# Suzanne Rogers
**Suzanne Rogers** (born Suzanne Cecelia Crumpler, 1943) is an American actress best known for playing Maggie Horton Kiriakis on the soap opera *Days of Our Lives*, a role she originated in 1973 and has continued to play for more than five decades, making her one of the longest-running actors on an American soap opera, though [Helen Wagner](https://www.edgepedia.org/helen-wagner)'s 54-year portrayal of Nancy Hughes on *As the World Turns* remains the record.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0737226/bio/) • [2](https://daysofourlives.fandom.com/wiki/Suzanne_Rogers) • [18](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/helen-wagner-as-the-world-turns-star-dies/) Before television, she was a Radio City Music Hall Rockette and a Broadway musical performer.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1943; sources give Colonial Heights, Virginia, or Midland, Maryland[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0737226/bio/) • [3](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/suzanne-rogers/bio/3000137175/) |
| Signature role | Maggie Simmons Horton Kiriakis on *Days of Our Lives*, first appearance August 20, 1973[4](https://www.soapcentral.com/theactors/rogers_suzanne.php/1000) |
| Emmy | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, awarded in 1979[5](https://www.tvinsider.com/1206104/suzanne-rogers-leaving-days-of-our-lives-rumor-response/) |
| Early career | Radio City Music Hall Rockette at 17, reportedly the youngest performer then on the stage; Broadway credits include *Coco*, *Hallelujah Baby*, and *Follies*[6](https://soaphub.com/actors/suzanne-rogers/) |
| Health | Diagnosed with myasthenia gravis in 1984, written into her character's storyline, in remission since 1995; treated for Stage II colorectal cancer in 2025[7](https://www.tvguide.com/news/suzanne-rogers-days-1067582/) • [8](https://www.tvinsider.com/1224716/suzanne-rogers-cancer-days-of-our-lives-maggie-horton/) |
| Marriage | Married actor Sam Groom on February 9, 1980; divorced June 23, 1982[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0737226/bio/) |
## Early life and stage career
At 17 she left home for New York City and won a place as a Rockette at [Radio City Music Hall](https://www.edgepedia.org/radio-city-music-hall); several accounts describe her as the youngest performer to take that stage at the time.[6](https://soaphub.com/actors/suzanne-rogers/) A fan-site tribute places her first Rockette performance on July 6, 1961, three days before her 18th birthday.[9](https://www.jason47.com/days/suzanneindex.html)
She moved from the chorus line into Broadway musicals, appearing in shows including *Coco*, *Hallelujah Baby*, and *Follies*, and performed as a dancer on *The Ed Sullivan Show*.[6](https://soaphub.com/actors/suzanne-rogers/) • [9](https://www.jason47.com/days/suzanneindex.html) She chose the professional surname Rogers in tribute to the dancer and film star [Ginger Rogers](https://www.edgepedia.org/ginger-rogers).[2](https://daysofourlives.fandom.com/wiki/Suzanne_Rogers)
## Days of Our Lives
**Casting.** In January 1973 Rogers moved to California to study acting at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting.[6](https://soaphub.com/actors/suzanne-rogers/) Her path to *Days of Our Lives* ran through a rejection. Casting director Al Onorato saw her in *Follies* at the Shubert Theater and considered her for the original cast of *The Young and the Restless*, the new series created by *Days* head writer William J. Bell. At a meeting in Los Angeles, executive producer John Conboy told her the part required a blonde, and she did not get it. Onorato then sent her audition tape to *Days* executive producer Betty Corday, who was seeking an actress to play Maggie, a sheltered farm girl who relied on crutches after a childhood car crash that killed her parents. Rogers read for NBC executives, Corday, and John Clarke, and was hired in July 1973 on a seven-year contract.[10](https://www.tvinsider.com/1227485/days-of-our-lives-suzanne-rogers-anniversary-maggie-storylines-mickey-victor/) She has said she had never watched a daytime drama before taking the role.[10](https://www.tvinsider.com/1227485/days-of-our-lives-suzanne-rogers-anniversary-maggie-storylines-mickey-victor/)
**The character.** Maggie Simmons debuted on August 20, 1973, as an orphaned, disabled farm woman.[4](https://www.soapcentral.com/theactors/rogers_suzanne.php/1000) • [11](https://www.tvinsider.com/1103146/days-of-our-lives-suzanne-rogers-maggie-mickey-victor-john-aniston/) She became the love interest of the amnesiac Mickey Horton, played by John Clarke, who was living under the name Marty Hansen as her farmhand; after he regained his memory he encouraged her to have an operation that let her walk again, and the two married.[10](https://www.tvinsider.com/1227485/days-of-our-lives-suzanne-rogers-anniversary-maggie-storylines-mickey-victor/) Over the following decades Maggie lost custody of one daughter, Janice, adopted another, Melissa, gave birth to Sarah, and discovered an adult son, Daniel.[11](https://www.tvinsider.com/1103146/days-of-our-lives-suzanne-rogers-maggie-mickey-victor-john-aniston/) After Mickey's exit, the character married the businessman [Victor Kiriakis](https://www.edgepedia.org/victor-kiriakis).[10](https://www.tvinsider.com/1227485/days-of-our-lives-suzanne-rogers-anniversary-maggie-storylines-mickey-victor/) Rogers has named the "Red Shoes" storyline, in which Mickey promised the hospitalized Maggie they would go dancing when she recovered, as a favorite.[10](https://www.tvinsider.com/1227485/days-of-our-lives-suzanne-rogers-anniversary-maggie-storylines-mickey-victor/)
**Emmy.** In 1979 Rogers won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, the first year the category was offered, and she was the first *Days of Our Lives* performer to win a Daytime Emmy.[5](https://www.tvinsider.com/1206104/suzanne-rogers-leaving-days-of-our-lives-rumor-response/) Some accounts, including a National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences program, date the first supporting-actress award to 1978; most sources, including [TV Guide](https://www.edgepedia.org/tv-guide) and TV Line, give 1979.[12](https://theemmys.tv/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Daytime-Emmys-2024-program-DIGITAL-150.pdf) • [13](https://www.tvline.com/news/suzanne-rogers-days-of-our-lives-status-exit-rumor-maggie-1235480548/)
## Myasthenia gravis
In 1984 Rogers was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease, and left the show; she has said her doctor told her she would never appear on camera again.[11](https://www.tvinsider.com/1103146/days-of-our-lives-suzanne-rogers-maggie-mickey-victor-john-aniston/) • [7](https://www.tvguide.com/news/suzanne-rogers-days-1067582/) The illness affected her face and throat; she has described losing the ability to speak, eat, and swallow, dropping from about 120 to 92 pounds, and undergoing three hospital stays and surgery to remove her thymus gland.[14](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-07-12-ca-3266-story.html) The show brought her back and wrote the disease into Maggie's storyline, with Rogers approving the scripts and the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation consulted for research; she agreed on the condition that it be handled positively and help others.[14](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-07-12-ca-3266-story.html) She has been in remission since 1995 and devotes spare time to helping people with the disease.[7](https://www.tvguide.com/news/suzanne-rogers-days-1067582/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0737226/bio/)
## Later run and record
Rogers's tenure has included one on-screen death: Maggie was killed off in the 2003 "Salem Stalker" storyline, which was later revealed to be a hoax, and the character returned in 2004.[4](https://www.soapcentral.com/theactors/rogers_suzanne.php/1000) • [15](https://daysofourlives1965totoday.fandom.com/wiki/Suzanne_Rogers) [Reference](https://www.edgepedia.org/reference) works describe her as the longest-running actor currently on an American soap opera, playing one of the longest-running character roles in the genre's history.[2](https://daysofourlives.fandom.com/wiki/Suzanne_Rogers) • [18](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/helen-wagner-as-the-world-turns-star-dies/) In 2024 the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences inducted her into its Gold Circle, which honors 50 years or more of significant impact on television.[5](https://www.tvinsider.com/1206104/suzanne-rogers-leaving-days-of-our-lives-rumor-response/)
In July 2025, after online rumors that she was retiring, a *Days of Our Lives* spokesperson said the reports "could not be further from the truth" and that neither Rogers nor Maggie was going anywhere.[5](https://www.tvinsider.com/1206104/suzanne-rogers-leaving-days-of-our-lives-rumor-response/)
## Cancer diagnosis and return
In the summer of 2025 Rogers was diagnosed with Stage II colorectal cancer after noticing that something "wasn't quite right"; an MRI, a PET scan, and a biopsy confirmed the disease.[8](https://www.tvinsider.com/1224716/suzanne-rogers-cancer-days-of-our-lives-maggie-horton/) She wrapped filming on June 13, began daily radiation and chemotherapy three days later, and completed treatment on July 31, 2025.[8](https://www.tvinsider.com/1224716/suzanne-rogers-cancer-days-of-our-lives-maggie-horton/) She kept the diagnosis private during the show's six-week hiatus, telling only a small circle of colleagues, and later said at the show's 60th anniversary celebration in November 2025 that she was in remission and recovering her energy.[16](https://www.tvinsider.com/1227206/suzanne-rogers-positive-health-update-cancer-diagnosis-in-remission-days-of-our-lives/) Because *Days of Our Lives* films about 10 months ahead of broadcast, a stretch of 2026 episodes aired without Maggie on screen.[17](https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/suzanne-rogers-days-of-our-lives-cancer-b2855664.html)
## Other work
Outside the soap, Rogers's television credits include guest roles on *Quincy, M.E.* (as Elaine Farrell, 1977), *Knight Rider* (1985), and *Little House on the Prairie* (as Molly Reardon, 1989), and an appearance in the 1995 television movie *Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story*.[4](https://www.soapcentral.com/theactors/rogers_suzanne.php/1000)
## References
1. [Suzanne Rogers Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0737226/bio/)
2. [Suzanne Rogers, Days of our Lives Wiki (Fandom)](https://daysofourlives.fandom.com/wiki/Suzanne_Rogers)
3. [Suzanne Rogers Biography, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/suzanne-rogers/bio/3000137175/)
4. [About the Actors: Suzanne Rogers, Soap Central](https://www.soapcentral.com/theactors/rogers_suzanne.php/1000)
5. [Is Suzanne Rogers Leaving 'Days of Our Lives'? Rep Responds to the Rumor, TV Insider (July 30, 2025)](https://www.tvinsider.com/1206104/suzanne-rogers-leaving-days-of-our-lives-rumor-response/)
6. [Suzanne Rogers — A Biography, SoapHub](https://soaphub.com/actors/suzanne-rogers/)
7. [Suzanne Rogers Celebrates 40 Years on Days of Our Lives, TV Guide Magazine (2013)](https://www.tvguide.com/news/suzanne-rogers-days-1067582/)
8. ['Days of Our Lives' Star Suzanne Rogers Reveals Cancer Diagnosis (Exclusive), TV Insider (October 30, 2025)](https://www.tvinsider.com/1224716/suzanne-rogers-cancer-days-of-our-lives-maggie-horton/)
9. [Suzanne Rogers Tribute: 35 Years as Maggie Horton on "Days of Our Lives", Jason47's Days of Our Lives page](https://www.jason47.com/days/suzanneindex.html)
10. [How Being Rejected by 'Y&R' Led Suzanne Rogers to 52 Years on 'Days of Our Lives', TV Insider (November 13, 2025)](https://www.tvinsider.com/1227485/days-of-our-lives-suzanne-rogers-anniversary-maggie-storylines-mickey-victor/)
11. ['Days of our Lives': Suzanne Rogers on Being Killed Off (& Returning) and More in Her 50 Years on Soap, TV Insider (August 23, 2023)](https://www.tvinsider.com/1103146/days-of-our-lives-suzanne-rogers-maggie-mickey-victor-john-aniston/)
12. [2024 Daytime Gold and Silver Circle Inductees, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences program](https://theemmys.tv/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Daytime-Emmys-2024-program-DIGITAL-150.pdf)
13. ['Days Of Our Lives' Suzanne Rogers / Maggie Exit Rumor Denied, TVLine (July 30, 2025)](https://www.tvline.com/news/suzanne-rogers-days-of-our-lives-status-exit-rumor-maggie-1235480548/)
14. [Good, Bad 'Days', Los Angeles Times (July 12, 1987)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-07-12-ca-3266-story.html)
15. [Suzanne Rogers, Days Of Our Lives (1965-Today) Wiki (Fandom)](https://daysofourlives1965totoday.fandom.com/wiki/Suzanne_Rogers)
16. ['Days of Our Lives' Star Suzanne Rogers Shares Positive Health Update After Cancer Diagnosis, TV Insider (November 10, 2025)](https://www.tvinsider.com/1227206/suzanne-rogers-positive-health-update-cancer-diagnosis-in-remission-days-of-our-lives/)
17. [Longest-running American soap opera actor reveals cancer diagnosis, The Independent (October 30, 2025)](https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/suzanne-rogers-days-of-our-lives-cancer-b2855664.html)
18. [Helen Wagner as the World Turns Star Dies, cbsnews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/helen-wagner-as-the-world-turns-star-dies/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Ro to Sa*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license