Suzanne Rogers - Career

Career

At the age of seventeen, Rogers left her hometown and decided to pursue a dancing career. She moved to New York City and became one of the dancers at the Radio City Music Hall. Along with becoming a Rockette, Rogers performed in several Broadway musicals including Coco, Hallelujah Boy and Follies. After spending ten years in New York City, the actress wanted to try out an acting dream and moved to California in January 1973. She attended acting classes in California with Stella Adler at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Soon after, she landed the role of Maggie Horton on NBC's Days of our Lives.

Maggie was introduced as a guest character in August 1973, by scriptwriter William J. Bell and executive producer Betty Corday. From the beginning, Bell considered the role ideal for her. He approached Rogers about taking the role of Maggie, and she agreed. She was immediately described by critics who gave reviews of the show as being one of the most energetic girls on daytime television. The news of Rogers being cast as Maggie was a different move, taking an actress who loves to dance, to a character of a crippled farm girl. This was her first television assignment, after being the youngest girl to take the stage at Radio City Music Hall.

In 1984, Rogers was diagnosed with a rare muscle disorder called Myasthenia Gravis. This disease affected her facial muscles, and the medicine the doctors put her on made her feel ill, and her face appeared swollen while also suffering hair loss. She was forced to quit the show after 11 years when the effects of the disease became increasingly worse. Her entire appearance changed, and she did not return to the show for a year. Rogers returned to the serial when her health became better. Rogers, wanting to educate viewers about the disease, confronted executive producer Betty Corday about her character being diagnosed with the disease. Corday agreed, and a storyline played out with Maggie learning she has myasthenia gravis. The actress went into remission in 1995, and has remained in remission since. In 2010, after her character's husband is killed off Maggie began to notice some effects she experienced when diagnosed with the disease in 1984.

In 2003, a major series of serial killings occurred on the show. Maggie was "killed off" in a "whodunnit?" murder storyline involving a serial killer. Maggie's murder forced Rogers to depart from the series. To help with falling ratings at the time current head writer James E. Reilly decided to bring all the characters back from the dead. They all turned up in the fictional town of Melaswen, or New Salem spelt backwards. This storyline sparked major controversy, and proved to be a daring move. With the passing of original cast member Frances Reid (Alice Horton) in 2010, Rogers is currently the longest-running actress to appear continuously on Days of our Lives as the new Horton family matriarch.