Biography of Eden Riegel

From 2000 to 2005, she played the role of Bianca Montgomery on the soap opera All My Children. Riegel's character became the only lesbian that was currently on a daytime soap when she came out to her mother, Erica Kane (Susan Lucci), on the program in 2000.

In 2003 the character of Bianca and the character of Lena Kundera (Olga Sosnovska) were scheduled to share 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 'babyswitch' storyline of 2004-2005, when Bianca's daughter was kidnapped and switched with the son of Babe Chandler (Alexa Havins), Riegel played Bianca on the soap One Life to Live.

Before Riegel joined All My Children, she appeared in Les Misérables on Broadway, and attended Harvard University. While attending Harvard, she worked as a Congressional intern. 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 did voice acting work in the film The Prince of Egypt.

While playing Bianca she remained active in other acting work, doing a small guest role on American Dreams and appearing in the New York play The Sex Lives of Superheros.

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'.

Both Eden Riegel and co-star Elizabeth Hendrickson exited All My Children, airing for the last time on February 24, 2005. Riegel then moved to Los Angeles to pursue other acting ventures. She made a brief return to the soap when her TV mother, Erica Kane, was married in May of 2005.