Name: Susan Lucci
Age: 64
Neighborhood: Garden City, Long Island
Occupation: Actress and memoirist. She’ll be speaking about and signing her book All My Life tonight at 7 p.m. at Book Revue in Huntington, New York
Who’s your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
Can I say Holly Golightly? Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly gave me my first image of what New York life would be like. It’s absolutely lived up to it and then some.
What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in New York?
That’s almost impossible to answer, Vanita, you have to understand. I’m just going to go with recently because I love eating in New York and I don’t want to miss a meal. Jean-Georges has a new restaurant in the Mark Hotel and I’ve eaten there three times recently. Every meal was spectacular. The other place was pasta at SD26. They shave truffles until you tell them to stop.
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
I kiss hot men.
What was your first job in New York?
In 1969, I answered phones at a grout company. I didn’t even know what grout was. I was a temporary employee, so I knew nobody would expect too much from me so I could run out the door and go to auditions.
What’s the last thing you saw on Broadway?
La Cage, before Kelsey Grammar left. It was laugh out loud. I loved every minute.
Do you give money to panhandlers?
No, I give to charities.
What’s your drink?
Champagne, very cold and very dry. I like Veuve Clicquot; I like, of course, Dom Perignon and Cristal — the good ones.
How often do you prepare your own meals?
You know something, I don’t cook my own meals often at all because I’m married to one of the great world-class chefs. He was asked to be the chef at the White House when he was 25 years old so, lucky me. I set the table and do the flowers.
What’s your favorite medication?
I don’t really take medication, that’s lucky. But I took Advil quite a lot during Dancing With the Stars.
What’s hanging above your sofa?
A beautiful oil painting that my husband and I bought in New Orleans. It’s English Royal Academy and it’s a landscape with people in it. It’s called The Pleasantly Home.
How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
I don’t think you can even put a price tag on it.
When’s bedtime?
I’m not very rigid on my bedtime — I wish I got more sleep — but I start around 10:30 p.m. On a school night, when I’m going to work the next day, I try to really be asleep by eleven. The first call in the morning is 6 a.m., and we start shooting on-camera at 8:30 a.m.
Which do you prefer, the old Times Square or the new Times Square?
The new, because it’s so much more inviting.
What do you think of Donald Trump?
I think he’s an incredible businessman and entrepreneur, all-around smartypants. And I hear he’s a great golfer.
What do you hate most about living in New York?
The only thing I don’t like is traffic.
Who is your mortal enemy?
Brooke English. (I’m answering that as Erica Kane.)
When’s the last time you drove a car?
Sunday. I was trying to do a little shoe shopping and squeeze it in between going to a bridal shower, and — very importantly — visiting my daughter and having a casual Sunday dinner with her and her two little boys and their brand-new baby girl who was just born on Wednesday.
How has the Wall Street crash affected you?
The same as everybody else. It’s really, I believe, what led to our having to move All My Children from New York to Los Angeles.
Times, Post, or Daily News?
The New York Times. But I do read the Post over my husband’s shoulder.
Where do you go to be alone?
My car, actually.
What makes someone a New Yorker?
A fast walker, fast decision-maker who gets up early and stays up late.
