Susan Lucci has revealed the heartbreaking ‘grief triggers’ she still faces after losing her husband of 52 years Helmut Huber.
The All My Children legend, 79, said she felt ‘completely lost’ and ‘so alone’ following his death in 2022 at age 84, just one month after he suffered a stroke, per People.
She admits the pain still hits in waves and often catches her by surprise.
The Emmy-winning star is currently promoting her new memoir La Lucci, out February 3, in which she reflects on her five-decade love story with the Austrian-born producer she married at 22.
The couple welcomed two children – daughter Liza, 50, and son Andreas, 45 – and built a life Lucci now describes as ‘such a gift.’
But she says certain moments still cut deep, confessing that holidays remain especially painful ‘triggers,’ when the absence at the family table is impossible to ignore.
Susan Luccihas revealed the heartbreaking ‘grief triggers’ she still faces after losing her husband of 52 years Helmut Huber; (pictured 2023)
The All My Children legend, 79, said she felt ‘completely lost’ and ‘so alone’ following his death in 2022 at age 84, just one month after he suffered a stroke; (Helmut Huber and Lucci in 2020)
‘I don’t fight it,’ she said. ‘I’m surprised sometimes by it. Certainly there are things like the holidays that are triggers – someone who should be sitting at the table. But I just go with it.’
When asked what she misses most about her late husband, Lucci admitted ‘everything.’
She added, ‘It’s hard to say one thing. I just miss him, miss his presence, miss sharing things together, like coffee in the morning.’
In December 2023, Lucci honored Huber as she accepted her Lifetime Achievement Award Friday at the Daytime Emmy Awards,
The actress, best known for her role as Erica Kane on the long-running soap opera All My Children, began her speech by raving that it was ‘the icing on the cake’ that her and Huber’s son Andreas was in the audience.
‘It means so much to me to have you here with me,’ she said as she accepted the honor, adding, ‘I feel your dad’s presence here with us tonight too.’
She continued: ‘I thank my husband, Helmet Huber, because he has everything to do with me standing up here tonight and receiving this incredible award.’
A year before, Lucci took the stage at the 49th Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Convention Center to honor Huber.
‘I’m surprised sometimes by it. Certainly there are things like the holidays that are triggers – someone who should be sitting at the table. But I just go with it.’ (the power couple in 1983)
‘Helmut was the love of my life. They say that the grief is the price we pay for love. Well, grief is an excruciating price but I would not give up even one second of the love,’ she stated poignantly.
‘My husband, Helmut Huber, was a larger than life force of nature,’ she said as her voice cracked.
‘He was a confident caregiver, who knew exactly how to make things happen, and to keep up all laughing at the same time,’ the actress added.
The two met while they were both working at a hotel and got engaged after three weeks of dating. They tied tied the knot in September 1969.
Huber acted as Lucci’s manager throughout much of her career and was the CEO of their production company, Pine Valley Productions, named for the fictional town where All My Children took place.
Lucci played Erica Kane beginning in 1970 and continued to portray they spunky character until All My Children ended in 2011.
At the time of his death, a representative for the family stated: ‘[He was] a family man, he was a loyal friend, and [he] loved them deeply.
‘With a roaring sense of humor, larger-than-life personality, and a practical problem-solver, he lived his life to the fullest. Mr. Huber who formerly raced motorcycles in Austria was a first-rate skier, and avid golfer, belonging to the Garden City Golf Club and Westhampton Country Club.’
The couple had two children, Liza, 50, and Andreas, 45 (seen in Los Angeles in January 2005)
Huber, who was born in 1937, was asked to join the Austrian Ski Team. Instead, he completed an apprenticeship at Hotel Maria Theresia, which has four ski slopes nearby.
He later studied at L’Ecole Hoteliere, which is a hospitality business and hotel management business in Lausanne, Switzerland. He was top of his class, Fox News reported.
He moved to North America at the age of 21, starting his career in Canada before heading to New York at 23. He became an American citizen in 1994.
Huber reportedly improved his English by watching John Wayne and Humphrey Bogart films, Fox News reported.
The couple met on the job at the Garden City Hotel on Long Island when Susan was 22 and just out of college.
He went on to work as Lucci’s manager and became the CEO of Pine Valley Productions.
‘I got really lucky because I married somebody who is smart and handsome, and he’s very confident and he has a great sense of humor,’ Lucci said in 2020
‘I got really lucky because I married somebody who is smart and handsome, and he’s very confident and he has a great sense of humor,’ Lucci said in 2020.
‘And, fortunately, he’s not only been supportive, which is a lovely word. He’s been with me, really with me hands-on and right there.
‘He’s really been a rock, and I got lucky because how could I know all that going in? I was 22.’
Huber had a similar feeling toward his wife, telling People in 1999: ‘The first time I saw Susie, it hit me. Still today, she walks in a room, and I just light up.’
Read the full article here
