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December 2006
Hello Everyone, I want to wish you and your family a very happy holiday and a wonderful, healthy and peaceful New Year. I hope 2007 brings you much joy and happiness! I also want to express to you my very heartfelt appreciation to the many people who have written me letters and emails, who have blogged and posted messages online, and who have called and contacted ABC, All My Children and the soap opera magazines about my departure from the show. I feel very blessed to have such a large group of devoted fans cheering me on as I say goodbye to a very important chapter in my career – and my life. To spend 30 years doing one job that you love is something I don’t take lightly. I am grateful to have had such a wonderful experience and to have had the opportunity to connect with so many viewers and fans over the years. A very special thank you to a group of fans who call themselves "The Barr Association" who came together to celebrate the character Brooke, and who ended up becoming very dear to me on so many levels. Thank you guys for everything. As for All My Children, my last show aired in November (Simone’s funeral). I had assumed that I would have a final scene regarding my character’s departure – certainly with Tad or Jamie, or even a last jab at Erica. I think the fans would have liked the chance to say goodbye to Brooke and to have had some closure with the character many have known for 30 years. I know it is what I would have wanted. However, it was not the decision that was made for whatever reason. So, I bid a fond farewell to you now. My time with All My Children was well spent... and, I am very happy to have spent it with all of you. I will keep you all on my mailing list and will contact you in the future to let you know what I am doing and to touch base with everyone. Thanks again for all of your devotion and correspondences!! Happy holidays and best wishes. Fondly, JULIA BARR October, 2006 Hello! Thank you for visiting juliarosebarr.com and your support for All My Children, as well as my work with The Fund For Animals, which is now a part of The Humane Society of the United States (www.hsus.org). Please let us know if you want to be taken off this list by hitting reply on this email and writing "unsubscribe" in the subject line. We’ve officially started the new animal shelter fundraising program involving my cat/dog note cards. So, if you have - or know someone who has - a registered 501C3 status animal shelter (which denotes non-profit status), please let them know that I am offering the note cards for a discounted rate to enable local shelters to sell them for their own profit/fundraising purposes. Any shelter who gets involved receives autographed photos/scripts and has the option of being listed on my website as well. For more info visit juliarosebarr.com and click on "shelters" or "note cards." Thanks. If you are interested, I also wanted to tell you about my interview/feature in the November issue of Cat Fancy magazine, with a related article/interview with my husband Richie on their official website at: http://www.catchannel.com/Magazines/CatFancy/toc_article/toc0611_Purrs_Richard_Hirschlag.aspx). Many of you have been asking me what television shows I’ve been watching this season - with all of the new programs that have premiered the past few weeks. My favorites lately are Project Runway and Scrubs. I also really like Weeds on Showtime, which stars one of my favorite actresses, Mary-Louise Parker. We will be updating the Q & A section of my website in the coming weeks, so please go to my guestbook at juliarosebarr.com and submit a question that you’d like me to answer and put up on the site. Stay tuned and thanks for your continued support. All my best, JULIA September 2006 Greetings friends, Thank you for visiting juliarosebarr.com and your support for All My Children, as well as my work with The Fund For Animals, which is now a part of The Humane Society of the United States (www.hsus.org). Please let us know if you want to be taken off this list by hitting reply on this email and writing "unsubscribe" in the subject line. I can’t believe the summer is gone. And here at our house, it went out with a bang. A big storm a few weeks ago knocked down our 60 foot willow tree and it JUST missed our house by a few inches. We also lost power for a few days. We were extremely lucky. I know so many others are not so lucky and still face the challenges of past hurricane seasons and storms. Our little scare is nothing like what millions of people go through each year - and still go through in the recovery of Katrina. In other news, I am in the midst of adding a new fundraising program for animal shelters involving my note cards. We are updating the information on my website as I write this, and making the cards available for shelters to raise money locally. If you have - or know someone who has - a registered 501C3 status animal shelter (which denotes non-profit status), please pass along the info. Any shelter who gets involved has the option of being listed on my website as well. Unfortunately we cannot offer this to those who are not officially/legally a 501C3 charity. This "program" is my way of answering the shelters who have written me asking for my personal help in their community. I hope this helps stop the overpopulation crisis in shelters and promote mandatory spaying/neutering. For more info visit juliarosebarr.com and click on "shelters" or "note cards." I don’t have any news for you on the All My Children front. I know so many of you are continually frustrated by my lack of air time and story line. I also am aware of the fan outrage about all of the new characters on the show, when there are plenty of Pine Valley residents underused with no story whatsoever. I ask that you guys all hang in there. These things do have a way of being cyclical and we all hope that things turn around and the fans are happier with the show in the future. Stay tuned and thanks for your continued support. All my best, JULIA July / August 2006 Happy Summer….. Thank you for visiting juliarosebarr.com and your support for All My Children, as well as my work with The Fund For Animals, which is now a part of The Humane Society of the United States (www.hsus.org). Please let us know if you want to be taken off this list by hitting reply on this email and writing "unsubscribe" in the subject line. We just returned from our big European vacation - me, Richie and Allison. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our daughter’s college graduation and for the three of us to spend time together. What a great trip. We went to Prague, Budapest, Amsterdam, Vienna and Salzburg. Five amazing cities, each with rich history and beauty, and so much to see… and eat! I added a bunch of vacation photos to the photo scrapbook on my website. I hope you enjoy them. In animal news, I wanted to share something with you that I think is quite important. There are always interesting things going on with The Humane Society of The United States and the work that they do. But right now, I particularly wanted to bring to your attention the efforts being made in the Gulf Coast area in regard to spaying and neutering (which many of you know is an issue I have been involved with for many years). Here is the link to learn more: http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/big_fix_rig_spay_neuter_gulf_coast.html
Also their disaster preparedness information is critical and I urge you to go to this link to learn more, including what should go into an emergency supply kit for your cat or dog. http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/emergency_responders_conference_2006.html On the All My Children front, some of you have been writing to ask how I feel about my good friend Jill (Opal) being taken off of her contract on the show. Well, of course I am very sad to hear the news and I believe the show is making a mistake by not signing a deal with an amazing talent like Jill. But I know - as most actors do - that such business moves are not always about talent or popularity. The powers-that-be have other agendas to take care of and as actors we must respect that, even if we don’t agree! There are so many new characters constantly coming on our show that I mostly feel badly for our viewers who want to see the "veterans." Have a great month…. Stay cool…. And, I’ll write again in September…. All my best, JULIA June 2006 Happy Summer….. Thank you for visiting juliarosebarr.com and your support for All My Children, as well as my work with The Fund For Animals, which is now a part of The Humane Society of the United States (www.hsus.org). Please let us know if you want to be taken off this list by hitting reply on this email and writing "unsubscribe" in the subject line. Thank you again for all of your emails about my 30th anniversary on All My Children. So many of you remember the day I started on the show! After all of this time, it still is very cool for me to hear how many people have watched AMC since its premiere, and how loyal the soap audience truly is. Thank you for your years of devotion. Well, this month is a very exciting and emotional one for me for another reason…. My daughter is graduating from college. Truly shocking how fast the time has gone and that my little girl is finished with school. Words can honestly not describe how proud we are of her. Any parent knows this feeling….it is so deeply emotional and happy. Later this month we will head to Europe for a family vacation to celebrate the milestone and get some quality time together as a family. Some of you have asked if I will be attending this year’s All My Children NYC fan club event in August. Unfortunately we will be out of town that weekend and can’t change our plans. If the event is anything like all of those I’ve attended in the past, I know I will be missing a great time. I hope some of you will be there to support the show. Have a great month…. Stay cool…. My best, May 2006 Happy Spring! Thank you for visiting juliarosebarr.com and your support for All My Children, as well as my work with The Fund For Animals, which is now a part of The Humane Society of the United States (www.hsus.org). Please let us know if you want to be taken off this list by hitting reply on this email and writing "unsubscribe" in the subject line. Many of you wanted me to add new personal pictures to the photo scrapbook section of my website. We just put up a few from my recent trip to San Diego, as well as some other personal ones I thought you’d enjoy. Thank you for your emails and letters about my 30th anniversary on All My Children. Yes - 30 years. I started on the show in June of 1976. It has been a wild and wonderful ride, and I still enjoy going to work, even after all this time. I am not sure how many people can say that about their job, so I do feel very lucky. I also wanted to respond to your questions about what books I’ve been reading lately and what my favorite television programs are. As for books, I just finished a new one called "The Men I Didn’t Marry" (by Lynn Schnurnberger and Janice Kaplan, who also wrote "The Botox Diaries" and "Mine are Spectacular"). It was a good read that I found to be hilarious and touching at the same time. I think every woman can relate to this book on some level! On the other end of the spectrum, I also recently read "Stones from the River," an intense and dramatic novel by Ursula Hegi that I really liked. My favorite television shows right now are both on HBO - "The Sopranos" and "Big Love." Great acting and fabulous writing. On the animal front, "puppy mills" have been receiving more and more media attention and I would like to spread the word about this serious issue. The Humane Society of the United States has a website http://www.stoppuppymills.org which further explains the particulars and is certainly worth a look. It is heartbreaking and I warn you, not very easy to read. But puppy mills are a very real problem and it helps for animal lovers to be informed. Till next month….. April 2006 Hello! As always, thank you for visiting juliarosebarr.com and for your support about The Fund for Animals (www.fund.org) and All My Children. (Please let us know if you want to be taken off this list by hitting reply on this email and writing "unsubscribe" in the subject line.) Happy spring and happy Easter and Passover to you and your families. Our multi-cultural, mixed-faith household celebrates both holidays. We look forward to the traditions -- and the food - with friends and family. Chocolate, of course, being my favorite part of the celebrations! Speaking of family, we have an exciting milestone this month: my father-in-law is turning 90 years old! We are having a party for him and are so looking forward to celebrating such a wonderful event. He is an amazing man - totally vibrant and active. He and my mother-in-law are still together, happy and healthy (knock-on-wood), and he even continues to do volunteer work every week. My husband Richie comes from great genes! I know we are very lucky. We had a lovely little get-away trip to the west coast a few weeks ago. Richie had a business conference in southern CA and I joined him out there for a few days. We ventured to the San Diego zoo and had lots of fun on a VIP tour of the facility, where I fed a 4000 pound Rhino named Graham, and met many beautiful giraffes, camels and pandas. I have a few new photos on my website you may want to check out. On All My Children, it has been great to have Cady ("Dixie") back on the show! I have recently taped some shows involving the storyline with Dixie’s return and the effect it has had on JR, Adam and the rest of the family. And as you’ve already seen on air, Amanda has moved in with Brooke. It was fun to see your emails this month where many of you noted that you want me to see about replacing Meredith Viera on The View! The studio where they tape that talk show is, after all, just across the hall from All My Children’s studio. The rumors are flying about who will take over the job when she leaves to replace Katie Couric on the TODAY Show. I’ve heard everything from Patricia Heaton to Connie Chung. Who knows ?! Thanks as always for your support and interest. Keep those emails coming ! Till next month….. March 2006 Hello! As always, thank you for visiting juliarosebarr.com and for your support about The Fund for Animals (www.fund.org) and All My Children. (Please let us know if you want to be taken off this list by hitting reply on this email and writing "unsubscribe" in the subject line.) I wanted to use this month’s newsletter as an opportunity to answer some of the recent questions you’ve been emailing to me. I am unable to answer you personally so I thought that this was the next best thing! Here are the most frequently asked questions from the past couple of months: Your daughter Allison is graduating from college soon. Does she want to be an actress ? What are her plans? Allison is finishing up her studies as a theater major at college and hopes to be involved in the business on some level. She has an interest in performing but is also a wonderful director as well. I just want her to do what makes her happy and I know she will follow her passion. Your character on AMC remains on the backburner and your contract is up at the end of this year. What is your hope for 2006? I want to act! I would love a solid storyline on All My Children and it doesn’t seem to be in the cards for me right now. I have a positive outlook. Who knows what will or can happen. I’ve been on this roller coaster before! Who do you want Brooke paired with on the show? I enjoy playing scenes with any of the leading men in Brooke’s life - Tad and Adam being my favorite. Of course it is great to play scenes with Brooke’s son Jamie. History and family is critical to this show. Love your hair color. What is it and how can I get it ?! It is such a compliment to hear that and I do get that question quite a bit. If it was a simple answer I’d share it with you. But the secret truly is a mix of many shades that only my hair colorist knows for sure - and she is not telling anyone! What did you think of the Academy Awards show last week ? I love watching the Oscars because my husband and I go to lots of movies and it is always interesting to see if I agree with the winners. It is also of course such fun to see what everyone is wearing! I was most excited to see Reese Witherspoon and Phillip Seymour Hoffman win this year. Their performances were outstanding. I loved Amy Adams and Reese’s gowns. Just beautiful. What movies have you seen lately ? What book have you recently read ? We just saw the films Munich and Eight Below. And, over the past few months I read two good books: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Middlesex. Thanks as always for your support and interest. Keep those emails coming ! Till next month….. February 3, 2006 Hi everyone, I just wanted to tell you about something very important that All My Children is doing this month. During the weeks of February 6 and 13, viewers of our show can actually participate in what is going on IN Pine Valley at the "Mardi Gras Ball," when you can contribute to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. This fund helps the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year with food, shelter, counseling and more. Please call or visit www.redcross.org for more information. The information will also be given out on screen during the show. It will be a VERY interesting, exciting, and unprecedented two weeks in Pine Valley, at ABC television, and for viewers at home. I hope you tune in! My best, January 2006 Newsletter Happy New Year ! As always, thank you for visiting https://juliarosebarr.com and for your support and comments about The Fund For Animals ( http://www.fund.org ) and All My Children. (Please let us know I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and that 2006 is off to a great start for you and yours. My holidays were lovely this year, celebrating at home with our family and close friends. My daughter Allison was home for her holiday break (she is a senior at college) and that always makes me very happy! We ate way too many holiday goodies, but had a lot of fun. Just before the holidays I had a busy taping schedule at "All My Children" with group scenes involving a big umbrella story that includes my character Brooke and several others. It was great to work with people I haven't had a chance to see in a while including Jill Larson (Opal), Ray MacDonnell (Joe), and Michael E. Knight (Tad). Many of you have asked how I feel about Cady McClain's return to the show, and of course I am thrilled. We have known each other for many years and I am very fond of her. Some of you have written recently to ask how I have been staying in shape Well, it is truly as hard for me as I believe it is for most people. I am not one of the lucky people who are naturally in great shape and can eat anything they want. I really do enjoy food - particularly sweets -- and I do NOT enjoy exercise! But the reality is that I have to watch what I eat and I do make sure to exercise often. I try to keep the exercise interesting and have changed my routine on occasion. For several months I was very into Pilates and now I've just started taking Yoga classes. I also still do have the help of a trainer who pushes me along with weights and aerobic activity. It is hard - particularly at this time of year after indulging over the holidays. On the animal front, I wanted to remind you as we are now in the midst of extreme cold weather in most parts of the country, please remember to keep your animal companions safe, warm and dry. Don't leave dogs outdoors when the temperature drops. Most dogs, and all cats, are safer indoors, except when taken out for exercise. Year round, shorthaired, very young, or old dogs and all cats should never be left outside without supervision. Pets who spend time outdoors need more food in the winter because keeping warm depletes energy. Check your dog and cat's water bowls to be sure that the water is fresh and unfrozen. Use plastic bowls rather than metal because when the temperature drops, your pet's tongue can stick and freeze to metal. For more tips on protecting your animals in the cold, I'd like to suggest that you take a look at www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/protect_your_pet_from_winters_woes.html. Till next month... |