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On May 24, 2011, Roma Downey and Mark Burnett announced they are producing a 10-Hour Docudrama for the History Channel Network based on stories from the Bible scheduled to air sometime 2013. [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/arts/television/reality-tv-producer-mark-burnett-tackles-the-bible.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=mark%20burnett&st=cse THE BIBLE] series is being produced for the HISTORY CHANNEL by [http://www.lightworkersmedia.com/ Lightworkers Media] and Hearst Entertainment & Syndication. Executive Producers are Mark Burnett, Roma Downey and Richard Bedser.
On May 24, 2011, Roma Downey and Mark Burnett announced they are producing a 10-Hour Docudrama for the History Channel Network based on stories from the Bible scheduled to air sometime 2013. [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/arts/television/reality-tv-producer-mark-burnett-tackles-the-bible.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=mark%20burnett&st=cse THE BIBLE] series is being produced for the HISTORY CHANNEL by [http://www.lightworkersmedia.com/ Lightworkers Media] and Hearst Entertainment & Syndication. Executive Producers are Mark Burnett, Roma Downey and Richard Bedser.


Downey is the executive producer of the animated video series, ''[[Little Angels]]'', which was released with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment in February 2012. <ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/story/2012-02-14/roma-downey-little-angels/53107304/1 USA Today Little Angels Story]</ref>
Downey is the executive producer of the animated video series, ''Little Angels'', which was released with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment in February 2012. <ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/story/2012-02-14/roma-downey-little-angels/53107304/1 USA Today Little Angels Story]</ref>


==Personal life==
==Personal life==

Revision as of 02:03, 18 February 2012

Roma Downey
File:Roma and her two Irish Wolfhounds..png
Roma Downey with her two Irish Wolfhounds
Born (1960-05-06) 6 May 1960 (age 64)
Occupation(s)Actress, producer, singer
Years active1988–present
Spouse(s)Mark Burnett (2007-present)
David Anspaugh (1995-1998)
Leland Orser (1987-1989) (divorced)

Roma Downey (born 6 May, 1960) is an actress, singer, and producer, from Derry, Northern Ireland. She is best known as Tess's (played by Della Reese) angel/employee, Monica, the main character of the TV series Touched by an Angel. She is also the wife of television producer, Mark Burnett.

Early life

Downey was born and raised in Derry. She attended grammar school at Thornhill College. Originally, Downey thought she would be a painter and earned a BA at Brighton College of Art, England. But she turned her attention to acting and had a classical training attending Drama Studio London, where she performed in the plays of Shakespeare, Shaw, and Chekhov.

Career

She joined the Abbey Players in Dublin, and toured the United States in a production of The Playboy of the Western World. The production led to a nomination during the Broadway run for the Helen Hayes Best Actress Award in 1991. Roma also starred on Broadway in "The Circle" with Sir Rex Harrison and also at the Roundabout theater and the Public Theater in NYC.

With her growing popularity, Downey gained the role of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis in the 1991 U.S. TV 6 hour mini series A Woman Named Jackie which went on to win the Emmy award that year.

Eventually, this led to her most famous role, as the angel "Monica", on the CBS hit Touched by an Angel, which ran from 1994 to 2003, also starring Della Reese. Touched by an Angel ran on the CBS network for almost ten years, playing to over 20 million people a week. For this role, she earned one nomination and one win at the TV Guide awards for favorite actress, and also garnered two Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations.

Downey also produced, and starred in, many TV movies, including Borrowed Hearts and Second Honeymoon. During the run of Touched By An Angel, she recorded the spoken-word album Healing Angel and wrote the children's book Love Is A Family. She hosted "It's a Miracle" on the Pax Network and most recently starred again on stage in "A Picasso" at the Geffen Theatre in LA. She has hosted SNL, was one of People magazine's most beautiful people and is a spokesperson for the volunteer group "Operation Smile". For her nine seasons on-air, she developed a chemistry with Reese, and the two struck up a friendship that continued in the aftermath of the show's cancellation.

She recently starred in the movie Come Dance at My Wedding alongside John Schneider.

On 18 April 2009, Downey and her husband Mark Burnett, delivered the keynote address and accepted an honorary doctorate of law at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management commencement ceremony.

Roma graduated from the University of Santa Monica with a master's degree in Spiritual Psychology.[1]

On July 16, 2011 Roma appeared with actress Marion Ross in the made for TV movie Keeping up with the Randalls, broadcast on the Hallmark Channel. [2]

On May 24, 2011, Roma Downey and Mark Burnett announced they are producing a 10-Hour Docudrama for the History Channel Network based on stories from the Bible scheduled to air sometime 2013. THE BIBLE series is being produced for the HISTORY CHANNEL by Lightworkers Media and Hearst Entertainment & Syndication. Executive Producers are Mark Burnett, Roma Downey and Richard Bedser.

Downey is the executive producer of the animated video series, Little Angels, which was released with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment in February 2012. [3]

Personal life

She is currently married to television producer/entrepreneur Mark Burnett. On Thanksgiving Day 2006, Burnett proposed to Downey during a family vacation in Zihuatanejo, Mexico.[4] They wed on 28 April 2007 in their Malibu home.[5] Her Touched By An Angel co-star, Della Reese, officiated at the wedding.

Roma is a "Smile Ambassador" for the non-profit organization named Operation Smile which provides surgeries for children around the world who were born with severe cleft lips and palates.[6]

She supported the candidacy of Martin McGuinness for President of Ireland in 2011. [7]

Music career

In 1999 Roma Downey signed with RCA Victor Records and recorded a CD called Healing Angel, released on September 14, 1999.

Discography

Year Album Details Peak Certifications
(sales threshold)
US New Age
1999 Healing Angel
  • Released: September 14, 1999
  • Label: RCA
5
  • US sales: 42,901

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1995 The Last Word Roxy
2004 Funky Monkey Megan
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1988 One Life to Live Lady Johanna Leighton TV series
1991 The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage TV movie
1991 Disney Presents The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage Danielle St. Clair 7 episodes
1991 A Woman Named Jackie Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis TV miniseries
1992 Getting Up and Going Home Kimberly Stevens TV movie
1992 Devlin Eileen TV movie
1993 New Year Suzanne Hartman TV movie
1994 Diagnosis: Murder Heather Winslow Episode: "Reunion with Murder"
1994 Hercules and the Amazon Women Hippolyta TV movie
1994-2003 Touched by an Angel Monica 212 episodes
1995 A Child Is Missing Samantha Hallihan TV movie
1996 Promised Land Monica Episode: "Homecoming"
1997 Borrowed Hearts Kathleen Russell TV movie
1998 Promised Land Monica Episode: "Vengeance Is Mine: Part 2"
1998 Monday After the Miracle Annie Sullivan TV movie
1999 A Secret Life Cassie Whitman TV movie
1999 The Test of Love Cassie Whitman TV movie
2001 Second Honeymoon Maggie Weston TV movie
2001 Sons of Mistletoe Helen Radke TV movie
2004 The Survivors Club Jillian Hayes TV movie
2004 The Division Reagan Gilancy 3 episodes
2008 At Jesus' Side Petra (voice) Video
2009 Come Dance at My Wedding Laura Williams TV movie
2011 Keeping Up With The Randalls Barb TV movie

Awards and nominations

Emmy Award

  • 1997: Nominated, "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series" — Touched By an Angel
  • 1998: Nominated, "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series" — Touched By an Angel

Gemini Award

  • 1998: Nominated, "Best TV Movie or Mini-Series" — Borrowed Hearts (shared w/co-stars)

Golden Globe Award

  • 1998: Nominated, "Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Drama" — Touched By an Angel
  • 1999: Nominated, "Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Drama" — Touched By an Angel

TV Guide Award

  • 1999: Won, "Favorite Actress in a Drama" — Touched By an Angel
  • 2000: Nominated, "Favorite Actress in a Drama" — Touched By an Angel

References

  1. ^ http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/article157217.ece
  2. ^ Hallmark website
  3. ^ USA Today Little Angels Story
  4. ^ Mark Burnett and Roma Downey Engaged - Mark Burnett, Roma Downey : People.com
  5. ^ Mark Burnett, Roma Downey Marry in Malibu - Weddings, Mark Burnett, Roma Downey : People.com
  6. ^ "Roma Downey". Operation Smile. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  7. ^ "Hollywood Stars line up to support McGuinness". candidancy. Retrieved January 12, 2012.

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