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Born in Ottawa in 1965, Canadian fashion model-turned-actress Kelly Rowan attended Toronto's Northern Secondary School and the University of Western Ontario, and moved into film roles during her collegiate years -- initially with bit parts in locally produced features such as the period drama The Long Road Home (1989) and Tibor Takacs' horror outing The Gate (1987). Meanwhile, Rowan did print modeling on the side to support herself. She relocated to Southern California shortly thereafter and took her Hollywood bow with guest spots on prime-time television series including Dallas and Growing Pains, and a feature debut with a small role as Peter's mother in Steven Spielberg's fantasy adventure Hook (1991). Numerous additional assignments followed, in both telemovies (Adrift, 1993) and theatrically released features (Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh, 1995) though it was only via her multi-season portrayal of Kirsten Cohen on the prime-time soaper The O.C. (2003) that she truly began to shine. In 2007, Rowan scored prominent billing opposite Freddie Prinze Jr. and Taryn Manning in Vanessa Parise's romantic comedy Jack and Jill vs. the World.