As the World Turns

Background:

Making her TV debut in the ABC soap opera “The Edge of Night” (1979-1980), American versatile actress Margaret Colin first came to fame as Margot Montgomery Hughes on the CBS daytime drama “As the World Turns” (1981-1983). She continued to star in the short-lived “Leg Work” (1987) and “Sibs” (1991) and had a recurring role on the hit “Chicago Hope” (1994) before taking home a Saturn Award for playing John Goodman's wife on another unsuccessful series, “Now and Again” (1999). More recently, she is known as Eleanor Waldorf on the series “Gossip Girl” (2007-2008). Colin has also acted in a number of TV movies, including “The Return of Sherlock Holmes” (1987), “Warm Hearts, Cold Feet” (1987), “Goodnight, Sweet Wife: A Murder in Boston (1990), “In the Shadow of Evil” (1995), “The Wedding Dress” (2001) and “Remembering Charlie” (2003). On the silver screen, Colin is perhaps best remembered for her performances in such projects as “Something Wild” (1986), “Three Men and a Baby” (1987), “True Believer” (1989), “Independence Day” (1996), “The Devil's Own” (1997), “Unfaithful” (2002) and “First Daughter” (2004). Her more recent and upcoming credits include “Deception” (2008), “The Missing Person” (2008) and “iMurders” (2009).

Colin has been married to actor Justin Deas since the early 1988. She is the mother of two sons, Sam and Joseph, and the stepmother of Yvie, Deas' daughter from his previous relationship.Colin is the honorary co-chair of Feminists for Life, an organization formed to fight against domestic violence, child abuse, murderer and abortion. She is also a pro-life active supporter.

Mrs. Deas

Childhood and Family:

Daughter of a New York City police officer, Margaret Colin was born on May 26, 1958, in Brooklyn, New York. She was raised in Long Island in a big Irish-Catholic household. After graduating from Baldwin High School in Baldwin, New York in 1976, she was accepted to the Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York in a drama scholarship. She also trained at the Stella Adler Conservatory and Juilliard.

In January 1988, Margaret married actor Justin Deas, whom she met when they both acted in the series “As The World Turns.” She gave birth to her first child, son Sam Deas, in 1990, and her second son, Joseph Deas, was born three years later in 1993. Margaret also has a step-daughter, Yvie, from her husband's previous marriage. The family relocated to Upper Montclair, New Jersey in the late 1990s.

Now and Again

Career:

Starting acting in elementary school, New York native Margaret Colin hit the small screen for a first time after graduating from university when she joined the cast of ABC's soap opera, “The Edge of Night,” playing Paige Madison, an heiress and one time terrorist, from 1979 to 1980. Her breakthrough role arrived shortly thereafter when she originated the role of fighting officer Margot Montgomery Hughes on the CBS daytime drama “As the World Turns” (1981-1983). Her future husband, Justin Deas, also costarred in the series as her love interest, Tom Hughes. Colin returned to series TV as a regular during 1985-1986 season by starring as Asst. D.A. Alex Harrigan on the CBS sitcom “Foley Square.” In between, she debuted on stage in “Marathon '84” (1984) at NYC's Ensemble Studio Theatre.

Segueing to film, Colin made her big screen debut as Molly Ringwald's English teacher on “Pretty in Pink” (1986), a teen comedy directed by Howard Deutch and penned by John Hughes. However, it was her appearance in the Jeff Daniels/Melanie Griffith vehicle “Something Wild” (also 1986), by director Jonathan Demme, that earned the actress a true notice. She was cast as Irene, the wife of psycho Ray Sinclair (played by Ray Liotta), in the film and next supported Dudley Moore and Kirk Cameron for the 1987 remake “Like Father Like Son.” Also in 1987, Colin revisited television with significant roles in the telepics “The Return of Sherlock Holmes” and “Warm Hearts, Cold Feet” as well as a leading role on the primetime series “Leg Work” (CBS, 1987), playing Claire McCarron. Created with a purpose to launch Colin as a TV star, the series, however, only had a short life and was canceled after 10 episodes.

Colin fared better on the silver screen. After playing the girlfriend of Tom Selleck on the well-liked comedy “Three Men and a Baby” (also 1987), she received praise for her portrayal of a dauntless investigator, Kitty Greer, in the James Woods legal drama “True Believer” (1989), which also costarred Robert Downey Jr., Yuji Okumoto, Kurtwood Smith and Tom Bower. She closed out the decade by teaming up with John Lithgow, Jonathan Silverman and John Glover on the made-for-TV film “Traveling Man” (1989).

After starring with Randy Quaid in the cult favorite “Martians Go Home” (1990) and playing Michelle Caruso on the well-received docudrama “Goodnight, Sweet Wife: A Murder in Boston (1990, TV), opposite Ken Olin, Colin assumed the role of Audie, Marsha Mason and Jamie Gertz's disturbance middle sister, on the short-lived ABC series “Sibs” (1991), a gig that required her to alternate between Los Angeles and New York, where she and her husband lived.

Despite her commitment with her family, Colin remained busy acting in the films “The Butcher's Wife” (1991), an ill-received comedy starring Demi Moore, Nicolas Cage, and Samuel L. Jackson, “Amos and Andy” (1993) and the Charlie Sheen/Nastassja Kinski thriller “Terminal Velocity” (1994) and in the TV films “Related by Birth”(1994) and “In the Shadow of Evil” (1995, with Treat Williams. Besides, she had the recurring role of Dr. Karen Antonovich on the CBS successful hospital drama “Chicago Hope” (1994). In 1996, she enjoyed blockbuster success thanks to the sci-fi hit “Independence Day,” where she was cast as Jeff Goldblum's former lover, Constance Spano. Her subsequent films were the indie-romance “Milk & Money” (1996), the Alan J. Pakula-directed political thriller “The Devil's Own” (1997, played Harrison Ford's wife), “Time to Say Goodbye?” (1997), Tod Williams' “The Adventures of Sebastian Cole” (1998) and “Swing Vote” (1999, TV), among others. She also debuted on Broadway in the short-lived comedy “Jackie” (1997), starring as ex-First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and costarred as the spouse of John Goodman on the failed CBS drama series “Now and Again” (1999), from which she netted a 2000 Saturn for Best Genre TV Actress.

Entering the new millennium, Colin played Vonda Madigan on the pilot “Madigan Man” (2000) and then acted in the TV films “Private Lies,” “The Familiar Stranger” and “The Wedding Dress” (all 2001) before supporting David Strathairn and Agnes Bruckner on the Sundance-screened “Blue Car” (2002) and appearing as Diane Lane's friend in Adrian Lyne's thriller “Unfaithful” (2002). She revisited the stage in 2001 to play a role in the off-Broadway production of “Speaking in Tongues,” by Australian playwright Andrew Bovell.

Colin played Mrs. Krug in a 2003 episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and was cast as Dr. Eloise Barnes in a 2004 episode of “ Law & Order: Criminal Intent.” In between, she portrayed Lori Aiken on the televsion film “Remembering Charlie” (2003). She next starred as the First Lady along side Katie Holmes and Michael Keaton on “First Daughter” (2004), a comedy film directed by Forest Whitaker, but did not make another film until 2006's “A Broken Sole,” a based-on-play short costarring Danny Aiello. She played Eleanor Waldorf on the series “Gossip Girl” (2007-2008).

Recently playing Beth in the short “Happenstance” (2008) and Ms. Pomerantz on “Deception” (2008), a drama/romance starring Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor and Michelle Williams, Colin will play Lana Cobb on writer/director Noah Buschel's “The Missing Person” (2008) and Carol Uberoth on the thriller “iMurders” (2009), starring Gabrielle Anwar, Billy Dee Williams, William Forsythe and Tony Todd.

Awards:

• Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Saturn, Best Genre TV Actress, “Now and Again,” 2000