Kate Martin is a fictional character on the soap opera, ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...

''. She was played by Christine Thomas from January to early February 1970, then by

Kate Harrington Kate Harrington (December 8, 1902 – November 23, 1978) was an American television and movie actress. Born and raised in Boise, Idaho, Harrington studied dramatics at the Bush Conservatory in Chicago. Three years later she was given her firs ...

from February to October 1970, and finally by

Kay Campbell Catherine "Kay" Campbell (August 12, 1904 – May 27, 1985) was an American actress. Early years Campbell began her career as a model in Chicago, and she was a graduate of the University of Chicago. Radio In 1937, Campbell starred in '' ...

, from October 1970 to April 1985. She was the

matriarch Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general E ...

of the

Martin family Martin may either be a given name or surname. In Scotland, Martin or McMartin is a common surname of Scottish Gaelic origin. Martin is, however, more common as a masculine given name in many languages and cultures. It comes from the Latin nam ...

, wife of Henry Martin and mother of

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

and

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

. She was usually found in the kitchen cooking some of her famous recipes or offering sensible advice to Tad.

Storylines

Kate Martin suffered many tragedies around the same time, including the death of her husband, Henry Martin; the loss of her daughter-in-law, Helen; and the devastating news that her son,

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, was missing in action in Vietnam. Her elder son,

, moved his family back to Pine Valley as response to Helen's death. Kate filled the maternal void after Helen's death. With her newfound family, the good news began to flood in. Paul was recovered in Vietnam, and soon set up shop as an attorney in Pine Valley. Kate tried to keep herself out of the Martin family drama. Tara had turned to her with apprehensions about marrying Chuck Tyler, but Kate could provide no definitive answer. Nor was Kate able to explain why Jeff Martin would rush into a sudden marriage with

Erica Kane Erica Kane is a fictional character from the American ABC Daytime soap opera ''All My Children''. The character was portrayed by actress Susan Lucci from her debut on January 16, 1970, until the last broadcast television episode on September 23, 2 ...

. Phoebe Tyler came to Kate with an idea to set up her daughter, Anne Tyler, with Paul. Kate disapproved of Phoebe's intervention in Tara and Chuck's relationship, and was not about to help her weed in Paul's life. She was not going to play matchmaker to her son, and told Phoebe that she should do the same for her daughter. Kate welcomed Ruth Parker Brent into the Martin household. She passed on the reins of Martin matriarch to Ruth after her wedding to Joe. In Ruth, she did not only gain a new daughter-in-law, but a new best friend. Kate worried that Joe and Ruth's marriage was doomed. Ruth kept the secret about little Phillip Tyler's paternity for so long. Kate had never seen Joe so angry before either. Kate knew it was best to keep out of their affairs. Instead, she focused her attention on Tad, who was now going to be adopted by the elder Martins. Kate worried about her son’s marriage. The once peaceful Martin home was at war over Tara and Phil. Kate invited Dan Kennicott to move in with the Martins while he attended Pine Valley University. She hoped his presence would calm Joe and Ruth down enough to speak with each other. Joe lay near death when he was struck with appendicitis. By his bedside, Kate witnessed Ruth and Joe reconcile. All the Martins came together for the long anticipated Christmastime wedding of Tara and Phil. When Ruth and Joe learned they were expecting a child, everyone rejoiced. Ruth was concerned over the dangers to the child because of her advanced age. Kate calmed her fears, telling her to wait for test results before making any assumptions about the baby’s health. All the tests indicated that she was going to have a perfectly healthy child. That Christmas, Joseph "Joey" Martin, Jr. was born. Kate caught Tad stealing money from her sugar bowl. Kate confronted him and he admitted he was going to use the cash to buy drugs. His erratic behavior only increased. When he accidentally crashed the family station wagon, Tad decided to run away from home, breaking Kate’s heart. Kate was taking care of Joey when he found Ruth’s gun. She had bought it to protect herself from Ray. Joey accidentally shot Kate, not knowing the gun was real. Luckily, the wound was not life-threatening. The accident convinced Ruth to get rid of the gun and not live in fear of Ray’s return. But Ray was able to manage an early parole. Kate was able to intervene when he came to the Martin home to confront Ruth. That New Year’s Eve, Greg Nelson rushed into the home claiming Ray had planted a bomb to explode under the Martin home. At that moment, an explosion occurred outside. Ray had run away with the bomb after learning his daughter,

Jenny Gardner Greg Nelson and Jenny Gardner are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American soap opera '' All My Children''. Greg was portrayed by Laurence Lau, and Jenny was portrayed by actress Kim Delaney. They were best friends to fellow su ...

, was staying over at the Martin home. The Martins welcomed Tad back to Pine Valley. Her final scenes aired on April 30, 1985, in which she was seen cooking some stew for her grandson, Tad. On the night of July 15–16, 1985, Kate died in her sleep. All of the Martins returned to say farewell to their beloved matriarch.

External links

Kate Martin
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soapcentral.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Kate Martin, Katherine "Kate" Television characters introduced in 1970