Lynne Marta, a film and TV actress known for her role in Footloose, passed away at the age of 78. Her friend Chris Saint-Hillaire confirmed that she died on January 11 at her home in Los Angeles after battling cancer.
Joan Sobel, another friend, shared the sad news on Facebook, remembering Lynne as a talented actress and beautiful singer. Lynne Marta was born on October 30, 1945, in New Jersey and started her career as a dancer on The Lloyd Thaxton Show.
She began acting in the late ’60s with appearances in shows like Gidget and The Monkees. Throughout her more than three-decade-long career, she had guest roles on various TV shows and appeared in films like Red Sky at Morning (1971) and Joe Kidd (1972).
In 1983, Marta had a season-long role on Days of Our Lives as Charlene Higgins. She returned to the series for brief appearances in 1993 and 2003. One of her notable roles was in the 1984 movie Footloose, where she starred alongside Kevin Bacon, Sarah Jessica Parker, and John Lithgow.
After Footloose, she had roles in movies like The First Power and Three Men and a Little Lady (1990). She also appeared on Law & Order in 1993 and took part in several made-for-TV movies in the ’90s. Her final onscreen credits included episodes of ER, Crossing Jordan, the movie Time of Fear (2002), and a 2004 episode of American Dreams.
Lynne, who was never married, was in an “open relationship” with Starsky and Hutch star David Soul during the show’s run in the 1970s. David Soul passed away at 80 on January 4.
Aside from her acting career, Lynne Marta made headlines in 1989 when she testified about the murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer by Robert John Bardo. She recalled hearing the shooting and calling 911, describing the unsettling smell of gunfire during the incident.
