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Emmy Award-winning actress Julia Barr joined the cast of All My Children in 1976 as impetuous teenager Brooke English, the spoiled, rich niece of Phoebe Tyler. Over the years, Brooke has survived her share of trials and tribulations, emerging as a true - and beloved - soap opera heroine.

Julia grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she caught the acting bug at age 13 and became a true star in her hometown. She was acting, singing and dancing in virtually every local production between the Fort Wayne Community Theater, Civic Theater, Wagon Wheel Playhouse and Enchanted Hills Playhouse.

Ms. Barr attended Purdue University, where she starred in such productions as Our Town, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Lover, The Killing of Sister George and Endgame. Then she shuffled off to Buffalo's Studio Arena Theatre, where she earned her Equity card starring in Scapino, and A Girl in My Soup with Van Johnson. Julia then moved to New York, and the work never stopped.

In June 1976, she landed the role that audiences fell in love with: All My Children's Brooke English, and has played it ever since (except for a 15-month break when she toured with Katharine Hepburn and Dorothy Loudon in the national touring company of West Side Waltz). Her portrayal has garnered Julia seven Emmy Award nominations (1980, 1981, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998), 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.

Among her other television credits are Gathering of One, The Adams Chronicles, and a brief role on Ryan's Hope just prior to All My Children. Her film credits include I, the Jury and her off-Broadway credits include Kerouac.

Julia is committed to balancing her passion for acting with her passion for family: Husband Dr. Richard Hirshlag (an oral surgeon, to whom she's been married for 17 years) and daughter Allison (age 16). When she's not at work, she's just mom, spending as much time with her daughter as possible. She and Richard enjoy decorating their modern New Jersey home and traveling. The Barr/Hirshlag household also includes a feisty dog named Nell (a greyhound and German shepherd mix adopted in October 1996); two independent cats (Dinah and Goldie); a neurotic parakeet, and a rabbit named Louis.

The actress is the spokesperson for The Fund for Animals, a cause very near to her heart. The fund works nationwide on advocacy, education, protection and rights of wild and domestic animals. Through her website juliarosebarr.com, Barr educates All My Children fans and animal lovers on the protection and care of animal companions.

In addition, she spent two years as an active volunteer for The Coalition for the Homeless' First Step program, an innovative job-readiness program for homeless women which helps them build new lives by preparing them to enter the work force. In 1996, they honored Julia at the program's annual gala with their Women Mean Business award.

The multi-talented Ms. Barr also studies voice, and in September 1996 made a splash singing the National Anthem to a full house at Yankee Stadium for the Baltimore series. In addition, Julia is committed to staying in shape and, with the help of a fitness trainer and strict exercise program, she's never felt better. That, along with her simple beauty regimen, keeps Julia (and Brooke) looking and feeling young, fit and healthy.