Life Goes On

Background:

“I wouldn't want to be a superstar, like Julia Roberts or Madonna, and be on the cover of 'US' magazine when I'm twenty - that's how you know you're really hot. I'd rather have a long respected career.” Kellie Martin

An Emmy Award-nominating American television actress who has occasionally been compared to and even confused by fans for actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kellie Martin is most known for portraying Becca Thacher on the ABC series “Life Goes On” (1989-1993), from which she won two Young Artist Awards, a Q Award from the Viewers for Quality Television as well as her Emmy nomination, and as medical resident Lucy Knight on the hit NBC series “ER” (1998-2000). More recently, she is popular as Samantha Kinsey on the TV movie series “Mystery Woman,” for Hallmark Channel. She also has starred in the short-lived shows “Christy” (1994-1995) and “Crisis Center” (1997), and in a number of TV movies, including “A Friend to Die For” (NBC, 1994), “The Face on the Milk Carton” (CBS, 1995), “Hidden in Silence” (Lifetime, 1996), “Live Once, Die Twice” (Lifetime, 2006) and “Secret Past” (2007).

As for her personal life, Martin, who is recognized for her expressive blue eyes and wholesome smile, has been married to college sweetheart Keith Christian since 1999. The couple has a little girl named Maggie (born in 2006). Before the marriage, the Riverside, California native was romantically involved with Scott Weinger, whom she met when he guest starred in “Life Goes On” during 1989-1990 season. They dated in 1993, but later broke up. She also once dated Pennsylvania-born actor Joseph Lawrence.

Since the death of her sister in 1998, due to Lupus, Martin has become the national spokesperson for the disease. She loves ballet and photography, and is skilled at both.

Yale Graduate

Childhood and Family:

Kellie Noelle Martin was born on October 16, 1975, in Riverside, California, to Douglas Martin and Debbie Martin. Her parents divorced in 1992. Kellie earned a degree in art history from Yale University in 2001. She studied acting with Diane Hardin.

On May 15, 1999, Kellie married Keith Christian, whom she met at Yale where both were students. The couple welcomed their first child together, daughter Margaret Heather Christian, on November 4, 2006. She is named after Kellie's younger sister, Heather Martin, who died of complications from lupus in 1998, at age 19.

Mystery Woman

Career:

Kellie Martin used to entertain her close-knit family when she was a child. Thanks to the help of her aunt Rhoda, who worked as a nanny for actor Michael London's kids, she could make her acting debut in an episode of the NBC series “Father Murphy” (1982), which was produced by London. At the time, she was only seven years old. Four years later, she acted in her first TV-movie, “Help Wanted: Kids,” a kid-friendly film aired on ABC in 1986, and later that same year made her first motion picture as an adult in Penny Marshall's “Jumpin' Jack Flash,” starring Whoopi Goldberg, Stephen Collins and John Wood. When she was a baby, she was featured in the 1976 film “Pleasantville.”

Martin went on to have recurring roles in episodes of “Life with Lucy” (1986), “Valerie” (1987-1988), “My Two Dads” (1987-1988) and “thirtysomething” (1988), as well as provided the voice of Daphne Blake on four episodes of “A Pup Named Scooby-Doo” (1988) before starting her first regular work on the ABC drama/family series “Life Goes On” (1989-1993), about the life of the Thachers, especially 'Corky' (played by Chris Burke), that suffers Down syndrome but goes to ordinary school. As Rebecca 'Becca' Thacher, Martin set up an intense and appealing personality on the applauded show and brought apt and natural power to her performance. For her efforts, she won two consecutive Young Artists for Best Young Actress Starring in a Television Series in 1991 and 1992, the Viewers for Quality Television's Q Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series in 1992 and finally earned

a 1993 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

When the series came to an end, Martin starred in her own series, the CBS period drama “Christy” (1994-1995), opposite Tyne Daly. Based on the bestseller book by Catherine Marshall, the show, which saw Martin as a strong-minded and idealistic young woman who departs her city home to teach at a charge school in the mountains of Eastern Tennessee in the early 1900s, was well-accepted and scored a passionate fan base, despite its quick cancellation. During that same period, the actress destroyed her good girl image with performances in three TV films: NBC's “A Friend to Die For” (1994, as an amoral teen named Angela Delvecchio, “Someone Had Known” (1995, as an maltreated wife who kills her husband) and CBS's “ The Face on the Milk Carton” (1995, as a befuddled young woman who sees herself on the back of a milk carton). She went on to display her versatility with work on such TV films as Lifetime's “Hidden in Silence” (1996), “Her Last Chance” (1996), “Breaking Through” (1996) and “On the Edge of Innocence” (1997) before returning to series TV as a regular on NBC's “Crisis Center” (1997), playing Kathy Goodman. The series, however, was axed after 6 episodes.

The following year saw Martin join the cast of the NBC long-running medical series “ER” in the regular role of student Lucy Knight. During her tenure on the show, she jointly nabbed three Screen Actors Guild nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series and won one in 1999. She left “ER” in 2000 after the death of her real-life sister.

After starring in the drama film “All You Need” (2001), Martin undertook the starring role of a rookie female detective in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department, on the Lifetime series “Fiona” (2002), adapted from Warren Adler's “The Fiona Fitzgerald Mysteries.” Unfortunately, the show was never aired. Next up for Martin, she starred in “Mystery Woman,” a Hallmark Channel movie about the proprietor of a mystery bookshop who figures out actual crimes. Since then, she has reprised her role in ten “Mystery Woman” films for Hallmark, two of which she directed.

In 2006, Martin portrayed Nicole Lauker on “Live Once, Die Twice,” a Lifetime movie directed by Stefan Pleszczynski and written by John Benjamin Martin. In February 2007, she provided the voice of Oracle in the animated series “Batman” episode of “Artifacts.” More recently, she was cast as Nina St. Clair on the made-for-TV film “Secret Past” (2007).

Awards:

• Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, “ER,” 1999

• Viewers for Quality Television: Q Award, Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series, “Life Goes On,” 1992

• Young Artist: Best Young Actress Starring in a Television Series, “Life Goes On,” 1992

• Young Artist: Best Young Actress Starring in a Television Series, “Life Goes On,” 1991