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| Birth Name(s) : Victoria Rowell |
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Full Victoria Rowell Biography
Victoria Rowell (born May 10, 1959) is an award-winning American dancer and actress. She is known for two high profile television roles: the role of Drucilla Winters, on the daytime drama The Young & The Restless, and her primetime role as Dick Van Dyke's medical examiner, assistant and pathologist, Dr. Amanda Bentley, on Diagnosis: Murder.
Rowell was born in Portland, Maine. Her biological mother, Dorothy Rowell, was Caucasian and a Mayflower descendant. Her father was African-American. Rowell knew very little about her father. Dorothy, who suffered from schizophrenia, took a taxi to a hospital to give birth to Rowell, leaving a son and two small daughters unsupervised. When she was 16 days old, Rowell, along with her two sisters, Sheree and Lori, was surrendered to child services.
While living in Maine with foster mother Agatha Armstead, Rowell, then eight, began ballet lessons. She received a Ford Foundation scholarship to study at the Cambridge school of ballet. At 17, Rowell received scholarships to the School of American Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre and the Dance Theatre of Harlem. She also became a member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, which is primarily composed of African-American women. After dancing with the American Ballet Theatre II and the Juilliard School of Music Dance Extension program with Anthony Tudor, Rowell accepted guest artist teaching posts in New England.
Rowell also played Dr. Amanda Bentley on the CBS series Diagnosis: Murder, opposite Dick Van Dyke, prior to replacing Cynthia Gibb. For much of Rowell's stint on Diagnosis: Murder, she was working on that show and on The Young and the Restless simultaneously. (One episode of Diagnosis Murder centered around murder on the set of The Young and the Restless; Rowell was featured as both Amanda and Drucilla in that episode.)
Rowell's departure from Y&R in April 2007 generated some media coverage and controversy. Rowell expressed her anger about backstage politics at the show, and in particular, how those events impacted her and prevented her from being nominated for a Daytime Emmy. Rowell also indicated that she felt the African-American presence on the show was fading. Rowell told TVGuide.com, "Even iron bends". Sony Pictures Television, which produces Y&R, ordered Lynn Marie Latham to kill off Drucilla Barber Winters to prevent the character - and actress - from migrating to CBS Daytime sister show The Bold and the Beautiful, as other departing actresses such as Eileen Davidson had done. Rowell herself said a few months prior to her exit (and before it was revealed that her character would be killed) that she quit Y&R because she had asked to be allowed to write for the show and was turned down. She had previously written for Diagnosis Murder.
Rowell was hired as a guest star to appear on Noah's Arc, a TV series about four gay black men living in Los Angeles. She appeared in Season Two as "Vonda," who is having an affair with a woman while married to her husband.
Rowell has also made appearances in several feature films, including The Distinguished Gentleman, Dumb & Dumber, Barb Wire, Eve's Bayou and Home of the Brave (in 2007).
Rowell's first marriage was to Tom Fahey in 1989. They had a daughter, Maya, and divorced the following year. Rowell had a long-term relationship with musician Wynton Marsalis, and the couple had a son, Jasper (Jasper played Rowell's son CJ in Diagnosis: Murder).
In 1990, Rowell founded the "Rowell Foster Children Positive Plan", which gives emotional support and financial aid to foster children, especially to those who aspire to become actors and dancers - the road Rowell took. In 2003, she was a special guest on the talk show Dr. Phil, in which she gave an emancipated foster child a job, medical and dental care, and a scholarship from her foundation.
In May 2006, Rowell was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the University of Southern Maine in recognition of her work for the benefit of foster children. In 2007, Rowell published a memoir of her life that focused on her time in foster care. Entitled The Women Who Raised Me, Rowell discusses all of the foster mothers who cared for her and for her sisters. She also pays tribute to the women in a documentary film, The Mentor, that she participated in. Rowell says that she began writing the book when Y&R turned down her offer to write for the show. She began a national book tour in April 2007. |
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