Marj finally originated a soap role as the evil Vanessa Bennett on All My Children from 1999-2002. As the mother of Dr. David Hayward (Vincent Irizarry, her co-star from Guiding Light) and Leo DuPres (Josh Duhamel), she also became Palmer Cortlandt's last wife, giving her another legendary leading man in James Mitchell. After Vanessa's supposed demise after she was revealed to be a drug lord, Marj was persuaded to come back to the show, this time replacing Joan Collins, who left three months into a six-month contract. In late May 2005, Dusay was one of several cast members taken off contract due to budget cuts. The show later asked her to remain with the show on recurring status. Because of her popularity in the role, Marj was given a front-burner storyline in 2006 that had Alexandra marrying a younger man to keep him in the country and scheming to keep him out of a younger woman's bed. While her appearances were greatly reduced after this story ended, she began appearing more upon the return Grant Aleksander (Philip Spaulding) in 2009. CBS announced that Guiding Light was being cancelled on April 1, 2009, with the last show set to air in September. She appeared in Guiding Light's final episode, which aired on September 18, 2009. The character of Alexandra had a "happy ending" when old lover Fletcher Reed came to squire her off on a round-the-world cruise to help her deal with the death of her brother, Alan.