Jessica Bowman
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Jessica Lucretia Bowman (born May 26, 1977 in Fort Hood, Texas) is an American actress. She began acting at local community theater and soon started appearing in commercials. Her career took off after numerous guest appearances most notibly in The Road Home on CBS. Nevertheless, in January 1995 she auditioned for the role that would bring her into the mainstream and gain her a popular following.
She was selected to replace Erika Flores in CBS's hit drama Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman in 1995 cast in the role of Colleen Cooper. This resulted in a lot of controversy among fans of the show who were at odds over Bowman's portryal of the character as well as her lack of resemblance to the original Colleen. Nonetheless, many were delighted at the change and she developed a large following. Today she is considered the superior version of the character, although debates between fans still continue. For her work on Dr Quinn, Jessica Bowman won the Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Drama Series at the Young Artists Awards in 1996 and was also nominated in 1997 and 1998. She also won the Michael Landon Award in 1996. She was also nominated and won the Hollywood Reporter Young Star Award in 1997. After the show ended in 1998, she attend University of Louisville majoring in Psychology. She starred in the Lifetime made for television movie entitled Someone to Love Me in which she played a victim of rape and tragedy. It was her most difficult role to date and her performance gained her critical acclaim. She also starred in several TV shows and movies including Remote and Joy Ride. She has made several guest appearances in NYPD Blue, Baywatch and Boy Meets World. In 2001 she returned to the role of Colleen in the second Dr. Quinn movie entitled Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within. She currently resides in Kentucky.
