Susan Lucci Says Late Husband Helmut Huber Has 'Everything to Do' with Her Lifetime Achievement Award at Daytime Emmys

Susan Lucci received the recognition she deserved for her decades-long career when the actress was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 50^th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on Friday.

The award was presented by Shemar Moore, who also gave Lucci her first Daytime Emmy in 1999 for outstanding lead actress in a drama series — a win that followed 19 separate nominations since 1978.

"She's been in TV series as well as film and stage... she's been ranked as one of the 50 greatest television stars of all time and I couldn't agree more," Moore, 53, said, as he listed off her accolades, including starring as Erica Kane on the ABC daytime drama All My Children for nearly 40 years.

Moore also called Lucci a "true living TV legend," and joked that the last time he presented the actress her award, "I flipped over the card and I didn't think she was gonna win... and I said, 'The streak is over!'"

After Moore's introduction, a video package of Lucci's film and television credits rolled, followed by personalized messages from her loved ones, including her son Andreas, All My Children alums Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos, and Carol Burnett, and friend Andy Cohen.

Taking the stage, Lucci, 76, thanked everyone in the room and stated, "How lucky am I to dream my dreams of becoming an actress and grow up and have my dreams come true? There were obstacles and there were roadblocks — they were wannabe obstacles and roadblocks — but tonight's a night to celebrate."

Lucci recalled Moore previously announcing her Emmy win and said she "began by thanking God for the many blessings," at the time, "and I begin there again tonight, starting with my parents for their love."

"I thank them for the example they set for me ... for telling me I could shoot for the moon and the stars, and to never be afraid," she said, before thanking her teachers for "giving me the tools to be the kind of actress I wanted to be," and All My Children creator Agnes Nixon.

"She was a trailblazer, visionary storyteller who gave me the part of the lifetime, the fabulously flawed Erica Kane," Lucci said, calling her character the "naughty girl in town... she had spirit."

"I am eternally grateful to the fans for loving Erica Kane, even when she wasn't so lovable," she continued. "Thanks to them, I got to continue to play her again and again."

Lucci also thanked her fellow All My Children castmates, calling them the "most accomplished and talented actors in NY."

"I am so proud to be part of this community, this community of storytellers, in such a collaborative genre," she said. "We get to do what we love to do, we get to entertain and tell stories, and in that, we illuminate our human condition ... and on our best days, even make a little magic."

In a final note, Lucci thanked her son Andreas and her late husband Helmut Huber, who died in March 2022 at age 84.

"The icing on the cake tonight is that my son Andreas is with me. It means so much to me to have you here with me," she said. "I feel your dad's presence here with us tonight too. I thank my husband Helmet Huber because he has everything to do with me standing up here tonight and receiving this incredible award."

Lucci got her big break in the role of Erica Kane on All My Children in 1970 and played the role for 41 years until the show ended in 2011. She had many memorable moments on the show and ultimately earned 21 nominations at the Daytime Emmy Awards for her iconic role.

Beyond All My Children, the actress found time to explore other projects, starring in the 1999 Broadway production of Annie Get Your Gun and had solo performances in theaters and cabarets across the country.

On television, Lucci landed recurring roles on shows like Hot in Cleveland, Dallas, Army Wives and Devious Maids. In 2008, she competed on season 7 of Dancing with the Stars with partner Tony Dovolani, finishing sixth.

The actress is also a New York Times bestselling author after releasing her autobiography, All My Life, in 2011, and has championed several charitable causes in her lifetime, including United Cerebral Palsy of NYC, the National AFib Campaign, March of Dimes, the New York Cancer Project, the American Stroke Association, and the American Heart Association, of which she currently serves as the National Ambassador for the Go Red for Women Movement.

On the personal front, Lucci shares Andreas and daughter Liza with Huber. The two wed in 1969.

Lucci's award comes months after she recovered from her second heart surgery in four years.

"I'm doing really well. I always keep an eye on myself, what's going on,” Lucci told PEOPLE in March, adding, "It is so far so good."

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The 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards are airing live on CBS and Paramount+.