Early years

The third of five children, Hall and her twin sister, Andrea Hall, were born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised in Lake Worth, Florida. At age 12, Hall was elected Junior Orange Bowl Queen. She is a graduate of Lake Worth High School, Class of 1965, and studied psychology before sidetracking into acting.

Career

Along with her sister, Andrea, Hall appeared in press materials for the 1952 Hudson Twin-H-Power engine. In her late teens, Hall traveled to Los Angeles for the summer - while attending Palm Beach Junior College - and there she landed some modeling jobs and commercials through an agent. Quickly, she began appearing in television shows, thinking it was temporarily until landing a serious career as a psychologist. In a later interview, she recalled that one day, she realized that acting was her serious career.

In the 1970s, she portrayed the superheroine Electra Woman in Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, a Sid and Marty Krofft children's show that aired on Saturday mornings.

Hall appeared on a number of shows, including Emergency! (as Nurse Sally Lewis in the first two seasons), and The Young and the Restless (as Barbara Anderson), before joining Days of Our Lives in 1976 as Dr. Marlena Evans. In an interview, Hall said that she thought that she would have no chance, considering that she was uncertain to pursue a career in soap operas, as well as having had to compete against established soap opera veterans for the role. Hall was cast, though, and the role skyrocketed her to fame, which was proved by fan protests when a 1979 NBC promo hinted that Hall's character would be killed off. Two separate daytime television magazines named Hall the best soap actress of 1983.

In 1986, Hall began playing Jesse Witherspoon on the family drama, Our House, which ran for two seasons on NBC. Wilford Brimley, who is thirteen years older than Hall, played her father-in-law in the series; Chad Allen, her son; Shannen Doherty, her older daughter. Hall initially reacted without concern on playing on two television series at a time, explaining that she filmed Our House on weekdays while taping Days of our Lives on Saturdays. However, Hall exited Days of our Lives in 1987 when it became too difficult to co-ordinate her prime time and daytime schedules. Our House was cancelled in 1988, though she did not immediately return to the soap opera.

Instead, Hall continued to make guest appearances on a variety of prime time shows until March 1991, when she made a return to Days of our Lives. This decision was a result of a request by producer Ken Corday, who hoped her return would have influence on the low ratings. According to the actress, she was approached to play a new character, but she refused and insisted on portraying Marlena, with a contract for six months only. Producers were reluctant to give into Hall's requests, fearing that the fans would leave after six months when Hall left. However, Hall remained on contract with the show for eighteen more years until January 24, 2009, when she was terminated because of budget cuts mandated by NBC. Her salary on Days of Our Lives was in the range of $60,000.00 per month, much higher than most other daytime serial actors. Hall has appeared in more than 3,800 episodes.

In 1995, Hall produced and starred in Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story, a made-for-TV movie about her personal struggles to become a mother. Longtime Days co-star Suzanne Rogers is featured in the program.

Since at least early 2009, Hall has occasionally guest-hosted Clout, a talk radio program syndicated through Air America Media. In 2010, Hall and her writing partner Lynne Bowman wrote "Deidre Hall's Kitchen Closeup." In 2011 Hall guest starred on the season finale of Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva. She and Drake Hogestyn reprised their roles as Marlena Evans and John Black on September 26, 2011.

Hall will receive a star on the Walk of Fame in 2014.

Personal life

Hall donated $1,000 to the campaign of Representative Dennis Kucinich for President.

She has been married four times. Her husbands were:

• William Hudson (May 6, 1966 - 1970)
• Keith Barbour (1972-1977), a singer
• Michael Dubelko (1987-1989), a producer and writer
• Steve Sohmer (1991-2006), an author and screenwriter. Hall and Sohmer have two sons, David Atticus Sohmer (born August 23, 1992) and Tully Chapin Sohmer (born January 19, 1995). Both were born via a surrogate mother known as "Robin B".

In between her marriages to Barbour and Dubelko, Hall dated Louisiana State Senator Ned Randolph in the early 1980s. She made several campaign appearances during Randolph's run for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1982, which he lost to incumbent Gillis William Long. She is close friends with General Hospital's Jane Elliot.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970	San Francisco International Airport		Episode: "We Once Came Home to Parades"
1971	Night Gallery	Night Gallery	Episode: "Pickman's Model/The Dear Departed/An Act of Chivalry"
1972	Adventures of Nick Carter	Ivy Duncan
1972	Adam-12	Nurse	Episode: "Lost and Found"
1972	The Streets of San Francisco	Bank Teller	Episode: "In the Midst of Strangers"
1972-1973	Emergency!	Nurse Sally Lewis	Recurring role, 6 episodes
1974	Columbo	Receptionist	Episode: "Mind Over Mayhem"
1973-1975	The Young and the Restless	Barbara Anderson	Series regular
1975	Kung Fu	Luisa	Episode: "Barbary House"
1975	Karen	Janet Bartel	Episode: "I Gave at the Office"
1975	S.W.A.T.	Diane	Episode: "Courthouse"
1976-1987; 1991-2009; 2011-present	Days of Our Lives	Dr. Marlena Evans	Series regular
1976	The Krofft Supershow	Lori / Electra Woman	Episode: "Pilot"
1976	Joe Forrester		Episode: "Fire Power"
1976	Special Delivery	Gloria
1976	Electra Woman and Dyna Girl	Lori / Electra Woman	Series regular, 16 episodes
1980	Pray TV	Sarah of Nazareth
1981	The Million Dollar Face	Barbara Sanderson
1984	Hot Pursuit	Stephanie Wyler	Episodes: "Home Is the Heart: Part 1" and "Home Is the Heart: Part 2"
1984	Hotel	Maggie Dawson	Episode: "Transitions"
1985	A Reason to Live	Delores Stewart
1986-1988	Our House	Jessica 'Jessie' Witherspoon	Series regular, 46 episodes
1988	Take My Daughters, Please	Nell
1989	Wiseguy	Claudia Newquay	Recurring role, 4 episodes
1989	Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin	Linda Horton
1990	Columbo	Dian Hunter	Episode: "Columbo Cries Wolf"
1990	Murder, She Wrote	Claudia Carboni / Jennifer Paige	Episode: "The Sicilian Encounter"
1991	And the Sea Will Tell	Muff Graham
1991	For the Very First Time	Mrs. O'Neil
1993	Night Sins	Dr. Marlena Evans
1993	Woman on the Ledge	Quinn
1995	OP Center	Kate Michaels
1995	Women of the House	Deidre Hall	Episode: "Women in Film"
1995	Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story	Deidre Hall
2011	Drop Dead Diva	Deidre Hall	Episode: "Change of Heart"
2013	Dating in the Middle Ages	Fiona Fleming	Web-series
2014	Lucky in Love	Erin Billings	A Hallmark Channel Movie

Awards and nominations

Daytime Emmy Awards

Year	Award	Work	Result
1980	Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Days of Our Lives	Nominated
1984	Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series		Nominated
1985			Nominated

Soapy Awards

Year	Award	Work	Result
1982	Soapy Award for Best Actress	Days of Our Lives	Won
1983			Won

Soap Opera Digest Awards

Year	Award	Work	Result
1984	Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama	Days of Our Lives	Won
1985			Won
1986	Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor/Actress to the Form of Continuing Drama who is currently on a Daytime Serial		Won
1995	Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama		Won
1996			Nominated
1998	Soap Opera Digest Award for Hottest Romance shared with Drake Hogestyn		Nominated
1999	Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama		Nominated
2005			Nominated
	Soap Opera Digest Award for Favorite Couple shared with Drake Hogestyn		Won

TV Land Awards

Year	Award	Work	Result
2005	TV Land Award for Superest Super Hero shared with Judy Strangis	Electra Woman and Dyna Girl	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]