10 Things You Didn’t Know About Eileen Davidson

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9. Family Life

She was born on June 15, 1959, in Artesia, California. Davidson is the youngest of seven children. Her mother, Charlotte was a homemaker while her father, Richard, was an airplane parts manufacturer. Eileen is no stranger to tragedy as she’s lost two sisters and a niece recently. In 2014, Davidson lost her sister Connie after a long battle with breast cancer. According to Eileen, who talked about the passing of her sister while filming RHOBH, she said her sister Connie did not share her health problems with their family until that last few months and so Eileen experienced a lot of guilt as a result. On Real Housewives she traveled to Italy and scattered her sister’s ashes in the ocean. A few months later she lost her niece, Brooke Watkins, a daughter of another sister of Davidson’s. Brooke passed away in her sleep due to a drug overdose and left behind two children.

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8. She’s a Former Model

Before getting into acting, Eileen worked as a model. She started out working in Mexico City and California and soon branched out into commercials and print work in Europe.

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7. Acting Career

Eileen has been acting for an impressive 30 years, but she hasn’t always been a soap star. She moved to Los Angeles in 1978 to begin taking acting classes and one of her first jobs was starring in the slasher film The House on Sorority Row. However, her film career was short lived because in 1982 she landed her role as Ashley Abbott on The Young in the Restless. She still had a passion to pursue something other than soap acting, so after six years on the show she left to pursue a career in film and primetime television. Fans loved her so much that when she left producers had to hire a look-alike to fill her role so the viewers wouldn’t be too upset about the change! In 1990 she landed a role on the television series Broken Badges and starred in the film Eternity alongside Jon Voight. In 1991 she returned to the land of soaps with a role on Santa Barbara and then Days of Our Lives. She returned to The Young and the Restless in 1999 and bounced back and forth between The Bold and the Beautiful and Days of Our Lives playing the character of Ashley Abbott.

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6. She’s an Author

A side to Eileen that many people might not know about is that she is a published author! She’s written a series of mystery novels like “Death in Daytime” (2008), “Dial Emmy for Murder” (2009), “Diva Las Vegas” (2010), and “Swinging in the Rain” (2011).

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5. She’s an Entrepreneur

She owns a clothing line which she founded with her niece, Devon Martt. The fashion line is called “Femmeology” which aims to provide working mothers with a feminine, well put together wardrobe. Their clothes come in all different sizes for all ages and market themselves as practical and comfortable!

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4. She’s an Award Winning Actress

Not only is the fact that she’s been acting for over 30 years impressive enough, she’s got the awards to back it up! She won her first Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress back in 1998 for her role on Days of Our Lives. One of the major factors behind her winning this Emmy was because she was the first actress to play five different characters at the same time on DOOL! Then in 2014, she won another Emmy for her role as Ashley Abbott on The Young and the Restless.

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3. Her Net Worth

Eileen’s had quite an impressive career so it’s not surprising she’s worth an estimated $3 million! Eileen’s biggest money-making roles have been as Ashley Abbott on The Young and the Restless and Kristen DiMera on Days of Our Lives. She’s recently expanded her net worth by joining Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. It’s unclear how much she makes, but we do know that many of the housewives reportedly earn about $75,000 a season. In addition to her on-screen appearances, Eileen’s books and clothing line contribute to her income. She’s definitely a hard working gal and worth every penny!

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2. Cheating Scandal

Eileen has been extremely honest about her relationship with Vince and the fact that when the two met one another when they were both married. She claims they never cheated on their spouses and disrespected their marriages at the time, but there’s speculation there was some unintentional cheating involved, especially since their characters on The Young and the Restless were romantically involved. On The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Eileen got in a tiff with Lisa Vanderpump for asking about their relationship and whether there was a cheating and Eileen calmly responded, “I knew he was married and I was married and I was totally respectful of that…but whatever. So, he and I, we had a friendship for a long time.”

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1. Domestic Abuse

On The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Eileen Davidson revealed she had previously been in a violent relationship. Fans and her co-stars were totally shocked to learn about this aspect of Eileen’s past and since sharing it on the show she’s been quite candid about her experience. In an interview with Jenny McCarthy and Larry Flick, Davidson said, “It’s just a process of feeling like you can’t live without them even if they hit you. It’s like, ‘Maybe I did something to make this happen. It’s me.’ And as I’ve said before, it’s like, I was so afraid of being alone.” During the episode where she told the women, she said one evening their fighting got so bad that she had to call the cops. Thankfully, she’s moved on and is now in a healthy and happy marriage.

Katherine G

Katherine is the Managing Editor for Health and Parenting, but she has a soft spot for entertainment. She loves binging shows on Netflix, reality TV is a guilty pleasure, and country music is her go-to playlist. When she's not writing, she's spending time outdoors, especially with her puppy Zoey!