As the World Turns

Background:

Two-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning American actress Martha Byrne is well-associated with her role as Lily Walsh on the long-running drama series “As the World Turns” (1985-1989, 1993-2008), in which she also played Lily's twin, Rose D'Angelo, during 2000 to 2005. For her brilliant performance, she collected eight Daytime Emmy nominations, two of which she won in 1987 and 2001, and seven Soap Opera Digest nominations. Other acting credits also include guest roles in such series as “Kate and Allie,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Jake and the Fatman,” “Silk Stalkings” and “Parker Lewis Can't Lose” and starring/supporting roles in movies like “Anna to the Infinite Power” (1983), “Pink Lightning” (1991, TV), “The Marksmen” (1997) and “Mergers & Acquisitions” (2001). Also a singer, Byrne has released three albums, namely “Martha Byrne” (1996), “Woman Thing Music” and “The Other Side” (2006).

Byrne and her husband of 14 years, former New York Police officer Michael McMahon, have three children. She and her family currently live in Waldwick, New Jersey. When she was younger, Byrne dated actor Luke Perry.

Byrne is a fan of the TV show “Six Feet Under.” She said, “It's the only show I've ever wept while watching. That show is an actor's dream. It's so well done, and so well acted, well written and directed. I can't miss it.” She also loves to watch “The Young And The Restless.” She mentions Howard Stern and Meryl Streep as her favorites. A recording artist herself, Byrne enjoys listening jazz and blues music.

Byrne is an avid supporter of the Jude's benefit charity.

Marth

Childhood and Family:

Mary “Martha Byrne,” known with the nickname Marth, was born on December 23, 1969, in Ridgewood, New Jersey. She was educated at The Immaculate Heart Academy.

On November 12, 1994, Martha married Michael McMahon, a retired undercover police officer in the New York City Police Department (NYPD). She gave birth to her first child, son Michael Terrence, on May 29, 1998. Her second son, Maxwell Vincent McMahon, was born on September 3, 2002. Martha and her husband welcomed the new addition to their family, daughter Annmarie McMahon, on June 12, 2006. She weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces, and was 20 inches long.

The Other Side

Career:

Martha Byrne kicked off her acting career at age 8 when she landed the role of July in the Broadway production of “Annie.” Five years later, she broke into the cinematic industry with a supporting part in the independent drama/thriller “The Eyes of the Amaryllis” (1982), directed by Frederick King Keller, and starred as an odd child named Anna Hart in the following year's Sci-Fi movie “Anna to the Infinite Power,” along side Dina Merrill and Mark Patton. In between the projects, she debuted on the made-for-TV-film playing Elizabeth McCall in the comedy “Drop-Out Father” (1982), which was nominated for an Emmy Award.

Byrne found herself working in several more projects throughout the 1980s. She supported Wayne Rogers and Karen Valentine in the CBS made-for-TV comedy “He's Fired, She's Hired” (1984), playing one of their three children, Emily Grier, was featured along side Andrew McCarthy, Jennifer Dundas and Charles Fields in the drama film “The Beniker Gang” (1985) and appeared in episodes of “The Hamptons” (1983), “Kate & Allie” (1985) and “In the Heat of the Night” (1989).

However, Byrne did not hit big time until she landed the role of Lily Walsh, daughter of the affluent Lucinda Walsh, on the daytime drama “As the World Turns.” She was in the long-running show from 1985 to her departure in 1989. She was replaced by Heather Rattray. During her stint, Byrne won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Ingenue in a Drama Series (1987) and received two nominations, including one for Outstanding Juvenile Female in a Drama Series (1989), as well as a Soap Opera Digest nomination for Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress on a Daytime or Prime Time Serial (1986).

After leaving “As the World Turns,” Byrne found herself guesting in a string of TV series like “Jake and the Fatman,” “The Young Riders,” “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” “Over My Dead Body” (all 1990), “Murder, She Wrote,” “Silk Stalkings” (both 1991) and “Parker Lewis Can't Lose” (1992), and starring as hot-to-trot Jill in the TV film “Pink Lightning” (1991), opposite Sarah Buxton, Jennifer Blanc, Jennifer Guthrie and Rainbow Harvest. It was in April 1993 that she was invited back to “As the World Turns” to reprise her role of Lily. She received Daytime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Younger Leading Actress in a Drama Series in 1994 and 1996 and Soap Opera Digest nominations for Hottest Female Star in 1994 and 1997. She was also nominated for Soap Opera Digest Awards in the categories of Outstanding Younger Leading Actress (1996), and Hottest Romance (1998), which she shared with costars Jon Hensley.

Meanwhile, in 1997, Byrne was also seen playing Alison Wells in the independent film “The Marksmen,” costarring with Jay Schillinger, and Donna McDermott in the television film “When the Cradle Falls,” directed by Paul Schneider.

From 2000 to February 2005, Byrne took up the dual roles of Lily and her long-lost twin, Rose D'Angelo, and won a 2001 Daytime Emmy in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress for her work. She went on to work on “As the World Turns” and play Lily until April 2008. She was replaced by Noelle Beck. Executive producer Christopher Goutman said, “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.”

At the same year she netted her second Emmy Award, Byrne assumed the supporting role of Iowa in the independent film “Mergers & Acquisitions” (2001), which won a Festival Prize for Best Feature Film – 16mm at the 2001 Long Island International Film Expo and a Jury Award for Best Screenplay - Feature Film at the 2002 Atlantic City Film Festival.

“I love singing ballads, but in my heart I'm a rock n roll singer.” Martha Byrne

Apart from being an actress, Byrne is also known as a singer. She contributed a Christmas medley to “A Soap Opera Christmas,” a 1994 album released by RCA, and released her own album in 1996 called “Martha Byrne.” She followed her debut with “Woman Thing Music,” sponsored by the cigarette brand Virginia Slims and the Phillip Morris Company, and “The Other Side,” which was released in 2006.

Awards:

• Daytime Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, “As the World Turns,” 2001

• Daytime Emmy: Outstanding Ingenue in a Drama Series, “As the World Turns,” 1987