Emma Samms - Biography

Emma Samms (born Emma E. W. Samuelson; 28 August 1960) is a British television actress best known for her role as Holly Sutton on the American daytime soap opera General Hospital and for replacing Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon Carrington Colby on the primetime soap opera Dynasty.

Early life

Samms was born in Willesden, London, England, the daughter of Madeleine U. (née White), a ballet dancer, and Michael E. W. Samuelson, who owned a film equipment rental company. Her grandfather, G. B. Samuelson, was a pioneer of British cinema. Samms was raised in the Jewish religion. She trained as a ballet dancer at the Royal Ballet School but stopped dancing at 15 after a hip injury. Next training as an actress, she changed her name to "Emma Samms" as there was already an "Emma Samuelson" registered at the actors union Equity.

Career

Samms first played Holly Sutton Scorpio on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital from 1982 to 1985. With Samms choosing to leave the series amicably to go to ABC's prime time hit Dynasty, her character Holly seemingly perished in a plane crash. On May 15, 1985, Samms appeared in the fifth season finale "Royal Wedding" as Fallon Carrington Colby, a role originated by Pamela Sue Martin in 1981. The character was immediately transplanted into the new Dynasty spin-off The Colbys for two seasons (1985–1987), until reintroduced back into Dynasty in the September 23, 1987 eighth season premiere "The Siege - Part 1." Samms remained with Dynasty for two seasons until its last episode on 11 May 1989. She later returned for the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion. After the show's run, Samms did some films, but those she did failed to get her noticed. She stayed with TV.

"Fan favorite" Samms had been so popular at General Hospital that Holly was brought back from the dead in January 1992 after a seven-year absence. She stayed in the role until 1993, during this time also playing Holly's lookalike half-sister Paloma, a heroic revolutionary. In 1995, Samms appeared as the villainous Grayson Louder in the prime time soap Models Inc., a spin-off of Melrose Place, both produced by former Dynasty producer Aaron Spelling.

Samms appeared in four episodes of the BBC series Holby City in 2003, and had a small run on the BBC daytime series Doctors in 2005. She made a seven-episode return to General Hospital as Holly in February 2006. After serving as a presenter (alongside General Hospital costar Tristan Rogers) for the Daytime Emmy Awards on 28 April 2006, Samms reappeared on General Hospital for a three-week run starting 1 May 2006, and then again on June 30, 2006. She subsequently stepped into the BBC Children in Need reality series Celebrity Scissorhands as a hairdresser from 3 November to 17 November 2006. On 20 September 2007 Samms guested on the long-running ITV series The Bill as drug addict Ella Winstanley. Most recently, she made a brief return to General Hospital starting 15 May 2009. On July 17, 2009, Samms appeared on chat show Loose Women.

Samms is due to perform in Shall We Dance, a dance revue of musicals by Richard Rodgers. The show is choreographed by former Royal Ballet principal dancer Adam Cooper who stars, alongside his wife Sarah Wildor who is also a former Royal Ballet principal dancer. The show is being staged at the Sadler's Wells Theatre.

Personal life

Samms twice declined offers to appear in Playboy, once during her run on General Hospital and the second during Dynasty. In 1983, Samms and her cousin, film producer Peter Samuelson, co-founded the Starlight Children's Foundation, an organization that helps seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities. The organization was Samms's response to losing her brother, Jamie, who died at age nine from aplastic anemia.

In 1984, Samms and Tristan Rogers went public with their real-life romance, but the relationship ended around the time she left General Hospital the next year. Engaged to Marvin Hamlisch in the early 1980s, Samms has been married three times: to Bansi Nagji from 1991 to 1992, to Tim Dillon from 1994 to 1995, and to John Holloway from 1996 to 2003. She and Holloway have two children, Cameron (born 1997), and Beatrice (born 1998).

Television filmography

• General Hospital as Holly Sutton Scorpio (1982–1985, 1992–1993, 2006, 2009)
• Dynasty as Fallon Carrington Colby #2 (1985; 1987–1989)
• The Colbys as Fallon Carrington Colby (1985–1987)
• The Magic of David Copperfield XI: Explosive Encounter (1989)
• Dynasty: The Reunion as Fallon Carrington Colby (1991)
• Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman as Arianna Carlin Luthor (1993)
• Models Inc. (TV series) as Grayson Louder (1994–1995) 18 episodes
• Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar (2006)

Filmography

• 1979 - Arabian Adventure
• 1981 - Goliath Awaits (TV)
• 1984 - Ellis Island (TV series)
• 1986 - Murder in Three Acts
• 1989 - The Lady and the Highwayman
• 1990 - The Shrimp on the Barbie
• 1991 - Bejewelled (TV)
• 1991 - Delirious
• 1993 - Robin Cook's Harmful Intent (TV)
• 1994 - Treacherous Beauties (TV)
• 1994 - Terminal Voyage
• 2002 - Pretend You Don't See Her (TV)
• 2005 - The Marksman (direct to DVD)
• 2005 - Supernova (TV)

External links