Eden Riegel
Birth name	Eden Sonja Jane Riegel
Born	January 1 1981 (1981--) (age 26) (age 26) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Awards Emmy Awards Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series 2005 All My Children

Eden Sonja Jane Riegel (born January 1, 1981 in Washington, D.C.) is an American actress. Nominated previously on multiple occasions, she received a Daytime Emmy Award in 2005 for her role as Bianca Montgomery on All My Children.

Biography

Early years

Born to Kurt and Lenore Riegel in 1981, Riegel was raised in a Virginia suburb and caught the acting bug watching her brother, Sam, perform dinner theater which she later joined in for $10 a week. Her big break came when she won the role of Cosette in Les Misérables leading to other roles on and off-Broadway. She also graduated from the Professional Children's School and attended Harvard University, with ambitions to become a lawyer but she later left the institution. In 2000, she served as an intern at the White House for the summer.

Career

All My Children

From July 2000 to February 2005, Riegel portrayed the role of Bianca Montgomery on the soap opera All My Children. In December 2000, Riegel's character came out to her mother, Erica Kane (Susan Lucci), becoming the only lesbian on a daytime soap opera at that time. In 2003, Bianca and the character of Lena Kundera (Olga Sosnovska) made history when they shared 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 'baby switch' storyline of 2004-2005, when Bianca's daughter was kidnapped and switched with the son of Babe Carey Chandler (Alexa Havins), Riegel also portrayed Bianca on fellow ABC soap, One Life to Live.

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'.

In 2005 Riegel, along with best friend and co-star Elizabeth Hendrickson, exited All My Children, with their last show airing on February 24 2005. Riegel then moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue other acting ventures. She made a brief return to the soap opera when her television mother, Erica Kane, was married in May 2005 and returned for an extended stay from December 16 2005 to January 10 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 (Alicia Minshew) pregnancy and coma. In August 2006, it was announced Riegel would return to All My Children as a contract player. The actress taped her first scenes on September 12, which first aired on October 11. Riegel commuted back and forth between her home and family in Los Angeles and New York, where AMC tapes. In 2007, she parted ways with the show once again. However, Riegel appeared once again in the episode dated August 14 2007, when Bianca phoned in to check on Kendall from Paris.

Other acting roles

Prior to joining AMC, 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 avenues, doing a small guest role on American Dreams, and appearing in the New York play The Sex Lives of Superheroes.

Personal life

Riegel has an older brother, Sam Riegel, and a half-sister, Tatiana S. Riegel. She is a huge fan of the NHL team the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In March 2007, Eden became engaged to her boyfriend, Andrew Miller, who was a high school classmate of Cameron Mathison's (Ryan Lavery of All My Children).

Riegel's half-sister Tatiana (known as "Tanya") is like Bianca Montgomery, the role for which Riegel is known, a lesbian. Riegel discussed the portrayal of Bianca with Tanya and with the producers of All My Children in order to ensure that the character was not a stereotype.^[1]

Awards

Won

Year	Award
2005	Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series for All My Children
2005	Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Younger Lead Actress for All My Children
2004	GLAAD Media Award Favorite OUT Image of the Year Award for All My Children
2001	Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Female Newcomer for All My Children

Nominated

Year	Award
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

References

External links

• 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