Summers. The character had been envisioned as necessary for only a short story arc but Stafford so impressed the producers — and head writer Bill Bell — that they continued writing for her and she remained until 1997.

After parting ways with the soap, Stafford joined Aaron Spelling’s newest nighttime offering: Pacific Palisades. Unlike his plethora of other television series this one proved short-lived lasting for only one 13 episodes season.

Guest roles on  Two Guys and a Girl, Diagnosis: Murder, Frasier, and JAG followed for Stafford and she even appeared in the film Double Jeopardy.

Stafford returned to The Young and the Restless in 2000 and continued in the part of Phyllis until 2013. In 2014, she joined the cast of General Hospital but in the interim, she guest-starred on Ringer, had a stint as a hockey commentator for The Best Damn Sports Show Period and filmed Like Mother, Like Daughter for Lifetime.

At General Hospital, Stafford originated the role of Nina Reeves. In 2019, she departed the soap to rejoin the cast of The Young and the Restless. Outside of her acting, Stafford is also known for her skincare products released under the Skin Nation brand.

Soap Hub would like to wish Michelle Stafford a very happy birthday and you can too by clicking on the Twitter link below.