All My Children fan favorite Sydney Penny gave birth to a healthy baby boy on Thursday, May 31st. This is the first child for Penny and her husband, producer Robert Powers. Weighing in at 7 pounds and measuring up to 19 inches, the baby has been given the name Chasen August.
Although the daytime soap decided not to write Penny’s pregnancy into the story, avid followers of the show did not miss the 35-year-old’s growing belly. There is, however, an upcoming episode wherein Penny’s character, Julia Santos Keefer, dreams that she is carrying the child of her lover, Jamie Martin, played by Justin Bruening. Julia has gotten pregnant in the past (she was raped by Louie Greco), but she decided to terminate the pregnancy, to the great disapproval of her devout Roman Catholic Mexican-American family.
Penny, a native of Chatsworth, California, first appeared in All My Children in 1993. She spent three years with the show as a regular, but only appeared as a guest star in 1997 and 2002. She was brought back as a main character in 2005.
Not a stranger to other popular drama series, Penny has also given life to characters on The Bold and the Beautiful (where she played Samantha Kelly from 2003-2005), Santa Barbara (where she played B.J Walker Lockridge from 1992-1993) and Sunset Beach (where she played Meg Cummings in 1999).
Her other acting credits include Hyperion Bay, The Thorn Birds, The New Gidget, TJ Hooker, Pale Rider and Bernadette: Her Vision Became a Legend. She also lent her voice to the Peanuts character Lucy Van Pelt in the 1981 animation It’s Magic, Charlie Brown.
Because Sydney is currently on maternity leave, Julia is expected to make a temporary absence in All My Children as well. According to soaps.com, the absence will be written as a visit to the extended Santos family, wherein Julia brings along her adopted daughter, Kathy. Julia’s last appearance will be on June 18th, but she is expected to return in the late summer or early fall.
-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Soaps.com
(Photo Courtesy of sydneypenny.net)
Staff Columnist, BuddyTV
