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Melissa Hayden (actress)

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This article is about the American actress. For other people, see Melissa Hayden (disambiguation).
Melissa Hayden
Born (1967-11-13) November 13, 1967 (age 56)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1981-present
Websiteiammelissahayden.com

Melissa Hayden (born November 13, 1967)[1][2] is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Bridget Reardon on Guiding Light from 1991 to 1997, returning for the final episodes in 2009. She won a 1994 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress for her work on Guiding Light.

Early life

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Hayden was born in Santa Monica, California. Her father was a car salesman and her mother worked part time in a pharmacy. She was enrolled in dance classes at the age of three.[2] Hayden was ill from the ages of twelve to sixteen with an undetected ovarian cyst that left her paraplegic for a month. The cyst was finally detected when her appendix was removed. Hayden's mother also suffered from chronic illness.[1]

Career

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Hayden was thirteen when she landed an uncredited role as a tap dancer in Pennies From Heaven.[2] This was followed by another uncredited role as an orphan in Annie.[1] Hayden appeared in the TV Movies Silence of the Heart and Not My Kid.[3] In 1988, she had an uncredited role in the film Punchline.[4] She guest-starred on TV 101 and had a recurring role on Almost Grown.[4] In addition to film and TV work, she was a member of the California-based song and dance troupe The Young Americans.

Hayden had a recurring role as Mouse on General Hospital in 1989.[1][2] She guest starred on a 1991 episode of Hunter.[4]

Hayden joined the cast of the CBS soap opera Guiding Light as troubled teen Bridget Reardon.[4][2] She received critical acclaim and appeared in memorable storylines from May 21, 1991, until her departure on June 18, 1997. She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in 1993 and won in the same category in 1994.[5][6] She also won a Soap Opera Digest Award in 1994.[7] In 2009, she reprised the role of Bridget for the show's final episodes.[8][9]

She appeared in the 2001 film Venomous.[3] Since 2003, she has occasionally appeared as Agnes on The Young and the Restless.[10] She has had roles in the films American Sniper and Silver Skies.[3]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1981 Pennies From Heaven Dancer Uncredited
1982 Annie Orphan Uncredited
1988 Punchline Uncredited
2001 Venomous Katy
2013 Nowhere Fast Eva Trope
2014 American Sniper Receptionist
2016 Silver Skies Lisa
2017 Unfortunate Circumstances 911 Operator Short film,

Voice only

2018 American Nightmares Leanne
2019 When Day Gets Dark Lizzy's Mother
2021 Not Alone Dr. Loizzo

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1984 Silence of the Heart Rachel Television film
1985 Not My Kid Michelle Television film
1988 TV 101 Girl #1 Episode: "Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Teenagers (But Were Afraid to Ask)"
1988-1989 Almost Grown Lisa Foley 6 episodes
1989 General Hospital Mouse Recurring role
1991 Hunter Meg Harris Episode: "Cries of Silence"
1991-1997;2009 Guiding Light Bridget Reardon Contract role;

Guest appearances

2003;2011;2016 The Young and the Restless Agnes Recurring role
2012 Hollywood Heights Julie Dixon 2 episodes
2013 Perception Ashley Richards Episode: "Caleidoscope"
2014 Rake Beatrice Episode: "50 Shades of Gay"

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Title Result Ref.
1993 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series Guiding Light Nominated [5]
1994 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series Guiding Light Won [6]
Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Younger Leading Actress Guiding Light Won [7]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Henderson, Kathy (April 28, 1992). "When Life Gives Her Lemons...". Soap Opera Digest. 17 (9): 124–126.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Emmy Winner Hayden Made Right Move After All". Chicago Tribune. June 2, 1994. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Credits: Melissa Hayden". TV Guide. Archived from the original on May 20, 2024. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d "Comings & Goings". Soap Opera Digest. 16 (12): 39. June 11, 1991.
  5. ^ a b "Daytime Emmy Nominees". Greensboro News & Record. March 31, 1993. Archived from the original on May 20, 2024. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Oprah Wins a Pair of Daytime Emmys". Deseret News. May 26, 1994. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "1994". Soap Opera Digest. April 14, 2003. Archived from the original on April 28, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  8. ^ http://soaps.sheknows.com/guidinglight/news/id/4915/ Archived 2015-01-27 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  9. ^ ""GL" brings back Hayden and Englund for shows final weeks!". Michael Fairman TV. July 22, 2009. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  10. ^ Eades, Chris (December 29, 2015). "GL Emmy Winner Joins Y&R!". Soaps in Depth. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
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