Martha Byrne
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| Martha Byrne | |||||||
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| Born | Mary Martha Byrne December 23, 1969  Ridgewood, New Jersey, U.S. |
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| Spouse(s) | Michael McMahon | ||||||
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Mary Martha Byrne (born December 23, 1969 in Ridgewood, New Jersey) is an American actress.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Featured roles
Byrne began acting at a young age when she joined the cast of the Broadway musical Annie, where she played the role of July.
She was a featured actor on a number of prime time episodic television programs, including Kate and Allie, Murder, She Wrote, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Jake and the Fatman, and Hearts are Wild. Byrne also appeared in several television movies, with featured roles in When the Cradle Falls, Pink Lightning, and the HBO movie Anna to the Infinite Power, where she played the title role.
[edit] Daytime television
Byrne is perhaps best known for her role on the soap opera As the World Turns, portraying Lily Walsh Snyder. She initially assumed the role from Lucy Deakins in May 1985 and played Lily until October 1989, when she left the show and Heather Rattray assumed the role of Lily. Byrne returned in April 1993.
Byrne became part of a "supercouple" when then-head writer Douglas Marland paired Lily, a "poor little rich girl", with hard-luck farmhand Holden Snyder, played by Jon Hensley. The couple is still popular today.
In 1987, Byrne was involved in controversy when she taped Lily's first love scene months before her own 18th birthday. Lily lost her virginity to the character of Dusty Donovan; to add to the controversy, actor Brian Bloom, who was playing Dusty, was even younger than Byrne. This provoked controversy (as teenage characters are generally portrayed by actors who are a few years older, and therefore of consenting age).
From 2000 until 2003, Byrne assumed a double role when she played Lily's long-lost twin, Rose D'Angelo.
On February 29, 2008, TV Guide reported that Bryne will be leaving As the World Turns and will be off the air by April 2008. The show's executive producer Christopher Goutman stated, “We made Martha an incredibly generous offer in hopes that she would remain a valuable member of the ATWT cast. Unfortunately, Martha has decided to leave despite our best efforts to keep her.” [1] Byrne would later assert that the contract negotiations fell through because As the World Turns refused to guarantee her the same number of episodes to appear in that she appeared in 2007, and also refused to continue giving Byrne complete storyline control. Byrne's last airdate on the show is April 22, 2008; her successor, Noelle Beck, will appear in the role of Lily beginning in May 2008.
[edit] Music
Byrne is also a singer. She contributed a Christmas medley to the 1994 RCA release, A Soap Opera Christmas. She released her self-titled album Martha Byrne in 1996.
She has also released a second album, Woman Thing Music. Byrne again was the subject of controversy, as the sponsor of the second album was Philip Morris. The CD could only be purchased in conjunction with the purchase of cigarettes, or at one of the "Woman Music Thing" concerts that Philip Morris sponsored. Byrne eventually withdrew endorsement from the music label, as she did not want to be associated with a product that could encourage underage smoking.
In 2006, Byrne realized another album entitled, "The Other Side."
[edit] Awards and recognition
Byrne is an eight-time Daytime Emmy Award-nominee, winning Outstanding Younger Actress in 1987 and Outstanding Lead Actress in 2001.
[edit] Personal life
Byrne has been married since 1994 to Michael McMahon, a former undercover officer in the New York City Police Department.[2] They live in her home town of Waldwick, New Jersey.[3]
Their first child, Michael Terrence McMahon, was born on May 29, 1998. An episode of the TLC series A Baby Story chronicled her second pregnancy and the birth of her son, Maxwell Vincent McMahon, on September 3, 2002. Their third child and first daughter, Annmarie, was born June 12, 2006.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ [1]Martha Byrne. Accessed February 29, 2008. tvguide.com, "Martha Byrne Exits As the World Turns"
- ^ VOWS; Martha Byrne and Michael McMahon, The New York Times, November 27, 1994
- ^ Martha Byrne, Annieorphans.com. Accessed October 27, 2007. "Martha Byrne – (July) Martha is making her Broadway debut at the age of ten. A resident of Waldwick, N.J., she attends St. Luke’s School and is the youngest of four children."
[edit] External links
- The Official Martha Byrne Webpage
- Martha Byrne at the Internet Movie Database
- SoapCentral page of Lily
- SoapCentral page of Rose
