Julia Barr (born Julia Rose Buchheit on February 8, 1949 in Fort Wayne, Indiana) is an American actress. Barr is most famous for her role on the soap opera All My Children, playing the character of Brooke English. She played the role from 1976 to 1981 and from 1982 to December 20, 2006 and Barr made a special appearance as Brooke on January 5, 2010 as part of the series' 40th anniversary, and returned on February 23, 2010 for a three-month stint until April 23, 2010. Growing up as an only child in Fort Wayne, Barr made her acting debut at the age of 13 in a production of Peter Pan. This helped her decide to pursue acting as a career, and by the time she graduated from college at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, she had performed in 25 professional productions. She spent two years at the Studio Arena Theater in Buffalo, New York. Career Barr broke into soap operas with a short stint as bad girl Reenie Szabo on Ryan's Hope. She was invited to join the cast of All My Children as Brooke English, succeeding Elissa Leeds in the role. Her portrayal of Brooke garnered Barr eight Daytime Emmy Award nominations (1980, 1981, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998 and 2001), winning the award in 1990 and again in 1998 for 'Outstanding Supporting Actress'. Barr became close friends with noted actress Ruth Warrick, who portrayed her aunt Phoebe on the show until her death in 2005. Barr took a 15-month break from the show beginning in 1981, during which time she toured with Katharine Hepburn and Dorothy Loudon in the national touring company of West Side Waltz. She returned to the show in 1982. Despite fan outcry, Barr's airtime on AMC diminished in the early 2000s with her character Brooke only being used to further other characters story lines. In late 2006, executives at ABC did not renew Barr's contract, and offered her recurring status (without a guarantee of appearances). Barr declined. Fans of the show, and particularly Barr, were upset. Barr's contract officially expired in December 2006 and her last regular episode aired on December 20. The character was not given an exit and simply stopped appearing, which further fueled fan outrage. In 2007 Barr teamed up with All My Children co-star Jill Larson to produce and write a web series titled The Vindicated, which about three