Beth Ehlers
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Beth Ehlers (born 1968 in Queens, New York) is an American soap opera actress.
[edit] Personal Life
Born in Queens, Ehlers eventually moved closer to Manhattan and attended Satellite Academy, a performing arts school, as a child. Ehlers briefly attended Syracuse University before focusing on her acting career.
In 1991, Ehlers married Dr. William Parsons. Ehlers became involved with Mark Derwin, her co-star on Guiding Light shortly after marrying Parsons and they later divorced in 1992.
On March 22, 1996 she married Matthew Christian, who is a sports video editor. Beth and Matthew have two sons, Henry Jack Christian, who was born on May 21, 1999 and Will, born July 16, 2001. They currently reside in New York.
[edit] Career
Ehlers grew up in New York City and begin appearing in television commercials at the age of nine. As a child actress, her first role was in the television movie "Family Reunion" starring Bette Davis. She was cast in several other TV movies, including "In Defense of Kids" and "Mystery at Fire Island". Her big screen debut was in the movie "The Hunger" with David Bowie. She was also featured in the feature film "Hiding Out" and the TV series "The Best Times", which was in the vein of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High".
To date, Ehlers' role of note has been her portrayal of Harley Cooper on Guiding Light, a role she originally played from 1987 to 1993. The character of Harley was a bad girl with a heart of gold - the character was introduced giving birth to her illegitimate daughter in the back seat of a car - and Ehlers' portrayal won her praise and many fans, eventually making the character of Harley a linchpin character.
Ehlers left the show in 1993, along with co-star Mark Derwin, to relocate to California. After her relationship with Derwin ended, Ehlers worked as a production assistant on commercials and music videos. She was featured in the 60th anniversary show for Guiding Light in January 1997. Fan response was so overwhelmingly positive that the producers asked Ehlers to return as a contract player. Ehlers has been with the show since. In her time on "GL", she has been nominated four times for a Daytime Emmy (for Outstanding Younger Actress, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and most recently, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series). She is the only daytime actress to ever be nominated in all 3 categories.
In 2005, fans voted Ehlers and co-star, Ricky Paull Goldin, as their characters Harley and Gus, the top couple in "The Most Irresistible Combination" contest (which was partially sponsored by Procter & Gamble, the company that produces Guiding Light).
In 2006, Ehlers became part of a collaboration between the show and Marvel Comics when her character was tagged to appear on a special fantasy episode of the show as a superheroine, named "The Guiding Light" after the show itself. [1]
On January 25th, 2007, in an episode celebrating the 70th anniversary of Guiding Light, the current cast portrayed actors and behind-the-scenes personnel from the early years of the series (both in radio and television). Ehlers had a central role in the episode with her portrayal of Irna Phillips. Phillips was the creator of Guiding Light and many other soap operas; she was often credited with creating the soap opera genre.
