Emmy Award-winning actress Julia Barr grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she caught the acting bug at age 13 and became a star in her hometown.  She was acting, singing and dancing in virtually every local production between the Fort Wayne Community Theatre, Civic Theatre, Wagon Wheel Playhouse and Enchanted Hills Playhouse.

She attended Purdue University, where she starred in such productions as Our Town, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Lover, The Killing of Sister George, and Endgame.  She soon shuffled off to Buffalo’s Studio Arena Theatre, where she earned her equity card starring in Scapino and in A Girl in My Soup with Van Johnson. Julia moved to New York City and the work never stopped.

In June 1976 she landed the role of All My Children’s Brooke English, where she stayed for 30 years playing one of Pine Valley’s most beloved characters. During that time, she took a break from the show to tour with Katharine Hepburn and Dorothy Loudon in the national company of West Side Waltz.

In 2010, by popular demand, Julia returned to the show for a three month run.

Her work on All My Children garnered Julia eight Emmy Award nominations (1980, 1981, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2001), and she won the trophy both in 1990 and 1998 for “Outstanding Supporting Actress.”  In 1990, she also took home a Soap Opera Digest Award for “Best Supporting Actress,” and she received another nomination from the magazine in 2002.

Among her other television credits are Gathering of One, The Adams Chronicles, and Ryan’s Hope. Her film credits include I, the Jury.  Off-Broadway credits include Kerouac and Leonard Melfi’s Butterfaces.  She also toured in Alan Ayckbourn's Absurd Person Singular. She returns to the stage in July 2010 in a production of Arsenic and Old Lace, in Ottawa, IL alongside her All My Children cast mate Walt Willey who is also producing the play.

Julia has been married to Dr. Richard Hirschlag since 1982.  Their daughter Allison is an actress and producer in NYC and has had several television roles including as “Lizzie Spaulding” on Guiding Light in 2002. The Barr/Hirschlag household also includes two adopted shelter cats and one shelter rescue dog.

Throughout her career, Julia has been dedicated to helping animals. In 2009 she did volunteer hands-on work and direct care for an animal rescue organization in New Jersey called Save The Animal Rescue Team II. Prior, she was a spokesperson for The Fund for Animals (2001 to 2005) until they merged with The Humane Society of the United States in 2005, where she also got involved. She continues to support all of these groups and spread the word on animal protection and welfare.

She also spent several years as an active volunteer for The Coalition For the Homeless’ “First Step” program in NYC, a job-readiness program for homeless women for which she was honored in 1996.

Julia is also a singer. In September 1996 sang the National Anthem at Yankee Stadium. In September 2002, she released her first music CD, a holiday collection of songs, From Our House … To Yours, on which her husband and daughter also sing. Julia and her husband produced the project for which all proceeds went directly to The Fund For Animals.