Eileen Marie Davidson (born June 15, 1959) is an American actress, author and former model, best known for her performances in television soap operas. Davidson is best known for her roles in soap operas as Kristen DiMera on NBC's Days of Our Lives, Ashley Abbott on CBS's The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful. In 2014, for her role in Days of Our Lives, Davidson was awarded a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series; the second actress to win a Daytime Emmy Award in the category of "Lead Actress" for the soap. Davidson also starred in the film The House on Sorority Row (1983), had a leading role in the short-lived CBS crime series Broken Badges (1990–91), and wrote a number of mystery novels in the 2000s. In 2014, Davidson joined the cast of Bravo reality television series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills with record salary of $750,000 per season.