Suzanne Rogers
Celebrates 40 Years as Maggie on "Days of Our
Lives"
Suzanne
Cecelia Crumpler was born on July 9, 1943 in Midland, Maryland. Suzanne began
her dancing career when she was just two years old. She and her family moved
to Colonial Heights, Virginia a few years later. Suzanne continued with
her dancing throughout her
teens, and upon graduating from high school, she moved to New York
City and auditioned for the famed Radio City Music Hall Rockettes.
She got the job and
performed as a Rockette for the first time on July 6, 1961. At age
17, just three days before
her 18th birthday, she became the youngest Rockette ever. Suzanne spent
the next three years as a Rockette. In 1964, Suzanne left the Rockettes and
began appearing in several Broadway shows, including "110 in the Shade", "Funny
Girl", "Hallelujah Baby", "Cleopatra", "Her First Roman", "Coco" and
"Follies." In
1968, as she began making her first television appearances as a dancer on
"The Ed Sullivan Show",
Suzanne Crumpler, as many actors do, decided to choose a new last
name. To honor one of her favorite dancers, Ginger Rogers, she decided to
use Suzanne Rogers as her
stage name. In 1969, Suzanne was the "trophy girl" at the 21st Annual Primetime
Emmy Awards, carrying out the Emmy as each winner was named. She didn't
realize then that just one decade later, she would be receiving an Emmy
Award herself.
Suzanne relocated to California and, on July 13, 1973, she auditioned and won
the part of Maggie Simmons, a
new character being added to the "Days of Our Lives" cast. She taped her first
episode, # 1946, on July 18, 1973. A full month's worth of Watergate
Hearing preemptions on NBC pushed her debut back from late July until
Monday, August 20, 1973. Her
first scene was with her long-time on-screen partner, John Clarke (Mickey Horton).
At the time, Mickey was suffering from amnesia. He wandered onto her farm,
calling out "Hello...anyone home?" and Maggie then spoke her first
line: "Yes, what is it...?" This was the beginning of a relationship which
lasted from that day until Mickey's death in January, 2010.
Suzanne
survived her first two-and-a-half years on "Days of Our Lives" on crutches, as
Maggie did not have the use of her legs. An ironic coincidence for this
long-time dancer. Maggie
finally regained the use of her legs and Mickey regained his memory and
they made their way back to Salem. In 1979, Suzanne won for best supporting
actress at the Daytime Emmy Awards. For a brief time, Maggie was paired with
Don Craig (Jed Allan) while Mickey was presumed dead (Mickey had been kidnapped
by Stefano DiMera). Mickey eventually made his way back to Salem but, in
1984, Suzanne abrubtly quit "Days" after 11 years on the show. Back then,
she publicly stated that she
wanted to pursue new interests, but in reality, she had been diagnosed
with a rare muscle disease known as myasthenia gravis, which affected the
muscles in her face (Rogers has been in remission since 1995). A year
passed, and in August 1985,
she returned to her role of Maggie. Maggie and Mickey remarried on Valentine's
Day, 1986.
Maggie
and Mickey continued to be a long-standing couple on "Days" until November,
2003. In a shock to everyone, the character of Maggie was killed off by
the Salem Stalker. The
"Days" staff gave Suzanne one last going-away present: They premiered
her final episode as a red-carpet affair at a theater in Los Angeles
and treated it as a movie
premiere. Rogers never truly left "Days", as she would appear as a
ghost for the next six months, until June, 2004, when Maggie and everyone else
killed off by the Salem Stalker were found to be alive. By 2005,
Maggie and Mickey had
re-married. After Mickey's death in 2010, Maggie began to grow closer to Victor
Kiriakis (John Aniston), and the two married on the show's 46th anniversary
episode, November 8, 2011.
Congratulations, Suzanne Rogers, on 40 years with "Days of Our
Lives!" Over 10,000 episodes of "Days" have
aired since Suzanne's debut in 1973. Here's to many more episodes and
many more years with "Days!"
A scan of Suzanne's first line as
Maggie: Episode # 1946, August 20, 1973
Soap Opera Digest,
November 25, 2003: "Rogers
and Out" by Stephanie Sloane (Suzanne discusses
her last days before being
"killed off" in the Salem Stalker storyline)
