Julia Barr

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Julia Barr, in a still from the opening sequence of All My Children.

Julia Barr (born Julia Rose Buchheit on February 8, 1949 in Fort Wayne, Indiana) is an American actress who is most famous for her role on the soap opera All My Children, playing the character of Brooke English. She has played the role since June 1976.

Growing up as an only child in Fort Wayne, Barr made her acting debut at the age of 13 in a production of Peter Pan. This helped her decide to pursue acting as a career, and by the time she graduated from college at the Fort Wayne campus of Purdue/Indiana University, she had performed in 25 professional productions. She spent two years at the Studio Arena Theater in Buffalo, New York. She broke into soaps with a short stint as bad girl Reenie Szabo on Ryan's Hope.

Her portrayal of Brooke has garnered Barr eight Daytime Emmy Award nominations (1980, 1981, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998 and 2001), and she won the trophy in 1990 and 1998 for 'Outstanding Supporting Actress'. In 1990, she also took home a Soap Opera Digest Award for 'Best Supporting Actress'. Barr took a 15-month break from the show beginning in 1981, during which time she toured with Katharine Hepburn and Dorothy Loudon in the national touring company of West Side Waltz.

During her year-long hiatus from AMC, Barr also met her future husband, Richard Hirschlag, in a musical comedy class. Barr married Hirschlag on Valentine's Day 1982 in a Manhattan brownstone. The two have a daughter who's also an actress, and live in suburban New Jersey. This is Julia Barr's second marriage -- her first was to Richard Barr.

In her spare time, Barr is also an advocate of animal rights. She believes in spaying and neutering, and is a spokesperson for the Fund for Animals.

She was also a vocalist in a band that she formed with Richard Shoberg, who, at one time, played her husband Tom Cudahy on All My Children. Barr played Erica Kane in an audition scene with David Canary.

In late October 2006, Barr announced that instead of accepting the show's offer to appear on a recurring basis, she has decided to exit her role as Brooke after 30 years on the soap. Her contract officially expires in December, and she will last air in early January 2007.