Annie Alum Martha Byrne to Depart As the World Turns

Actress Martha Byrne, who understudied the title role in the original Broadway production of Annie, will leave the CBS daytime drama As The World Turns next month, after having spent nearly 20 years playing the role of Lily Walsh Snyder, according to TVGuide.com.

Byrne played one of the orphans, July, as well as understudied the role of Annie, during the show’s original run. She is also featured in the documentary Life After Tomorrow, which follows the lives of many of the young women who starred in the show, and is scheduled to join director Julie Stevens for a signing of the film’s DVD on Thursday, March 20 at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle.

Byrne joined As The World Turns in 1985 and played Lily until 1989, when she moved to Los Angeles to pursue other film and television work. She returned to the show in 1993 and has played Lily ever since. She has won two Daytime Emmy Awards and been nominated a total of eight times in a variety of categories.