Victoria Rowell

Although to daytime junkies she will forever be known as fiery fashion model Drucilla Winters, Rowell survived a difficult childhood to become a successful actress, activist and author. Raised in foster care practically since birth, she managed to thrive under difficult circumstances. She particularly excelled in ballet, winning scholarships to the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theater as a teen before going on to dance professionally. In the '80s, she segued to modeling, appearing on runways and in catalogs before launching her acting career with a recurring role on The Cosby Show. After a brief stint on As the World Turns, Rowell won her signature Y&R part and became an immediate fan favorite with her tempestuous romantic life and feisty attitude. Aside from a few brief hiatuses, Rowell stayed with the soap for 17 years, earning three Daytime Emmy nods and 11 NAACP Image Awards, while many of her own real-life experiences foster care, dancing, modeling were incorporated into her character's story lines. Somehow she managed to pursue outside projects, including an eight-season stint on the prime-time mystery Diagnosis Murder as a pathologist/medical examiner, and a handful of feature-film roles, including her winning turn as Eddie Murphy's politically minded love interest in The Distinguished Gentleman and a part in 2006's Home of the Brave, which introduced her to her rumored beau 50 Cent. As an author, Rowell penned an episode of Diagnosis Murder and a moving 2007 memoir The Women Who Raised Me about her foster-care experiences. Due to her upbringing, she founded the Rowell Foster Children's Positive Plan, an organization dedicated to providing arts and sports opportunities for children in the system.