The O.C.

Background:

“I had no idea until we'd been shooting for a while, and there was an event on the beach which we went to, and I got out of the car and there were 1,200 people screaming, and I thought, 'Oh, I guess people are watching this program.” Kelly Rowan about the success of “The O.C.”

A Canadian import who has enjoyed success in America, TV and movie actress and former fashion model Kelly Rowan is most famous for playing Kirsten Cohen on the well-liked Fox drama series “The O.C.” (2003-present), from which she won a 2006 Prism Award and shared two Teen Choice nominations with costar Peter Gallagher, who portrays her on-screen husband, Sandy. She took home a Gemini Award after playing Eliza Terrio in the the Canadian TV film “Adrift” (1994). Relocating to Los Angeles in 1990, the prolific performer has since worked in a variety of roles on both film and television. Her movie credits include Steven Spielberg's hit, “Hook” (1991), the Sylvester Stallone vehicle “Assassins” (1995), “One Eight Seven” (1997), “Three to Tango” (1999), “Proximity” (2001), “Mount Pleasant” (2006) and more recently, “Jack and Jill vs. the World” (2007). On the small screen, in addition to her award-winning roles in “The O.C.” and “Adrift,” Rowan, who made her TV series debut in the Canadian series “Mount Royal” during the 1980s, has appeared in countless TV films, including “Exclusive” (1992), “A Match Made in Heaven” (1997), “When He Didn't Come Home” (1998), “Anya's Bell” (1999), “The Truth About Jane” (2000), “Eight Days to Live” (2006, also an executive producer) and “In God's Country” (2007, also executive produced), as well as guested in many TV series like “Dallas,” “The Outer Limits,” “Da Vinci's Inquest” and “Boomtown.”

Outside the spotlight, Rowan has volunteered as an actress with the Young Storytellers Program. On June 20, 2007, she engaged to Canadian billionaire and media mogul David Thomson. The couple planned to marry before the end of 2007. Rowan is 5' 7” tall and changes her hair style every two months.

Capital City Girl

Childhood and Family:

Kelly Rowan was born on October 26, 1965, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She grew up in Toronto and attended Northern Secondary School. After graduation, she studied English Literature at the University of Western Ontario, but left before she could attain her degree to pursue a career in acting. Kelly later studied acting at London's British American Drama Academy, and upon returning to North America, she moved to New York to hone her craft at the celebrated Neighborhood Playhouse.

Kelly currently is a resident of Los Angeles, California.

Adrift

Career:

Ontario-born, Toronto-raised Kelly Rowan started modeling in college to gain some extra money, and got her first taste of acting while working in commercials. Her acting career took flight in the mid 1980s. When she was 20, Rowan decided to leave college in order to join the cast of the Canadian series ““Mount Royal,” starring Patrick Bauchau, Domini Blythe, Guylaine St-Onge and Jonathan Crombie. Although she has stated that it was a hard decision to depart her education, Rowan found the chance to film the production in Paris, France too attractive. She went on to appear in the movies “The Gate” (1987), a horror which starred Stephen Dorff, and “The Long Road Home” (1989), costarring with Denis Forest, such TV films as “The Kidnapping of Baby John Doe” (1987) as well as the soap opera “Another World” (1988), as Suzie Strathmo, before heading to Los Angeles to more professionally pursue her career in 1990.

After moving to Hollywood, Rowan landed a part in an episode of the acclaimed sitcom “Growing Pains” (1990) and a recurring role in the popular drama series “Dallas” (1991), playing Dana. Also in 1991, the young actress netted her first major role in the Steven Spielberg-directed “Hook,” playing the mother of Peter Pan. Among her costars in the blockbuster film were Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, Julia Roberts and Bob Hoskins. She followed that up with supporting parts in two TV films, the Patty Duke TV film vehicle “Gave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive” (1992) and “Exclusive” (1992), a thriller starring Suzanne Somers as the illustrious TV journalist Marcy Singer.

In the following year, Rowan returned to Canada to costar with Kate Jackson, Kenneth Welsh and Bruce Greenwood in the Canadian television film “Adrift” (1994), directed by Christian Duguay. As Eliza Terrio, one of shipwrecked couple, she was handed a Gemini for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series.

The natural blond-haired beauty resumed her movie career in 1995 when she was cast as Annie Tarrant in Bill Condon's “Candyman II: Farewell to the Flesh,” along side Tony Todd, and appeared as Julianne Moore's neighbor, Jennifer, in Richard Donner's “Assassins,” starring Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas. She next starred with Tim Roth in the 25-minute short “Mocking the Cosmos” (1996). During that same period, Rowan also starred as Mattie Shaw on the Canadian series “Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years,” the spin off from “Lonesome Dove: The Series” which ran from 1995 to 1996.

For the rest of the 1990s, Rowan continued to alternate between television and film work. On the small screen, she acted in such TV films as “Rag and Bone” (1997, with Dean Cain and Robert Patrick), “A Match Made in Heaven” (1997, opposite Olympia Dukakis and John Stamos), the Canadian flop “Loving Evangeline” (1998, costarred with Nick Mancuso), the affecting based-on-true-story “When He Didn't Come Home” (1998, as the daughter of Rosemary Dunsmore and Barry Flatman), “Late Last Night” (1999) and the award-winning “Anya's Bell” (1999, as Jeanne Rhymes), and guested in series like “The Burning Zone” (1997), “The Outer Limits” (1998) and “Da Vinci's Inquest” (1998). On the silver screen, she supported Samuel L. Jackson and John Heard in “One Eight Seven” (1997), playing a tough teacher named Ellen Henry, and appeared with Matthew Perry, Neve Campbell, Dylan McDermott and Oliver Platt in the comedy/romance “Three to Tango” (1999).

Entering the new millennium, Rowan starred opposite Stockard Channing and Ellen Muth in the drama made-for-TV film “The Truth About Jane,” appeared in the Canadian ward-winning telepic “Scorn” (both 2000) and was featured as Claire in the Showtime miniseries “A Girl Thing” (2001), which revolves around a New York city street, a coffee house and a shrinks office. After costarring with Rob Lowe in the thriller film “Proximity” (2001), she took on the recurring role of Marian McNorris, the cuckolded wife of detective David McNorris (played by Neal McDonough), on the critically acclaimed “Boomtown” (2002-2003).

After leaving the series, Rowan scored a huge breakthrough when she won the regular role of Kirsten Cohen on the hit Fox series “The O.C” (2003-present), opposite Peter Gallagher, Tate Donovan, Adam Brody, Benjamin McKenzie, and Melinda Clarke. Playing the recovering alcoholic mother of Seth (played by Adam Brody) and wife of Sandy (played by Gallagher), she picked up a Prism in 2006 for Performance in a Drama Series Episode. With Gallagher, she jointly received Teen Choice nominations for Choice TV Parental Units in 2005 and 2006.

Despite her hectic series TV schedule, Rowan still found time pursuing other projects. In 2006, she made her debut as an executive producer with the TV film “Eight Days to Live,” in which Rowan also starred as a mother whose son was missing after his car sheers off the road and falls down a steep hill. The same year, she also portrayed Anne Burrows on the independent film “Mount Pleasant,” a Canadian drama written and helmed by Ross Weber. She again lent her producing talent for the telepics “In God's Country,” also starring as Judith Leavitt, and “She Drives Me Crazy” (both 2007). Also in 2007, she costarred with Freddie Prinze Jr., Taryn Manning and Vanessa Parise on the comedy movie “Jack and Jill vs. the World.”

Awards:

• Prism: Performance in a Drama Series Episode, “The O.C.,” 2006

• Gemini: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series, “Adrift,” 1994