Rachel Ames

Rachel Ames
Ames, c. 1950
Born	Rachel Kay Foulger (1929-11-02) November 2, 1929 (age 94) Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Other names	Judith Ames
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1951–2007, 2009–2015
Spouses	Jack Genung ​ ​ (m. 1952, divorced)​ Barry Cahill ​ ​ (m. 1968; died 2012)​
Children	2
Parents	Byron Foulger (father) Dorothy Adams (mother)

Rachel Kay Foulger (born November 2, 1929), known professionally as Rachel Ames, is an American film and television actress.

The daughter of actors Byron Foulger and Dorothy Adams, she was raised in Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles, California. She attended University High School and the University of California, Los Angeles^[1][2] studying drama before signing an acting contract with Paramount Pictures, using the stage name Judith Ames. She made her film debut in the studio's science-fiction film When Worlds Collide (1951), followed by Ricochet Romance (1954).^[3]

She went on to have a prolific career in television, where she became best known for her role as

Ames was born Rachel Kay Foulger on November 2, 1929[2]^[5] in Portland, Oregon,^[5][6] the eldest child of actress (and later college drama instructor)^[7] Dorothy Adams and actor Byron Foulger. Her sister, Mary Amanda Foulger, was born on May 16, 1942. Through her father, she is of English descent, the fourth generation of English immigrants from Norfolk, who settled in the Salt Lake City area.^[6]

Ames spent her early life in Portland, but relocated to California so her parents could work, performing and teaching at the Pasadena Playhouse.^[8] She graduated from University High School and later enrolled at UCLA, where her mother was a professor in the university's drama department.^[9]

Career

Early work

Ames debuted professionally in 1949 in Pilgrimage Play, and she joined her parents in acting in One Foot in Heaven at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California.^[9] She transitioned into film under the stage name Judith Ames, and was under contract with Paramount Pictures for three years in the early 1950s; her first feature film was When Worlds Collide (1951), a science-fiction thriller based on the 1933 novel of the same name.^[9] The same year, she had appeared in "Toast to Our Brother", a short film documenting fraternity life at UCLA, where she was a student at the time.

She had an uncredited role in the film noir

On February 23, 1964, Ames debuted on

In 2007, Ames retired from General Hospital after 43 years. On October 1, 2009, she was announced to be reappearing as Audrey in mid-October after a two-year absence from the show.^[15] She reprised Audrey again in April 2013, to coincide with General Hospital's 50th anniversary and again on October 30, 2015.^[12]

Personal life

Ames married Jack Genung on January 31, 1952, in Los Angeles.^[16] Her second husband, Canadian-born actor Barry Cahill, and she had two daughters, Christine and Susan, and two grandchildren, Jocelyn and Marc (one source says that Susan was Ames's daughter by her first marriage).^[9] Cahill died in April 2012, after 42 years of marriage.^[17]

Filmography

Film

Television

Accolades

References

Works cited

• Rachel Ames at
  IMDb
• Rachel Ames at AllMovie
• Rachel Ames at the TCM Movie Database
• Rachel Ames at the Internet Archive