After years of being on contract to 20th Century Fox alongside such actors as Tom Selleck, Dano joined the ABC soap opera One Life to Live in the role of Gretel Cummings from 1978 to 1980. From 1981 to 1982 she played Cynthia Haines on As the World Turns. Dano next portrayed romance novelist Felicia Gallant on Another World from 1982 until the show's cancellation on June 25, 1999, her performance winning her the Daytime Emmy Award for Lead Actress in 1993. She was also nominated for Leading Actress Emmys in 1994 and 1996, and for Supporting Actress in 1992.
On June 28, 1999, Dano returned to One Life to Live as Gretel, now calling herself "Rae" Cummings. The character also appeared on the three other ABC soap operas at the time —- All My Children, General Hospital, and Port Charles -— in a crossover storyline which was the first time a daytime character had ever appeared on four series. In 2003 Dano was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Supporting Actress for the role, and left One Life to Live on March 13, 2004. In 2005, Dano appeared briefly as Lena Kendall on CBS's Guiding Light.
Lifetime Television dedicated an episode of its Intimate Portrait celebrity biography series to Dano in 2000. From 1987 until 1992, she co-hosted the Lifetime talk show Attitudes and has both been a guest and guest-host on The View.
Dano has written a style and fashion column for Soap Opera Digest on and off for years, and has had her own merchandise lines on QVC. In 1999 she won the Accessories Council of Excellence (ACE) Award for outstanding contributions to consumer awareness.
During and since her run in daytime, Dano has guest-starred on television series like Homicide: Life on the Street, Desperate Housewives, and What I Like About You , as well as the 2007 film Reservation Road. In 2005, Dano appeared as the title character in Mame at the Bucks County, Playhouse.
Days of our Lives
Vivian Alamain
2021
See Jane Date
Aunt Ina
2003
Guiding Light
Lena Kendall
March 31, 2000 to April 25, 2000
General Hospital
Gretel Rae Cummings
March 31, 2000 to April 25, 2000
All My Children
Gretel Rae Cummings
November 15, 1999 to March 9, 2000
Attitudes
Another World
Felicia Gallant
1982 to 1999
As the World Turns
Cynthia Haines
1981 to 1982
One Life to Live
Gretel Rae Washburn Cummings
1978 to 1980; June 28, 1999 to March 12, 2004
Another World
Airline clerk
1976
The Montefuscos
Angela Montefusco Cooney
1975
The Night That Panicked America
Secretary
1975
The Nurse Killer
Kamala
1975
The Last Survivors
Linda Collison
1975
Somewhere in the City
Television Producer
1998
The Shadow of Chikara
Rosalie Cutter
1977
Daytime Emmys Nomination, Outstanding Supporting Actress (2003; for One Life to Live)
Daytime Emmys Nomination, Outstanding Supporting Actress (1992; for Another World)
Daytime Emmys Nomination, Outstanding Lead Actress (1994, 1996; for Another World)
Daytime Emmys: Nomination, Outstanding Talk/Service Show host (for Attitudes) (1988)
Daytime Emmys Pre-Nomination, Outstanding Supporting Actress (2003; for One Life to Live)
Soap Opera Digest Awards Nominee, Outstanding Comic Actress (as Felicia, AW) (1989)
Soap Opera Digest Awards Nominee, Outstanding Supporting Actress (as Felicia, AW)(1993)
Soap Opera Digest Awards Nominee, Favorite Vetran (as Felicia, AW)(1999)
DATE OF BIRTH: May 12, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH: Los Angeles, California
HAIR: Dark Brown
EYES: Blue
MARITAL STATUS: Widowed; Frank Attardi (December 18, 1982 to September 15, 2004)
