Martha Byrne
 |
Martha Byrne as Lily Walsh Snyder |
Mary Martha Byrne (born
December 23,
1969 in
Ridgewood, New Jersey) is an
American actress.
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 primetime 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.
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.
Music
Byrne is also a singer. 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.
Byrne is an eight-time
Daytime Emmy award nominee, winning Outstanding Younger Actress in
1987 and Outstanding Lead Actress in
2001.
Byrne has been married since
1994 to Michael McMahon, a former
New York City Police officer. They live in
Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey.
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.
* Byrne is the godmother to former co-star
Yvonne Perry's daughter Shelly Mandez.
* Byrne has a close relationship with
Elizabeth Hubbard, who portrays her mother on
As The World Turns.
*
The Official Martha Byrne Webpage*
IMDb entry*
SoapCentral page of Lily*
SoapCentral page of Rose
