Delaney, an Irish American, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Joan and Jack Delaney. Delaney's mother was a homemaker and her father a union official and former head of the United Auto Workers. She grew up in Roxborough and has four brothers: Ed, John, Keith, and Patrick. While she was attending John W. Hallahan Catholic High School for Girls, (as part of the class of 1976) Read more...

Delaney first became a Star for her stint as innocent teenager Jenny Gardner Nelson on the soap opera All My Children, a character she portrayed from August 1981 to August 1984. Her leading man was "Greg Nelson," played by Laurence Lau. After her marriage to "Greg," and at the height of her popularity (indeed, her Q rating in 1984, a ratio of an actor's likeability and recognizability, was the highest Read more...

Delaney has been married twice, to actor Charles Grant from 1984 to 1988, and to actor Joseph Cortese from 1989 to 1994. She gave birth to son Jack Philip Cortese in 1990. She was engaged to producer Alan Barnette from 1997-2006, but Delaney is currently single.

In 2002, Delaney was arrested for suspicion of drunk driving after she refused to take a breathalyzer test. She subsequently pleaded Read more...