Rachel Ames facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rachel Ames
Ames, around 1950
Born	Rachel Kay Foulger (1929-11-02) November 2, 1929 (age 95) Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Other names	Judith Ames
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1951–2007, 2009–2015
Spouse(s)	Jack Genung ​ ​ (m. 1952, divorced)​ Barry Cahill ​ ​ (m. 1968; died 2012)​
Children	2
Parents	Byron Foulger (father) Dorothy Adams (mother)

Rachel Ames (born Rachel Kay Foulger on November 2, 1929) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Audrey Hardy on the TV show General Hospital. This show is a long-running soap opera on ABC Daytime.

Rachel Ames played Audrey from 1964 to 2007. She also came back for special appearances in 2009, 2013, and 2015. Her role as Audrey was one of the longest-running characters on TV, lasting over 50 years! She was nominated for three Daytime Emmy Awards. In 2004, she received a special Lifetime Achievement Award for her amazing career. She also played Audrey on Port Charles, which was a spin-off show from General Hospital, from 1997 to 1998.

Early Life

Rachel Kay Foulger was born in Portland, Oregon. Her mother, Dorothy Adams, was an actress and later taught drama at college. Her father, Byron Foulger, was also an actor. Rachel has one younger sister. Her family has English roots, with ancestors coming from England to the Salt Lake City area.

Rachel spent her early years in Portland. Later, her family moved to California. This move allowed her parents to work and teach at the Pasadena Playhouse. Rachel went to University High School. After that, she studied at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her mother was a professor in the drama department there.

Rachel loved acting in plays during high school and college. She left UCLA after about a year and a half. This was because she signed a movie contract with Paramount Pictures.

Her Acting Career

Starting Out (1949-1954)

Rachel Ames in 1954

Rachel Ames started her acting career in 1949 in a play called Pilgrimage Play. She even acted with her parents in another play, One Foot in Heaven. She also performed in other plays like Broadway Jones and King of Hearts.

She began acting in movies using the name Judith Ames. She worked for Paramount Pictures for three years in the early 1950s. Her first big movie was When Worlds Collide in 1951. It was a science-fiction thriller where she played Julie Cummings. That same year, she was in a short film about college life at UCLA.

She had small, uncredited roles in other films. These included The Turning Point (1952) and the Western film Arrowhead (1953). In 1954, she had a supporting role in the Western comedy Ricochet Romance.

Moving to Television (1954-1964)

In the mid-1950s, Rachel Ames started acting on television. She was still using the name Judith Ames. From 1954 to 1957, she appeared as a guest star on many TV shows. Some of these included Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Millionaire, and Highway Patrol.

From 1958 to 1959, she continued guest starring on shows. These included Perry Mason, Lassie, and Wanted Dead or Alive. She had one regular role on a TV series called The Lineup in 1959. She played Policewoman Sandy McAllister.

She also appeared in a Western movie called Gunfighters of Abilene in 1960. Later, she guest starred on shows like The Andy Griffith Show and The Fugitive.

Starring in General Hospital (1964-2015)

Rachel Ames as Audrey March in General Hospital, 1973

On February 23, 1964, Rachel Ames started her most famous role. She joined the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital. She played Audrey Hardy, who was known as Audrey March at first. Her contract was only for thirteen weeks because her character, Audrey, was supposed to be very sick and dying.

However, the show's producers loved her performance. So, Audrey's illness was forgotten, and Rachel stayed on the show. She became one of the longest-running actors in the network's history, acting for five decades! Her character, Audrey, was a registered nurse. She had a romantic storyline with Dr. Steve Hardy, played by John Beradino. When Audrey and Steve got married on the show, Rachel's real-life father, Byron Foulger, played the priest.

While on General Hospital, Rachel also had a small, uncredited role in the movie Daddy's Gone A-Hunting (1969). Her husband, Barry Cahill, was also in that movie.

Rachel was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1974 and 1975 for her work on General Hospital. In 1979, she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

In 1997, she appeared as Audrey Hardy in a special preview of Port Charles. This was a new soap opera that was a spin-off from General Hospital. Rachel had a recurring role as Audrey on Port Charles from 1997 to 1998.

In 2003, her contract for General Hospital was not renewed, but she still appeared as a recurring character. In 2004, Rachel Ames received a special Lifetime Achievement Award at the 31st Daytime Emmy Awards in New York City. She officially retired from General Hospital in 2007 after 43 years.

She returned to the show for a special appearance on October 20, 2009. She also came back for the show's 50th anniversary on March 29, 2013. Her last appearance as Audrey was for one episode on October 30, 2015.

Personal Life

Rachel Ames married Jack Genung on January 31, 1952. They had one daughter together.

She later married her second husband, Canadian actor Barry Cahill, in June 1968. They had a daughter and two grandchildren. Barry Cahill passed away in April 2012. They had been married for 42 years.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and Nominations