Martha Byrne
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Mary Martha Byrne (born December 23, 1969 in Ridgewood, New Jersey) is an American actress.
She is best known for her role on the soap opera As the World Turns, portraying Lily Walsh Snyder. She has played the role from May 1985 until October 1989 and again since April 1993. She succeeded Lucy Deakins in the role in 1985 and Heather Rattray in 1993. From 2000 until 2003, she played the double role of Lily's long-lost twin, Rose D'Angelo.
In 1987, she courted controversy when she taped her first love scene months before her 18th birthday. Adding to the controversy was that Lily's first time on the show was with Dusty Donovan, played by actor Brian Bloom, who was even younger than she was. In a business fraught with technicalities, this storyline move proved to be very controversial, as underage characters who wish to have their first time are played, in real life, by people who are of consenting age.
She is also a budding singer, releasing her self-titled album Martha Byrne in 1996. She has also released a second album, Woman Thing Music, which was a subject of controversy when it was made known that the sponsor of her follow-up album was Philip Morris. The CD could not be purchased without a pack of cigarettes as well, causing Byrne to pull her endorsement from the music label, as she did not want to be associated with a product that could encourage underage smoking.
Byrne is a five-time Daytime Emmy award nominee, winning Outstanding Younger Actress in 1987 and Outstanding Lead Actress in 2001.
Byrne has been married since 1994 to NYPD officer Michael McMahon. She has also appeared on the TLC series A Baby Story, with this episode specifically chronicling the birth of a soap opera actress's baby. Her pregnancy and subsequent birth to her second son, Maxwell Vincent McMahon, was taped and then aired on the program.
External links
nl:Martha Byrne
