Eden Riegel
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Eden Riegel (born January 1, 1981 in Washington, D.C.) is an American actress.
From July 2000 until February 2005, Riegel played the role of Bianca Montgomery on the soap opera All My Children. Riegel's character became the only lesbian that was currently on a daytime soap when she came out to her mother, Erica Kane (Susan Lucci), on the program in December 2000. Riegel is the fourth actress to portray Bianca, and is widely considered to be the most popular.
In 2003 the character of Bianca and the character of Lena Kundera (Olga Sosnovska) were scheduled to share the first lesbian kiss on American daytime television. In 2004, with Lena out of the picture, Bianca shared a kiss with close friend and confidante Maggie Stone (Elizabeth Hendrickson). Riegel was awarded the first Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation award for 'Favorite OUT Image of the Year' in 2004.
During the 'babyswitch' storyline of 2004-2005, when Bianca's daughter was kidnapped and switched with the son of Babe Chandler (Alexa Havins), Riegel played Bianca on the soap One Life to Live.
Before Riegel joined All My Children, she appeared in Les Misérables on Broadway, and attended Harvard University. While attending Harvard, she worked as a White House intern. She also had a small role on the soap opera As The World Turns as an AIDS patient and played a minor character in the feature film American Pie. She also sang and did voice acting work in the film The Prince of Egypt.
While playing Bianca she remained active in other acting work, doing a small guest role on American Dreams and appearing in the New York play The Sex Lives of Superheros.
She was nominated for three Daytime Emmy Awards for 'Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series' (2001, 2002, 2004) before finally winning the award in 2005. She also won two Soap Opera Digest Awards -- in 2001 for 'Outstanding Female Newcomer' and in 2005 for 'Outstanding Younger Lead Actress'.
Eden along with best-friend and co-star Elizabeth Hendrickson exited All My Children, airing for the last time on February 24, 2005. Riegel then moved to Los Angeles to pursue other acting ventures. She made a brief return to the soap when her TV mother, Erica Kane, was married in May of 2005 and returned for an extended stay from December 16th, 2005 through January 10th of 2006. Her daughter Miranda was aged accordingly. Riegel most recently returned to the role of Bianca Montgomery during a short visit from May 24, 2006 until mid-June, in a storyline connected with her sister Kendall's (played by Alicia Minshew) pregnancy and coma. In August 2006, it was announced Riegel would return to All My Children as a contract player. The actress tapes her first scenes September 12th and first airs October 11th. Eden will commute back and fourth between her home and family in LA and NY where AMC tapes.
In real-life she has a sister who is gay.
She is a huge fan of the NHL team the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- (2005) Daytime Emmy Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series for All My Children
- (2004) GLAAD Media Awards Favorite OUT Image of the Year Award for All My Children
- (2005) Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Younger Lead Actress for All My Children
- (2001) Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Female Newcomer for All My Children
- (2004) Daytime Emmy Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series for All My Children
- (2002) Daytime Emmy Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series for All My Children
- (2001) Daytime Emmy Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series for All My Children
- Eden Riegel on the Internet Movie Database
- Eden Riegel's official website
- Riegel Rebels - Eden Riegel's official fan club
- - Soap Opera Central's article about Eden Riegel's return to All My Children in May