Born October 16, 1975 in Riverside, California, Kellie Noelle Martin is an American television actress known for her roles as Rebecca Thacher on Life Goes On, Christy Huddleston on Christy, Lucky Knight on ER, and Samantha Kinsey on Mystery Woman.
Kellie is the daughter of Debbie, a kindergarten teacher, and Doug Martin, a department store buyer and retail executive. Martin loved to perform for her close-knit family. She began her acting career at age seven when, when her aunt Rhonda Jett (mother of Kyle Jett), a nanny for actor Michael Landon’s children, helped Martin land a guest spot on the Landon produced series Father Murphy. Martin graduated from Yale University in 2001 with a degree in art history. She was a member of Saybrook College.
Later appearing in Landon’s Highway to Heaven in 1986, Martin would also make her film debut that same year in the Whoopie Goldberg comedy Jumpin’ Jack Flash. Continuing with appearances in television (Secret Witness [1988]) and features (Doin’ Time on Planet Earth [1988]), Martin also began voice work for such animated series as A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and that of Molly Tasmanian Devil on Taz-Mania. In 1989, Martin took the role of Becca Thatcher on Life Goes On, which tan on ABC (1989-1993), and soon gained recognition as a talented young dramatic actress.
Martin then had frequent appearances in television after Life Goes On and she continued to provide voice work in animation while appearing in the made-for-television adaptation of Catherine Marshall’s-Christy and the short-lived series of the same name that followed the same year. Making a brief appearance on Crisis Center in 1997 prepared Martin for her successful turn as an ill-fated medical student in ER the next year. Though a successful year in terms of her career, Martin was also faced with the devastating, untimely death of her closest friend and sister to Lupus, a tragedy that found the actress on a devoted mission to raise public awareness of the ravaging disease. The new millennium found Martin departing from ER in order to finish her studies at Yale and appearing in her first starring feature role with the heartwarming drama-comedy All You Need (2001)
In 2003, Martin starred on Mystery Woman, a Hallmark Channel movie about the owner of a mystery bookshop who solves actual crimes. It proved a popular vehicle for Martin; since 2005 she has gone on to make ten more Mystery Woman movies for Hallmark, two of which she directed. Also in 2003, Martin had a supporting role on the comedic film Malibu’s Most Wanted. In 2006, Martin starred in the Lifetime movie Live Once, Die Twice, followed by No Brother of Mine in 2007. Also in 2007, Martin provided the voice for the adult-version of Barbara Gordon on “Artifacts”, an episode of The Batman. In 2009 Martin was a guest on Grey’s Anatomy, episode “No Good at Saying Sorry.” She also guest starred in the Ghost Whisperer episode “Stage Fright” as Cally O’Keefe. More recently, she has guest starred on the Private Practice episode “The Way We Were”.
Kelly Martin married Keith Christian on May 15, 1999 in his hometown of Polson, Montana. The couple had their first child, a daughter named Margaret “Maggie” Heather Christian, on November 4, 2006. She is named after Martin’s sister Heather, who died of Lupus Erythematosus at age 19.
Kellie Martin Photo Gallery
