# Kellie Martin
**Kellie Martin** (Kellie Noelle Martin, born 1975 in [Riverside, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/riverside-california)) is an American actress best known for the television roles of Rebecca "Becca" Thatcher on the ABC family drama *Life Goes On* (1989–1993), medical student [Lucy Knight](https://www.edgepedia.org/lucy-knight) on *ER* (1998–2000), and a string of Hallmark mystery film series leads, most recently Hailey Dean in *Hailey Dean Mysteries* (2016–2019).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/bio/) She received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for *Life Goes On* in 1993.[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/kellie-martin)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1975, Riverside, California; full name Kellie Noelle Martin[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/bio/) |
| Breakthrough role | Rebecca "Becca" Thatcher on *Life Goes On* (ABC, 1989–1993), 83 episodes; Emmy nomination, 1993[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/bio/) • [2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/kellie-martin) |
| *ER* | Lucy Knight, a third-year medical student, for two seasons (1998–2000), 37 episodes[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/bio/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/) |
| Voice work | Daphne Blake in *A Pup Named Scooby-Doo* (1988–1991); Roxanne in *A Goofy Movie* (1995)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/bio/) |
| Hallmark career | 27 Hallmark Channel original movies from 2005 to 2019, 25 in lead roles; also *Mystery Woman* (11 films, 2003–2011)[4](https://www.hallmarkpedia.com/people/kellie-martin) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/bio/) |
| Education | Yale University, art history degree, 2001[5](https://www.mikehughes.tv/2022/10/22/after-a-long-break-tvs-busiest-actress-returns/) |
| Family | Married Keith Christian, a Yale classmate, on May 15, 1999; two daughters[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/bio/) • [5](https://www.mikehughes.tv/2022/10/22/after-a-long-break-tvs-busiest-actress-returns/) |
## Early start in acting
Martin began acting at age seven, when her aunt, who was working as nanny to the children of actor [Michael Landon](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-landon), arranged for her a guest spot on Landon's NBC series *Father Murphy* (1981–1983).[6](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/kellie-martin/) A small role on that show started her career, and steady work followed through her childhood, including the feature comedies *Jumpin' Jack Flash* (1986) and *[Troop Beverly Hills](https://www.edgepedia.org/troop-beverly-hills)* (1989).[6](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/kellie-martin/) Her first regular voice role was as Lolly in the short-lived animated series *Potato Head Kids* (1986–1987).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/bio/)
## Life Goes On and the Emmy nomination
The role that changed her career was the red-bespectacled, geeky Rebecca "Becca" Thatcher on *Life Goes On* (ABC, 1989–1993), a family drama that explored topics such as [Down syndrome](https://www.edgepedia.org/down-syndrome) and HIV/AIDS.[6](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/kellie-martin/) Martin was 13 when she was cast, and the part took her from child character actress to respected young talent.[6](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/kellie-martin/) In the final season, at 17, she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.[5](https://www.mikehughes.tv/2022/10/22/after-a-long-break-tvs-busiest-actress-returns/) Her awards for the role also include the 1991 Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress Starring in a Television Series and the 1992 Q Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series.[7](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/kellie-martin/bio/3030390484/)
During this period she also voiced [Daphne Blake](https://www.edgepedia.org/daphne-blake) on the animated *A Pup Named Scooby-Doo* (1988–1991).[6](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/kellie-martin/)
## Television movies, Christy, and ER
After *Life Goes On* ended in 1993, Martin starred in a string of made-for-TV movies, including *A Friend to Die For* (NBC, 1994) opposite [Tori Spelling](https://www.edgepedia.org/tori-spelling) and *The Face on the Milk Carton* (CBS, 1995), and continued working in the TV film format throughout her career.[6](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/kellie-martin/) She also played the title role, an early 1900s Appalachian schoolteacher, in the CBS drama *Christy* (1994–1995).[6](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/kellie-martin/)
In 1998 she joined the cast of *ER* as third-year medical student Lucy Knight, taking a break from her senior year studying art history at Yale to do so.[8](https://www.oocities.org/televisioncity/1102/ER/kellie.html) She played the role for two seasons, 1998 to 2000, and her character died a widely remembered on-screen death; Martin later said that being killed off was "actually such an honor."[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/bio/) • [9](https://workingwomanreport.com/kellie-martin-from-actress-to-author/) She announced her departure from the show to finish her studies at Yale.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/bio/) As part of the *ER* ensemble she won a 1999 [Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series](https://www.edgepedia.org/screen-actors-guild-award-for-outstanding-performance-by-an-ensemble-in-a-drama).[7](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/kellie-martin/bio/3030390484/)
## Yale and balancing career with study
Martin had wanted to attend Yale since hearing as a high school freshman that [Jodie Foster](https://www.edgepedia.org/jodie-foster) had gone there; after being accepted, she wrote to Foster, who replied that she had to do what was right for herself.[10](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1995/04/30/kellie-martin/7cda8fc8-9b1b-4811-a64e-2ac3dbd8d346/) She entered Yale in 1994 and studied art history, but the degree took years of interruptions: she left between her junior and senior year to do *ER*, then had to re-apply, and returned at 25 and married.[9](https://workingwomanreport.com/kellie-martin-from-actress-to-author/) Even in school she kept working; her mother once booked her for an entire four-week TV movie squeezed into a two-week spring break.[5](https://www.mikehughes.tv/2022/10/22/after-a-long-break-tvs-busiest-actress-returns/) She graduated with her art history degree in 2001 and has called finishing college one of the things of which she is most proud.[5](https://www.mikehughes.tv/2022/10/22/after-a-long-break-tvs-busiest-actress-returns/) • [9](https://workingwomanreport.com/kellie-martin-from-actress-to-author/)
## The Hallmark and mystery-movie years
From 2003 Martin played the protagonist Samantha Kinsey, a bookshop owner who solves mysteries, in the *Mystery Woman* film series; 11 television films were produced between 2003 and 2011, and she directed several installments.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/bio/) • [6](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/kellie-martin/) In 2012 she joined *Army Wives* as the recurring character Captain Nicole Galassini, an Army intelligence officer injured in an ambush whose relationship with her long-term partner was constrained by the "don't ask, don't tell" policy; she appeared in the show's sixth season but did not return for the seventh.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/bio/)
In 2016 she took the lead role of Hailey Dean, a retired prosecutor turned therapist who unofficially investigates crimes, in *Hailey Dean Mysteries*; nine films were released between 2016 and 2019.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/bio/) Across her Hallmark career she appeared in 27 [Hallmark Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/hallmark-channel) original movies, 25 of them in lead roles.[4](https://www.hallmarkpedia.com/people/kellie-martin) Her other guest roles in this period include *Mad Men*, *[Private Practice](https://www.edgepedia.org/private-practice-tv-series)*, *Grey's Anatomy*, *Drop Dead Diva*, and *Ghost Whisperer*.[11](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/229653/kellie-martin/)
## Hiatus, return, and current work
Martin stepped back from acting at the start of the pandemic, when her daughters were 13 and 4, saying they had never needed her more.[5](https://www.mikehughes.tv/2022/10/22/after-a-long-break-tvs-busiest-actress-returns/) She returned in 2022 with a small, serious role in the Lifetime film *An Amish Sin*, playing the mother of an Amish teenager, a part she took partly because the story was drawn from real accounts of Amish girls whose sexual abuse reports were discounted, and partly because the director, her former *Life Goes On* producer Michael Nankin, asked her to.[5](https://www.mikehughes.tv/2022/10/22/after-a-long-break-tvs-busiest-actress-returns/) • [12](https://www.johnsonproductiongroup.com/images/presskits/AnAmishSin-PRESS_KIT.pdf)
In November 2025 she posted selfies from a set with the caption "Mama's working," her first major on-screen project since the last *Hailey Dean* movie aired in 2019; her only screen credit in between was the 2022 TV movie.[13](https://parade.com/news/kellie-martin-hallmark-stunning-selfie-new-project) Her IMDb page lists an upcoming film, *The Weight of War*, a drama about a young soldier returning from war and dealing with PTSD, though it is not confirmed that her post came from that production.[13](https://parade.com/news/kellie-martin-hallmark-stunning-selfie-new-project)
## Health advocacy and other work
Martin's younger sister Heather died of lupus at age 19 in 1998, and Martin became a national spokesperson for lupus awareness.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/bio/) The Penguin Random House author page identifies her as national spokesperson for the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association and notes that [Reader's Digest](https://www.edgepedia.org/readers-digest) named her a national "Health Hero" in 2001.[11](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/229653/kellie-martin/) She is also the author of the novel *Madam: A Novel of New Orleans*, published by Plume, and has owned the online children's boutique ROMPstore.com.[7](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/kellie-martin/bio/3030390484/) • [11](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/229653/kellie-martin/)
## References
1. [Kellie Martin Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/bio/)
2. [Kellie Martin, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/kellie-martin)
3. [Kellie Martin (I), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005192/)
4. [Kellie Martin, HallmarkPedia](https://www.hallmarkpedia.com/people/kellie-martin)
5. [After a long break, TV's busiest actress returns, Mike Hughes on TV (2022)](https://www.mikehughes.tv/2022/10/22/after-a-long-break-tvs-busiest-actress-returns/)
6. [Kellie Martin, Actress, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/kellie-martin/)
7. [Kellie Martin Biography, Celebrity Facts and Awards, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/kellie-martin/bio/3030390484/)
8. [Deb's ER Page, Kellie Martin](https://www.oocities.org/televisioncity/1102/ER/kellie.html)
9. [Kellie Martin: From Actress To Author, Working Woman Report (2014)](https://workingwomanreport.com/kellie-martin-from-actress-to-author/)
10. [KELLIE MARTIN: Life Goes On at Yale, The Washington Post (1995)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1995/04/30/kellie-martin/7cda8fc8-9b1b-4811-a64e-2ac3dbd8d346/)
11. [Kellie Martin, Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/229653/kellie-martin/)
12. [An Amish Sin Press Kit, Johnson Production Group](https://www.johnsonproductiongroup.com/images/presskits/AnAmishSin-PRESS_KIT.pdf)
13. [Hallmark Fave 'Stunning' in Selfie From First Major Project in 6 Years, Parade (2025)](https://parade.com/news/kellie-martin-hallmark-stunning-selfie-new-project)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames M to Ma*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license