Louise Sorel

Louise Jacqueline Sorel was born Louise Jacqueline Cohen on August 6, 1940, in Los Angeles, California. Her father, Albert J. Cohen, worked as a film producer, and her mother, Jeanne, née Sorel, was a concert pianist. Sorel is Jewish. She began performing on stage at the age of 15 and later trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York. She also briefly studied French at the Institut Français.

Sorel's professional career began in the theater, and she appeared on Broadway between 1961 and 1964. Her Broadway credits include Lorenzo, Man and Boy, Take Her, She's Mine, and The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window. She also appeared in stage productions of The Lion in Winter.

Her screen career began with the 1965 feature film The Party's Over. That same year she appeared on The Fugitive as Terry Waverly, the sister-in-law of Dr. Richard Kimble, and on Bonanza as Marie in the episode "The Strange One." In 1969 she guest-starred on Star Trek: The Original Series, playing Rayna in the episode "Requiem for Methuselah." She went on to accumulate guest appearances on more than 50 prime-time programs and television movies, among them Daniel Boone, The Virginian, Route 66, The Big Valley, Hawaii Five-O, Medical Center, Charlie's Angels, The Incredible Hulk, Vega$, Hart to Hart, Knots Landing, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. She held a principal role on The Don Rickles Show, playing Barbara Robinson. Her film appearances include Plaza Suite (1971), B.S. I Love You (1971), Every Little Crook and Nanny (1972), The Return of Charlie Chan (1973), Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), Mazes and Monsters (1982), Where the Boys Are '84 (1984), and Crimes of Passion (1984).

Sorel's daytime television career began on the NBC soap opera Santa Barbara, where she played the eccentric Augusta Wainwright — later identified as Augusta Lockridge — from July 1984 to August 1986, returning from November 1988 to May 1989 and remaining until October 1991. Between those stints, she spent a year on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live from August 1986 through November 1987, portraying district attorney Judith Russell Sanders. In March 1992 she joined the cast of Days of Our Lives as the villainous Vivian Alamain, a role she continued until February 2000. Her portrayal of Alamain earned her five Soap Opera Digest Awards: Outstanding Villainess in 1994, Outstanding Showstopper in 1997, and Outstanding Scene Stealer in 1999.

Following her departure from Days of Our Lives in 2000, Sorel briefly joined the cast of Port Charles as Donatella Stewart, a role that lasted approximately one month. In 2001 she appeared on All My Children as Judge Kay Campobello, and in 2004 she made a brief appearance on Passions as a cannery worker named Dort. She returned to Days of Our Lives in December 2009 to reprise the role of Vivian Alamain and was released from the show in June 2011. On December 29, 2017, she returned once more to the role, though she was briefly replaced by Robin Strasser during that period. It was announced on December 30, 2019, that Sorel would return to the role again in 2020. Beginning in 2014, she also appeared as Emily Tanner in the soap opera web series Beacon Hill. Sorel returned to Days of Our Lives as Vivian Alamain in 2023 and again in 2025.