Victoria Rowell
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Victoria Rowell (born May 10, 1960 in Portland, Maine) is an African American actress.
Rowell was a foster child for the first eighteen years of her life. By the time she reached adulthood, she received scholarships to many of the country's top schools for ballet and modern dance. In the 1980s, she became a well-known model. She started taking acting lessons on the side while modeling, and she earned guest-starring roles on television shows like The Cosby Show.
In 1990, she founded 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, as this is the road Rowell took.
Also in 1990, she was cast as street urchin-turned-fashion model Drucilla Barber on the long-running soap opera The Young and the Restless. This role proved to be lucrative for Rowell, as she was nominated for two Daytime Emmy awards (1996 and 1997). She also won ten NAACP Image Awards for her portrayal of Drucilla (see NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series for the years in which she won). She played the role until 1998, and returned briefly in 2000. She is now currently playing the role, having returned to the show again in 2002.
In addition to playing roles in movies such as Dumb & Dumber, Barb Wire, and Eve's Bayou, Rowell also played the role of Dr. Amanda Bentley on the mystery series Diagnosis: Murder, all while she was still on The Young and the Restless.
In 2003, Rowell 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.
External links
- Rowell Foster Children Positive Plan (http://www.rowellfosterchildren.org/index.html)