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Rachel Bilson Biography

Rachel Sarah Bilson (born August 25, 1981)[1] is an American actress. After growing up in a California show business family, she made her television debut in 2003 and subsequently became well-known for playing Summer Roberts on the prime time drama series The O.C. Bilson made her film debut in the 2006 film The Last Kiss, appeared as Lou on the NBC show Chuck, and starred in the 2008 action/sci-fi Jumper.

Bilson was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Janice (née Stango), a sex therapist, and Danny Bilson, a writer, director, and producer.[2] Rachel Bilson's father is Jewish and her mother is a Philadelphia-born Italian American.[3][4] Bilson's father comes from a show business family; her great-grandfather, George Bilson, was the head of the trailer department at RKO Pictures, while her Brooklyn-born great-grandmother, Hattie Bilson, was a screenwriter and her grandfather, Bruce Bilson, is a film director.[5] Bilson's parents divorced during her childhood, and in 1997, her father remarried Heather Medway, an actress and the mother of Bilson's half-sister Hattie (born December 19, 2001).

Bilson has been noted as having a "self-destructive, rebellious period" during her teen years.[6] When she was 13, she and a group of her brother's friends were involved in a car accident, a head-on collision with another car.[7] As a result, Bilson was unconscious for a few days, had a scar above her right eye, and sometimes suffers from migraines and memory loss;[8] she has stated that the experience "changed" her,[7] encouraging her to "stop... getting into trouble"[5] and stopping her from "going down that road".

Bilson graduated from Walter Reed Middle School in 1996 and from Notre Dame High School in 1999. During her time at Notre Dame, she appeared in productions of Bye Bye Birdie, Once Upon a Mattress and The Crucible, and appeared on stage together with Katharine McPhee, who attended the same school and would later be a finalist on American Idol.

Bilson began dating her The O.C. co-star Adam Brody in 2003. In 2004, it was reported the two were engaged. In 2005, Brody gave Bilson a pit bull, Penny Lane, as a birthday present. The couple later adopted another dog, Thurmen Murmen. In late 2006, Bilson and Brody ended their relationship.

Bilson has been recognized by several media sources as being a "fashion junkie". She has described herself as having a "vintage" sense of style, and noted Kate Moss and Diane Keaton as inspirations.[31] Her clothes often have a "boho" feel to them. Bilson enjoys watching television game shows, especially Jeopardy!,[5] and has stated that if she were not acting, she would be a pre-school teacher. Her favorite designers are Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs and Chanel. Bilson has turned down requests to appear seminude in men's magazines, specifying that she feels that her body "is sacred" and "not there for the whole world to see".[ However, she has been featured in a pictorial in the men's magazines Stuff and GQ ] and has posed for mildly salacious photographs wearing colourful underwear. She currently resides in Los Angeles.

Source: Wikipedia