Birthday Spotlight: Maura West

Maura West was born on April 27 in Springfield, MA.

West’s birth name is Maura Jo Snyder; her mother’s maiden name is West.

The actress attended Boston University’s School of Fine Arts at the same time as GH co-star Cynthia Watros (Nina, r.).

West has won three Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress; two for her work on ATWT in 2007 and 2010, and another in 2015 as GH's Ava.

She is married to former ATWT co-star Scott DeFreitas (ex-Andy), who proposed to her at Yankee Stadium via the scoreboard in center field, and has five children: Ben, 26, Joseph, 23, Katherine, 21, Basil, 16, and Birdie, 13.