Martha Madison

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Martha Madison (Belle, DAYS)

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The 411

Martha Madison knew that she wanted to entertain from a very young age. When she was only 6, she began performing at the Actors' Theatre of Houston. She also took dance classes, and throughout high school was part of the dance team. After graduating, Madison attended Texas A&M University, where she was the captain for the dance team. She completed college, then moved to New York City, where she enrolled for a year at the American Musical And Dramatic Academy. In 2001, she had a small role in the Meg Ryan/Hugh Jackman movie Kate & Leopold.

Madison spent less than two years in New York, then moved to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, in 2003, Kirsten Storms ended her run as DAYS's Belle. Madison auditioned for the role in 2004, but Charity Rahmer won the part in July, and Madison landed a three-day stint on PASSIONS playing Lola, a waitress. However, when Rahmer's DAYS job ended up only lasting two weeks, Madison was hired as Belle, and began that August.

Despite Storms's popularity, Madison's more mature interpretation of Belle won over viewers, as well as Shawn and Belle's "Shelle" fans.

2007 was a particularly memorable year for Madison, both on-screen and off. Many of her castmates attended her summer wedding to restaurateur AJ Gilbert. The actress also wowed her co-workers and the press with her performance as Belle reacted to John's death.

Currently, Madison's alter ego is involved in a complicated love triangle with Brandon Beemer's Shawn and Jay Kenneth Johnson's Philip. The actress has truly made the role of Belle her own.

Et Cetera

Five Random Facts:
— Her birth name is Martha Anne Butterworth
— The rabbi at her wedding was a former actor who had a dayplayer role on DAYS
— Is the Celebrity Ambassador/Spokesperson for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
— Was a DAYS fan prior to joining the show
— Graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Texas A&smp;M University

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Other Roles

Other Soap Roles
PASSIONS (Lola, 2004)

TV Roles
BIKER MICE FROM MARS (Catalina Cat, 2006)

Film Roles
Kate & Leopold (Police Officer, 2001)

Memorable Madison

"Nothing went wrong. Everything went off without a hitch. No one came riding any kind of automobile through any windows. None of the bridesmaids were pregnant with AJ's baby. We were all good."
— On her non-soapy real-life wedding, Soap Opera Digest, 11/20/07

"The call was for sort of a Pamela Anderson-type, so when I got the part I was like, ‘What?' They needed me to be really busty, which I'm not normally, so they had two sets of those chicken cutlet things [to make you appear bigger] on each side, in a water bra, taped up. They pulled me off-set three different times to enlarge them more. When I got this job, I remember my dad sent me a couple of links to these Internet posts that said, ‘She's too breasty to be Belle!' I thought, ‘It's not real!'"
— On what she had to go through for her PASSIONS role, Digest, 1/25/05

"I will always be the recast. I'm filling very big shoes. I don't think that challenge is over. I think there are always going to be people who remember the first Belle and I think it will do me justice to remember that, as well. She was terrific."
— On taking over for Kirsten Storms (now Maxie, GH), Digest, 11/15/05

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