Rachel Ames

Rachel Ames (born Rachel Kay Foulger; November 2, 1929) is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Audrey March Hardy on the ABC soap opera General Hospital (1964 to 2007, returning for appearances in 2009, 2013, and 2015). Ames's role is the longest-running in the series' history, spanning over 50 years and earning her three Daytime Emmy Award nominations. She received the Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. Ames also played the role of Audrey on Port Charles, a spin off of General Hospital, from 1997 to 1998.

Early life
Ames was born Rachel Kay Foulger in Portland, Oregon. She is the daughter of actress (and later college drama instructor) Dorothy Adams and actor Byron Foulger. She has one younger sister, born in 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.

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

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. 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. 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 The Turning Point (1952), followed by a minor part in the Western Arrowhead (1953) with Charlton Heston. The following year, she had a supporting role in the Western comedy Ricochet Romance (1954). In her only regular role on primetime television, Ames played Policewoman Sandy McAllister on The Lineup in that program's final season during 1959. Ames also had dozens of other guest-starring appearances in television, on series such as The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, The Virginian, Ironside, Wagon Train, Trackdown, Ben Casey, Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and six different appearances on Science Fiction Theater. In "The Jodie Tyler Story" episode of the series Whispering Smith, she played the title role, billed as Rachel Foulger. Her mother, Dorothy Adams, was in the same episode, though they had no scenes together. She appeared in a lead role in the 1960 Western Gunfighters of Abilene, opposite Buster Crabbe and Barton MacLane.

General Hospital
On February 23, 1964, Ames debuted on ABC's daytime serial, General Hospital, playing Audrey Hardy, R.N. Her tenure in the part is the longest-running role in the network's history, spanning five decades. Her contract was not renewed for General Hospital in 2003, but she still appeared as a recurring character from 2003 until 2007, and made a brief appearance in 2009. On February 13, 2013, Genie Francis (Laura Spencer) announced on Katie that Ames would be returning to the show on March 29, 2013. She reprised the role again for one episode on October 30, 2015.

Ames has been nominated three times for a Daytime Emmy Award as Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama for her role on General Hospital. In 2004, Ames was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 31st Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. In 1997, she appeared as Audrey Hardy on ABC's special two-hour primetime preview of new daytime series Port Charles, a spin-off of General Hospital. Ames had a recurring role as Audrey on Port Charles from 1997 to 1998.

Later career
In 2007, Ames retired from General Hospital after 43 years. On October 1, 2009, it was announced that she would be reappearing as Audrey in mid-October after a two-year absence from the show. She reprised the role of Audrey again in April 2013, to coincide with General Hospital's 50th anniversary. She also made a guest appearance on October 30, 2015.

Personal life
Ames married Jack Genung on January 31, 1952, in Los Angeles. They had one daughter. She married her second husband, Canadian-born actor Barry Cahill, and they had a daughter and two grandchildren. Cahill died in April 2012. They had been married for 42 years.