Raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, Slezak attended high school at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Eden Hall in Torresdale, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[citation needed] In 1971, Slezak auditioned for the role of nurse Mary Kennecott on the ABC soap opera All My Children.

She was not cast on that show, but the network offered her the role of Victoria "Viki" Lord Riley on One Life to Live (OLTL).

[4] However, media company Prospect Park licensed the creative rights to the show from ABC in July 2011 and announced that they would migrate the series to an online format.

In early 2013, Prospect Park announced it was moving forward with their online versions of One Life to Live and All My Children, with Slezak confirmed on board.

[1][12] In 2003, Amanda Davies played a teenaged version of her mother's character Victoria in flashback scenes on One Life to Live.

[13] Slezak has won six Daytime Emmy Awards in the category of "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series" out of nine nominations for her role as Victoria.