Suzanne Rogers

Suzanne Rogers, born Suzanne Crumpler on July 9, 1943, in Colonial Heights, Virginia, is an American actress and dancer whose career has spanned stage, film, and television. She adopted the surname Rogers as a stage name, inspired by Ginger Rogers, whom she has cited as a personal motivation for entering the entertainment industry. Rogers grew up with an interest in dancing that began at age two, and she pursued formal dance training throughout her childhood.

At seventeen, Rogers left Colonial Heights and relocated to New York City to pursue a professional dancing career. She became a performer at Radio City Music Hall, where she was among the youngest dancers to take the stage. Originally from Midland, Maryland, Rogers built her New York career over approximately a decade, working as both a Rockette and a Broadway performer. Her Broadway credits, spanning 1967 to 1972, include Hallelujah, Baby!, Her First Roman, Coco, and Follies. Her work on Follies is documented on the original cast album and is referenced in Everything Was Possible, a book chronicling the creation and history of that production.

In January 1973, after a decade in New York, Rogers relocated to California with the goal of pursuing an acting career. She studied at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting under Stella Adler. Shortly after beginning those studies, she was approached by scriptwriter William J. Bell and executive producer Betty Corday to join the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives. Bell had conceived the role of Maggie Horton with Rogers in mind. Maggie was introduced as a guest character in August 1973, and Rogers has continued in the role ever since, making her the longest-running actor in an American soap opera and the performer behind the longest-running character role in American soap opera history. The casting represented a notable transition, moving a dancer known for physical performance into the role of a crippled farm girl. Days of Our Lives currently airs on Peacock.

Rogers received early recognition for her work on the series, and in 1979 she became the first recipient of the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In 1984, she was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a rare muscle disorder that affected her facial muscles. The medication prescribed caused additional physical effects including swelling and hair loss, and after eleven years on the series, Rogers temporarily left the show as her condition worsened. She was absent from Days of Our Lives for approximately one year before returning following an improvement in her health. Wishing to raise public awareness about the disease, Rogers encouraged executive producer Betty Corday to incorporate myasthenia gravis into Maggie's storyline. Corday agreed, and a narrative arc was developed in which Maggie received the same diagnosis. Rogers entered remission from the disease in 1995 and has remained in remission since.

In 2003, a serial killer storyline on Days of Our Lives resulted in Maggie being written out of the show. Rogers made periodic appearances as Maggie's spirit during this period, including scenes alongside other victims when the character Marlena Evans was portrayed as the apparent culprit. Head writer James E. Reilly subsequently reversed the storyline, bringing all the deceased characters back to life in a fictional location called Melaswen, a name derived from New Salem spelled backwards. The storyline generated significant controversy. Following the 2010 death of original cast member Frances Reid, who had played Alice Horton, Rogers assumed the role of the Horton family matriarch and has continued in that capacity.

In 2024, Rogers was inducted into the Emmys' Gold Circle by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, an honor recognizing individuals who have made a lasting contribution to television over fifty or more years. In October 2025, Rogers publicly disclosed that she had undergone treatment for colorectal cancer. She was married to Sam Groom from 1980 until their divorce in 1982.