Jennifer Morrison

As the sympathetic and conflicted immunologist Dr. Allison Cameron on the hit TV medical drama, “House, M.D.” (Fox, 2004- ), Jennifer Morrison brought a touch of humanity – not to mention pulchritude – to the grave and occasionally morbid series. Up until that time, it was perhaps the most successful and widely-seen role in her film and television career, but the Midwestern-born actress has sought and landed diverse and interesting roles since she made her film debut in 1995.

Born Aug. 19, 1979 in Chicago, IL, Morrison was raised in nearby Arlington Heights, attending the same school (Prospect High) where her father also taught and served as band director. During her adolescent and teen years, Morrison worked frequently as a print model in local and national campaigns, including the cover of Sports Illustrated for Kids . She went on to study theater at Loyola University – where the whiz kid graduated in just three years – and trained at the prestigious Steppenwolf Theatre Company before pursuing an acting career in earnest.

Audiences first glimpsed her talents when the 15-year-old Morrison appeared in the 1994 film “Intersection” as the daughter of leads Richard Gere and Sharon Stone. Her expressive face was put to excellent use in the underrated thriller “Stir of Echoes” (1999), in which she played a missing young girl who haunts Kevin Bacon in a string of psychic visions. Her first lead came only a year later in “Urban Legends: Final Cut” (2000), the glum semi-sequel to “Urban Legends” (1998). As a student filmmaker investigating a string of serial murders, like many young, attractive actresses, Morrison acquitted herself well to the stalk-and-slash genre.

For the next few years, Morrison changed gears, working steadily in television and independent film; among her more notable turns was a string of appearances as Joshua Jackson’s girlfriend on “Dawson’s Creek” (WB, 1998-2003) in 2001. She also endeared herself to teenage boys everywhere as an attractive girl with flawless skating chops in the inane teen comedy “Grind,” (2003). The following year, Morrison turned up as herself on her friend Ashlee Simpson’s reality series, “The Ashlee Simpson Show,” (MTV, 2004) before finally graduating to mature parts in major features – first, as the stuffy girlfriend of wayward businessman Ben Affleck in the misbegotten comedy, “Surviving Christmas” (2004); followed more successfully as one of Angelina Jolie’s efficient henchwomen in the notorious thriller, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” (2005). That same year, she unknowingly signed on to a quirky medical drama, which would thrust her fully into the public eye, changing her life.

Like all of the characters on “House,” Dr. Cameron had an underlying current of sadness running below her professional demeanor. Over the course of the first season, she revealed that she married while in college, but lost her spouse to cancer. This loss would leave her with an exceptional knack for empathy towards others, but a great deal of confusion and longing in regard to her own heart. She pursued House (Hugh Laurie) to no avail during the first season, then bedded fellow doctor Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer) after plunging into depression over possible exposure to HIV-tainted blood. She also frequently butted heads with House over his approach to patients and doctoring in general, being one of the few on staff at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital who would stand up to him. By the third season, Dr. Cameron appeared to have gotten a more solid grasp on her emotions House was still able to get his way in regard to her by playing the “love card.”

Off screen, Morrison was romantically linked to "House" co-star Spencer since their show's inception, but was reluctant to discuss the relationship in the press, especially when tabloid paparazzi began staking out the couple while at lunch or running errands. Obviously not spending enough time together on set or at home, the pair also appeared together in an independent feature, “Flourish” (2006), which Morrison co-produced and starred in as a troubled young woman in a psychiatric ward who recounts the disappearance of a girl she was baby-sitting. The busy actress was also featured in the cast of “Big Stan” (2007), a comedy which marked comedian Rob Schneider’s directorial debut.