Roma Downey, Irish-American actress and producer
Roma Burnett (née Downey) is an actress, producer, and author from Derry, Northern Ireland. She produced the mini-series The Bible for the History Channel and also starred in it as Mary, mother of Jesus. For nine seasons she played Monica, a tender-hearted angel supervised by Tess (played by Della Reese), on the CBS television series Touched by an Angel, for which she earned multiple Emmy and Golden Globe Best Actress nominations. She has performed on stage with the Abbey Theatre and has appeared both on and off Broadway. She played the leading role of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the miniseries A Woman Named Jackie for NBC.
Downey starred in and was executive producer for a number of hit television movies for the CBS network. Downey is an ambassador for Operation Smile. On 11 August 2016 Downey was honored for her work as an actress and producer with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In her acceptance speech, she dedicated her star to the people of Derry and anyone who ever "walked Hollywood Boulevard with a dream in their hearts." In 2021, Downey received the Lifetime Achievement Award for the International Christian Film & Music Festival. In 2021, Downey received the Lifetime Achievement Award for the International Christian Film & Music Festival and was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to the Arts, Drama and to the Community in Northern Ireland.As President of Lightworkers Media, the family and faith division of MGM, Downey and her husband, Mark Burnett, produced the Emmy-nominated miniseries The Bible for History channel, which was watched by over 100 million people in the United States. Downey and Burnett also executive-produced the feature films Ben-Hur starring Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell and Morgan Freeman, Son of God (2014), Little Boy, Woodlawn, Resurrection, Messiah and Country Ever After which aired in 2021. Variety recognized Downey and Burnett as "Trailblazers" and listed Downey as one of Variety's "100 Most Powerful Women in Hollywood". The Hollywood Reporter included the couple in their "Most Influential People of 2013" and Downey as one of the "100 Women in Entertainment Power" in 2014. She was honored on Variety's "Women of Impact in 2014". Downey and Burnett also produced The Dovekeepers based on the best selling book by Alice Hoffman for CBS and A.D. The Bible Continues for NBC, Women of the Bible for Lifetime, Answered Prayers for TLC. Downey is the executive producer of the documentary "Faithkeepers" about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, and of the short film Rough which won the IFTA for best short film in 2021.