She is legendary for the role of Erica Kane on the ABC television soap opera All My Children, on which she has appeared since the show's inception on January 5, 1970.

She has appeared in a number of television shows and made-for-TV movies. In 1990 she began a series of guest spots on the popular nighttime soap Dallas and hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live in October of the same year. In 1995, Lucci appeared in the Lifetime television movie Ebbie. This film was an updated version of Dickens's classic A Christmas Carol. Lucci played a Scrooge-like department store owner visited by Marley and the three ghosts on Christmas. Many critics praised her performance and the film has become a holiday favorite.

She was nominated for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Emmy for her work on All My Children almost every year since 1978. After eighteen failed nominations in a row, it came as a shock to both her and the viewing audience when she finally won it in 1999.

Lucci starred in the Broadway revival of "Annie Get Your Gun" in 1999 to 2000, taking over from Bernadette Peters.

Lucci has found another career as a businesswoman, with many lucrative skin care and makeup lines selling on QVC.

For much of the 1980s and into the 1990s Lucci did many commercials for the local Ford dealers in the New York City area.

In early 2005, Lucci earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Lucci has been married for over 30 years to Helmut Huber. They are the parents of soap actress Liza Huber. There have been widespread rumors (especially on the Internet) that Susan Lucci's mother was actress Phyllis Diller but this is untrue; the two are not related. A similar rumor is that Lucci is the sister of fellow soap actress Robin Strasser, because of similarities in their appearance; this is also untrue. Lucci resides in her hometown of Garden City, New York.