Beth Ehlers
Encyclopedia
Beth Ehlers (born July 23, 1968) is a American
actress.
before focusing on her acting career.
In 1991, Ehlers married Dr. William Parsons. Ehlers became involved with Mark Derwin
, her co-star on Guiding Light
shortly after marrying Parsons and they later divorced in 1992.
On March 22, 1996, she married Matthew Christian, who is a sports video editor. Beth and Matthew have two sons, Henry Jack Christian, who was born on May 21, 1999 and Will, born July 16, 2001. The couple divorced in 2005. Ehlers discussed her life as a single mother in the 1/15/2008 issue of Soap Opera Digest, noting that she and her ex-husband are still close friends and that she does not believe she ever will marry again.
and begin appearing in television commercials at the age of nine. As a child actress, her first role was in the 1981 television film Family Reunion
starring Bette Davis
. She was cast in several other television films, including "In Defense of Kids" and "Mystery at Fire Island". Her big screen debut was in the film The Hunger with David Bowie. She was also featured in the feature film Hiding Out and the short lived NBC
TV series The Best Times which was in the vein of Fast Times at Ridgemont High
, and the later (and far more popular), Beverly Hills 90210.
To date, Ehlers' role of note has been her portrayal of Harley Cooper
on Guiding Light
, a role she originally played from 1987 to 1993. The character of Harley was a bad girl with a heart of gold — the character was introduced giving birth to her illegitimate daughter in the back seat of a car — and Ehlers' portrayal won her praise and many fans, eventually making the character of Harley a linchpin character.
Ehlers left the show in 1993, along with co-star Mark Derwin
, to relocate to California. After her relationship with Derwin ended, Ehlers worked as a production assistant on commercials and music videos. She was featured in the 60th anniversary show for Guiding Light
in January 1997. Fan response was so overwhelmingly positive that the producers asked Ehlers to return as a contract player. During her time on "GL", she was nominated five times for a Daytime Emmy (for Outstanding Younger Actress, in 1992 and 1993; Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, in 1999 and 2002; and, in 2006, for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series). She was the first daytime actress to ever be nominated in all three categories.
In 2005, fans voted Ehlers and former co-star, Ricky Paull Goldin
, as their characters Harley and Gus, the top couple in "The Most Irresistible Combination" contest (which was partially sponsored by Procter & Gamble
, the company that produces Guiding Light
).
In 2006, Ehlers became part of a collaboration between the show and Marvel Comics
when her character was tagged to appear on a special fantasy episode of the show as a superheroine, named "The Guiding Light" after the show itself. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/31/arts/television/31guid.html?_r=1&ref=television&oref=slogin
In 2007, in an episode celebrating the 70th anniversary of Guiding Light
, the current cast portrayed actors and behind-the-scenes personnel from the early years of the series (both in radio and television). Ehlers had a central role in the episode with her portrayal of Irna Phillips
. Phillips was the creator of Guiding Light
and many other soap operas; she was often credited with creating the soap opera genre.
In June 2008, Ehlers left Guiding Light to join the cast of All My Children
in the newly-created role of Taylor Thompson, an Army lieutenant of the Iraqi war who believed she had lost her fiance, Brot Monroe (portrayed by real-life war veteran and now actor/spokesman J.R. Martinez
), in action. The move from Guiding Light to All My Children led her to being infamously reunited onscreen with her former Guiding Light co-star Ricky Paull Goldin
, who portrays Dr. Joseph "Jake" Martin.http://www.soapcentral.com/amc/news/2008/0623-ehlers.php
In 2010 Ehlers joined the cast of River Ridge: The Series in the role of Coryn Foster.
|- align="center"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes
|-
|rowspan="2"|1981||Family Reunion
||Jamcie Lyman||(TV)
|-
|CBS Children's Mystery Theatre||Dah Littlewood||Episode:"Mystery at Fire Island"
|-
|rowspan=3"|1983||The Wilder Summer||unknown||(TV)
|-
|||In Defense of Kids||unknown||(TV)
|-
|1983||The Hunger||Alice||
|-
|1984||Things Are Looking Up||Mia Braithwaite ||
|-
|1985||The Best Times||Mia Braithwaite||
|-
|1987||Hiding Out||Chloe||
|-
|1987–1993,1997,1997–2008||The Guiding Light||Harley Cooper
||Role From: September 1987-September 28, 1993, January 21-January 30, 1997, May 29, 1997 to June 23, 2008
|-
|1993||The Maury Povich Show||rowspan="3"|Herself||Episode:"The Soap Opera Update Awards (1993)"
|-
|rowspan="2"|1999||The 15th Annual Soap Opera Digest Awards
|-
|The 26th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards|| Nominee
|-
|2001||Supertalk||unknown||
|-
|2002||A Wedding Story: Josh and Reva||Harley Cooper
|-
|2003||Crossing Over with John Edward||Herself
Herself||Episode Dated:"November 12"
|-
|rowspan="2"|2004||The 31st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards||Herself||
|-
|Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
||Mrs. Kester ||Episode:"Home"
|-
|2005||The 32nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards||rowspan="4"|Herself||
|-
|rowspan="2"|2006||Martha
||Episode Dated:"February 23
|-
|The 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards||
|-
|rowspan=2|2008||The View||Episode Dated:"December 5"
|-
|All My Children
||Taylor Thompson||Role From: July 24, 2008-September 21, 2009
|-
|rowspan="2"|2011||River Ridge: The Series||Coryn Foster||
|-}
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress.
Personal life
Born in Queens, New York, Ehlers eventually moved closer to Manhattan and attended Satellite Academy, a performing arts school, as a child. Ehlers briefly attended Syracuse UniversitySyracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
before focusing on her acting career.
In 1991, Ehlers married Dr. William Parsons. Ehlers became involved with Mark Derwin
Mark Derwin
Mark Derwin is an American television and soap opera actor. Derwin is known for his role as George Juergens on The Secret Life of the American Teenager.-Biography:...
, her co-star on Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
shortly after marrying Parsons and they later divorced in 1992.
On March 22, 1996, she married Matthew Christian, who is a sports video editor. Beth and Matthew have two sons, Henry Jack Christian, who was born on May 21, 1999 and Will, born July 16, 2001. The couple divorced in 2005. Ehlers discussed her life as a single mother in the 1/15/2008 issue of Soap Opera Digest, noting that she and her ex-husband are still close friends and that she does not believe she ever will marry again.
Career
Ehlers grew up in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and begin appearing in television commercials at the age of nine. As a child actress, her first role was in the 1981 television film Family Reunion
Family Reunion (film)
Family Reunion is a four-hour American television movie directed by Fielder Cook. The teleplay by Allan Sloane was based on the Good Housekeeping article How America Lives by Joe Sparton...
starring Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
. She was cast in several other television films, including "In Defense of Kids" and "Mystery at Fire Island". Her big screen debut was in the film The Hunger with David Bowie. She was also featured in the feature film Hiding Out and the short lived NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
TV series The Best Times which was in the vein of Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written by Cameron Crowe and adapted from his 1981 book of the same name...
, and the later (and far more popular), Beverly Hills 90210.
To date, Ehlers' role of note has been her portrayal of Harley Cooper
Harley Cooper
Harley Davidson Cooper is a fictional character on the popular CBS daytime soap opera, Guiding Light. She is the daughter of Frank "Buzz" Cooper Sr. and the late Nadine Corley...
on Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
, a role she originally played from 1987 to 1993. The character of Harley was a bad girl with a heart of gold — the character was introduced giving birth to her illegitimate daughter in the back seat of a car — and Ehlers' portrayal won her praise and many fans, eventually making the character of Harley a linchpin character.
Ehlers left the show in 1993, along with co-star Mark Derwin
Mark Derwin
Mark Derwin is an American television and soap opera actor. Derwin is known for his role as George Juergens on The Secret Life of the American Teenager.-Biography:...
, to relocate to California. After her relationship with Derwin ended, Ehlers worked as a production assistant on commercials and music videos. She was featured in the 60th anniversary show for Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
in January 1997. Fan response was so overwhelmingly positive that the producers asked Ehlers to return as a contract player. During her time on "GL", she was nominated five times for a Daytime Emmy (for Outstanding Younger Actress, in 1992 and 1993; Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, in 1999 and 2002; and, in 2006, for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series). She was the first daytime actress to ever be nominated in all three categories.
In 2005, fans voted Ehlers and former co-star, Ricky Paull Goldin
Ricky Paull Goldin
Richard "Ricky" Paull Goldin is an American actor. He is currently in the cast of All My Children as Jake Martin since April 2008...
, as their characters Harley and Gus, the top couple in "The Most Irresistible Combination" contest (which was partially sponsored by Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
, the company that produces Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
).
In 2006, Ehlers became part of a collaboration between the show and Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
when her character was tagged to appear on a special fantasy episode of the show as a superheroine, named "The Guiding Light" after the show itself. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/31/arts/television/31guid.html?_r=1&ref=television&oref=slogin
In 2007, in an episode celebrating the 70th anniversary of Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
, the current cast portrayed actors and behind-the-scenes personnel from the early years of the series (both in radio and television). Ehlers had a central role in the episode with her portrayal of Irna Phillips
Irna Phillips
Irna Phillips was an American actress and most notably writer who created and scripted many of the first American soap operas.Phillips created radio and TV soap operas including:...
. Phillips was the creator of Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
and many other soap operas; she was often credited with creating the soap opera genre.
In June 2008, Ehlers left Guiding Light to join the cast of All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
in the newly-created role of Taylor Thompson, an Army lieutenant of the Iraqi war who believed she had lost her fiance, Brot Monroe (portrayed by real-life war veteran and now actor/spokesman J.R. Martinez
J.R. Martinez
Jose Rene "J. R." Martinez is an American actor, motivational speaker and former U.S. Army soldier. Since 2008 he has played the role of Brot Monroe on the ABC daytime drama All My Children, and was the winner of Season 13 of ABC's Dancing with the Stars...
), in action. The move from Guiding Light to All My Children led her to being infamously reunited onscreen with her former Guiding Light co-star Ricky Paull Goldin
Ricky Paull Goldin
Richard "Ricky" Paull Goldin is an American actor. He is currently in the cast of All My Children as Jake Martin since April 2008...
, who portrays Dr. Joseph "Jake" Martin.http://www.soapcentral.com/amc/news/2008/0623-ehlers.php
In 2010 Ehlers joined the cast of River Ridge: The Series in the role of Coryn Foster.
Filmography
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9;|- align="center"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes
|-
|rowspan="2"|1981||Family Reunion
Family Reunion (film)
Family Reunion is a four-hour American television movie directed by Fielder Cook. The teleplay by Allan Sloane was based on the Good Housekeeping article How America Lives by Joe Sparton...
||Jamcie Lyman||(TV)
|-
|CBS Children's Mystery Theatre||Dah Littlewood||Episode:"Mystery at Fire Island"
|-
|rowspan=3"|1983||The Wilder Summer||unknown||(TV)
|-
|||In Defense of Kids||unknown||(TV)
|-
|1983||The Hunger||Alice||
|-
|1984||Things Are Looking Up||Mia Braithwaite ||
|-
|1985||The Best Times||Mia Braithwaite||
|-
|1987||Hiding Out||Chloe||
|-
|1987–1993,1997,1997–2008||The Guiding Light||Harley Cooper
Harley Cooper
Harley Davidson Cooper is a fictional character on the popular CBS daytime soap opera, Guiding Light. She is the daughter of Frank "Buzz" Cooper Sr. and the late Nadine Corley...
||Role From: September 1987-September 28, 1993, January 21-January 30, 1997, May 29, 1997 to June 23, 2008
|-
|1993||The Maury Povich Show||rowspan="3"|Herself||Episode:"The Soap Opera Update Awards (1993)"
|-
|rowspan="2"|1999||The 15th Annual Soap Opera Digest Awards
|-
|The 26th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards|| Nominee
|-
|2001||Supertalk||unknown||
|-
|2002||A Wedding Story: Josh and Reva||Harley Cooper
|-
|2003||Crossing Over with John Edward||Herself
Herself||Episode Dated:"November 12"
|-
|rowspan="2"|2004||The 31st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards||Herself||
|-
|Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
||Mrs. Kester ||Episode:"Home"
|-
|2005||The 32nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards||rowspan="4"|Herself||
|-
|rowspan="2"|2006||Martha
Martha (TV series)
Martha, also known as The Martha Stewart Show, is an American, weekday one-hour talk show hosted by Martha Stewart. Previously airing in first-run syndication, the show began exclusively airing on cable network Hallmark Channel since September 13, 2010.-History:The program originally debuted on...
||Episode Dated:"February 23
|-
|The 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards||
|-
|rowspan=2|2008||The View||Episode Dated:"December 5"
|-
|All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
||Taylor Thompson||Role From: July 24, 2008-September 21, 2009
|-
|rowspan="2"|2011||River Ridge: The Series||Coryn Foster||
|-}