Maureen Garrett (born Maureen Mason Garrett; 1948 in

Rocky Mount, North Carolina Rocky Mount is a city in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Edgecombe and Nash County, North Carolina, Nash counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The city's population was 54,341 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it ...

) is an American actress. Garrett played the role of Holly Norris on ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

'', a role she inherited from

Lynn Deerfield William Charles Beutel (December 12, 1930 – March 18, 2006) was an American television reporter, journalist, and anchor. He was best known for working over four decades with the American Broadcasting Company, spending much of that time anchoring ...

in 1976. For many years, the character of Holly was featured in a psychologically complex story with

Roger Thorpe ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

, played by

Michael Zaslow Michael Joel Zaslow (November 1, 1942 – December 6, 1998) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as villain Roger Thorpe on CBS's ''Guiding Light'', a role he played from 1971 to 1980 and again from 1989 to 1997. Life a ...

. Villain Roger had, among other things, raped Holly while they were married. The couple of

Roger and Holly ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

is considered one of Guiding Light's most memorable couples. In 1980, Garrett left ''

'' to pursue prime-time television and film. She returned to Guiding Light in the late 80s and continued as a recurring character until the show ended in 2009. She speaks German and French. She studied at

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

in Germany, and at

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

and Villanova Universities in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, United States. She has been nominated for three

Daytime Emmy The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (N ...

awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role of Holly Norris in 1991, 1992 and 1994 respectively; and has also been nominated for three

Soap Opera Digest Awards ''The Soap Opera Digest Awards'', originally known as ''The Soapy Awards'' when introduced in 1977, is an awards show held by the daytime television magazine ''Soap Opera Digest''. History 1977 until 1983 The Soapy Awards were an award presen ...

. In addition to her role on ''Guiding Light'', she also portrayed the character of

Elizabeth Jane "EJ" Ryan This is a list of characters that appear on the ABC soap opera '' Ryan's Hope'' from 1975 to 1989. A ;Sheik Haroun Al Raschid :(Played by Kaleel Sakakeeny, 1981) ::Financial backer of archaeological excavations ;Ken Alexander :(Played by Will ...

on ''

Ryan's Hope ''Ryan's Hope'' is an American soap opera created by Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer, airing for 13 years on ABC from July 7, 1975, to January 13, 1989. It revolves around the trials and tribulations within a large Irish-American family in th ...

''. She was instrumental in creating a theater company including her ''GL'' castmates performing other works. In a 2012 interview with '' Out'', Garrett revealed she is a lesbian and had been with her then partner J M Morgan for 20 years. They have three sons.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett, Maureen American soap opera actresses 1948 births Living people People from Rocky Mount, North Carolina American lesbian actresses LGBT people from North Carolina