| Martha Byrne rejoined the CBS daytime drama AS THE WORLD TURNS as the beloved Lily in April 1993, having played the role previously from May 1985 to October 1989. As heroine Lily Snyder, Byrne plays a loving wife and mother; as Lily's separated-at-birth twin sister, flashy former showgirl Rose D'Angelo, she has found love with Paul Ryan despite the strong objections of his mother.
Byrne, a 2002 Daytime Emmy nominee, won the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in 2001 for her portrayal of both sisters. In addition, her work earned her a Soap Opera Digest Award nomination. As Lily, the actress won an Emmy for Outstanding Ingenue in a Drama Series in 1987 and has four other Emmy nominations for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series. She has also been nominated for a Soap Opera Digest Award, along with co-star Hensley, for Favorite Couple.
Byrne began her acting career on Broadway in the hit musical Annie, in which she played the role of July and also understudied the title role.
On television, Byrne guest-starred in When the Cradle Falls, a CBS movie-of-the-week. She appeared in numerous rimetime series including Murder, She Wrote, Kate and Allie, Jake and the Fatman, In the Heat of the Night, Doogie Howser, M.D., The Young Riders, Parker Lewis, Over My Dead Body, Pros and Cons with James Earl Jones and Hearts are Wild, as Lainie Kazan's daughter. She starred in the 1983 summer series The Hamptons and appeared in the television films Pink Lightning; Drop-Out Father with Dick Van Dyke and Mariette Hartley; She's Hired, He's Fired with Wayne Rogers and Karen Valentine; The Harvest on PBS; HBO's Anna to the Infinite Power, in which she played the title role; and the Disney Channel's The Eyes of the Amaryllis. She also lists working with Bob Hope on one of his specials as a highlight in her career.
Byrne has also released two CDs, Martha Byrne, which includes songs that she has performed on AS THE WORLD TURNS, and most recently, Woman Thing Music. In addition, she just produced the soundtrack to the Calista Flockhart film Jane Doe, and appears in the upcoming film Mergers & Acquisitions.
Each year, Byrne hosts the annual Daytime Television Salutes St. Jude Children's Research Hospital benefit, where daytime stars from ABC, NBC and CBS meet and greet fans and treat them to live musical performances. Daytime devotees have the opportunity to mingle with the stars, as well as bid on over 100 auction items, with all profits going toward the hospital. This will be the seventh year that Byrne coordinates and hosts the benefit.
Byrne, who was born in Ridgewood, NJ on Dec. 23, lives in New York State with her husband, New York City Police Officer Michael McMahon, and their son, Michael (b. 5/29/98). They are expecting their second child in Sept. 2002. |
