70s Soap Star Becomes 80s Sitcom Icon at 76

A TV icon who has commanded a devoted fanbase for decades was spotted at a star-studded charity event in Los Angeles this week.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, she began her career on Broadway before joining, in 1977, one of the top soap operas of the era.

She then leapt from drama to comedy, playing the leading lady on a beloved sitcom of the 1980s and 1990s and then a supporting role on a hit dramedy of the 2000s.

In recent years she landed a part on one of Ryan Murphy's buzziest series, and finally won her first Primetime Emmy Award for a guest role two years ago.

When she surfaced this week at Project Angel Food's opening of The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation Kitchen and Foundation, the now 76-year-old actress cut a stylish figure in a black suit and bowler hat reminiscent of the late Diane Keaton.

Can you guess who she is?

A TV icon who has commanded a devoted fanbase for decades was spotted at a star-studded charity event in Los Angeles this week

When she surfaced this week at Project Angel Food's opening of The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation Kitchen and Foundation

She is none other than Judith Light, who became a favorite of soap opera viewers as gold-digging femme fatale Karen Wolek on One Life to Live from 1977 to 1983.

Light got her start on the stage, making her Broadway debut in a production of Henrik Ibsen's classic A Doll's House in 1975 - two years before she became a star on TV.

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It was on One Life to Live that her face became known all over the country, thanks to her magnetic turn as a trophy wife who veers into high-end prostitution.

Prior to taking the part, she had 'sworn I was never going to do a soap,' she confessed to Closer Weekly in 2017. 'My mind said, I’m better than that.'

One Life to Live prompted a change of heart as she 'saw what kind of work was involved, the kind of actors that were there and the challenges it posed,' she said.

Light won two Daytime Emmys as Karen Wolek, and one year after she left the soap, she was cast in yet another plum role that cemented her position in TV history.

She was Tony Danza's leading lady on the smash sitcom Who's the Boss?, which starred him as a washed-up former baseball player who becomes a housekeeper.

Light played the woman who hires the Danza character to clean her house so he can support his daughter, played by the then-child star Alyssa Milano. 

She is none other than Judith Light, who became a favorite of soap opera viewers as gold-digging femme fatale Karen Wolek on One Life to Live from 1977 to 1983

It was on One Life to Live that her face became known all over the country, thanks to her magnetic turn as a trophy wife who veers into high-end prostitution

She was Tony Danza's (right) leading lady on the beloved sitcom Who's the Boss?, which starred him as a washed-up former baseball player who becomes a housekeeper

Light played the woman who hires the Danza character to clean her house so he can support his daughter, played by the then-child star Alyssa Milano (right)

Light's TV career has continued going gangbusters in the intervening years, including a part on Ugly Betty from 2006 to 2010 as the wife of the America Ferrera character's (right) boss

Danza and Light had a sizzling onscreen chemistry as their characters' connection turned romantic, but they never dated during the show's run from 1984 to 1992.

In fact, one year into Who's the Boss?, she married actor Robert Desiderio, whom she had worked with on One Life to Live and remains with to this day. 

Light's TV career has continued going gangbusters in the intervening years, with a recurring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and a part on Ugly Betty from 2006 to 2010 as the homicidal wife of the America Ferrera character's boss.

As recently as 2018, she featured on Ryan Murphy's The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story amid a glittering cast that included Edgar Ramirez, Darren Criss, Penelope Cruz and Ricky Martin.

Light played 'Queen of the Makeovers' Marilyn Miglin, the Home Shopping Network dynamo whose husband was killed by Versace's murderer Andrew Cunanan.

She finally earned her first Primetime Emmy in 2024 for guest-starring on Rian Johnson's Poker Face, a darkly comic procedural starring Natasha Lyonne.