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Ann Flood

Ann Flood built a career around the kind of dependable, sustained acting that became essential to live television and daytime drama. Born in Queens on November 12, 1932, the American actress began working on television in a 1952 live WOR-TV production of The Fortune Hunter. She soon became a regular presence on golden-age programs including Sergeant Bilko, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Kraft Theatre and The Philco Television Playhouse. Flood made her Broadway debut in the 1954 musical Kismet. Initially appearing as a showgirl, she was promoted to a singing part when two cast members became ill. She later played opposite Don Ameche in Holiday for Lovers in 1957, adding another stage credit before daytime television became the defining strand of her screen career. From 1958 to 1961, Flood played journalist Elizabeth "Liz" Fraser Allen in From These Roots. She then found her longest-running role on The Edge of Night, where Nancy’s marriage to Mike Karr became one of the genre’s most enduring. Nancy had no children of her own, but Mike’s daughter Laurie came to regard her as a mother. Flood stayed with the series through its 1984 finale, by then its longest-serving cast member. Her performance brought Daytime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in both 1982 and 1984. After The Edge of Night, Flood remained a familiar daytime performer, taking on characters with sharper or more socially polished edges. She played the villainous Ella Hobbs on Search for Tomorrow, society matron Rose Livingston on Another World, Mrs. Guthrie on One Life to Live and business executive Ruth Mansfield on As the World Turns. She also recurred as Bitsy Davidson, Cecily’s snooty mother, on All My Children, with her final appearance airing in January 1990. Beyond daytime drama, Flood appeared in commercials, guest-starred on The Cosby Show and had a role in the 1988 feature Mystic Pizza. Her career reflects a performer equally at home with live television’s immediacy, Broadway musical theatre and the long-form rhythms of soap opera storytelling.