HILLARY B. (BAILEY) SMITH NORA HANEN GANNON BUCHANAN (1992 - PRESENT)

Hillary B. (Bailey). Smith plays Nora Buchanan, an uncompromising attorney with a strong sense of the truth.  Lately his quality has gotten her character, Nora, into a lot of trouble with those nearest and dearest to her. 

Hillary won the Daytime Emmy Award as Outstanding Lead Actress in 1994 for her portrayal of feisty, opinionated, but charming Nora Hanen Gannon Buchanan. 

Hillary talks about her audition for the role of Nora, "After my audition, I never thought I'd get the role.  As originally conceived, Nora was supposed to be a little bit like Katharine Hepburn.  But I had my own definite idea of what I wanted her to be - more like Lauren Bacall. So I walked into the audition, and like Sinatra, I did it my way.  After I finished my reading, the powers-that-be all sat there with their mouths hanging open.  You could hear a pin drop.  So, with this experience safely behind me, I headed home, confident that I wouldn't be hearing from One Life to Live.  But here I am."

Hillary Bailey Smith was born in Massachusetts and raised in Palm Beach, Florida.  She returned to Massachusetts to attend boarding school.  While enrolled at Dane Hall School, she worked with a geneticist at the New England Medical Center having a strong interest in both science and drama.

Hillary B. Smith attended Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, where she participated in the drama club; and then transferred to Sarah Lawrence College because "it had a masters program in genetics as well as theater."  While still a senior in college, Hillary performed off-Broadway in Song Night in the City.  She has also appeared in the off-Broadway production of World of Black and White and the Broadway musical, A Real American Hero.

She performed in Wendy Wasserstein's Broadway play, The Heidi Chronicles, and off-Broadway's Lips Together, Teeth Apart, by Terrence McNally.  She has appeared in the musical Hair, and in 1984 in Purple Hearts with former Wiseguy, Ken Wahl and former Angel Cheryl Ladd.  She shared the screen with Sandra Bullock and Tate Donovan in Love Potion #9.  In 1982, Hillary B. Smith had a role on the primetime television series, No Soap Radio, with Steve Guttenberg. In 1994, Hillary tried primetime comedy starring as Annie in the sitcom "Something Wilder." with Gene Wilder.  The series was cancelled, and she resumed her role as Nora on One Life to Live. 

Before playing Nora on One Life to Live, she was The Doctors, as nurse Kit McCormick; and on As the World Turns, where she played policewoman Margo Hughes for six-and-a-half years.  Hillary left As the World Turns in 1989, after the birth of her second child, Phips, who originated the role of Adam Hughes, Margo's son.  She and her husband, Phillip "Nip" Smith, have two children, Courtney and Phips.