Rachel Sarah Bilson was born August 25th, 1981. Rachel grew up in a California show business family, and made her television debut in 2003, subsequently becoming well-known for playing Summer Roberts on the prime time drama series The O.C. Rachel made her film debut in the 2006 film The Last Kiss and starred in the 2008 action/sci-fi film Jumper.

Bilson was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of Janice, a sex therapist, and Danny Bilson, a writer/director/producer. Bilson’s father is Jewish and her mother, a native of Philadelphia, is Italian American. Bilson’s father comes from a show business family; her great-grandfather, George Bilson, (born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK) was the head of the trailer department at RKO Pictures, her Brooklyn-born great-grandmother, Hattie Bilson, was a screenwriter, and her grandfather, Bruce Bilson, is a film director. Bilson’s parents divorced during her childhood, and in 1997, her father remarried Heather Medway, an actress and the mother of Bilson’s half-sisters Hattie and Rosemary.

Bilson attended Grossmont College in a suburb of San Diego, but dropped out after one year, taking her father’s advice to pursue a professional acting career and making several appearances in commercials, including advertisements for Subway restaurants, Raisin Bran and Pepto-Bismol. She made her screen acting debut in early 2003, appearing in episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. Bilson was subsequently cast in The O.C., which debuted in August 2003. Her character, Summer Roberts, was initially intended to appear in only a few episodes, but became a series regular after a successful run, as Bilson’s on-screen romance with Seth Cohen (Adam Brody) became a noted aspect of the series.

Bilson’s first film role was in The Last Kiss, a romantic comedy-drama also starring Zach Braff. In the film, which opened in 2006, she plays a college student who seduces Braff’s character. In late 2006, Bilson was cast in the role of Millie in Doug Liman’s thriller Jumper, as the replacement for actress Teresa Palmer; the film was released on February 14, 2008. She also appeared in a two-episode arc on The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz’s NBC comedy, Chuck, and in the film New York, I Love You, and appeared in the 100th episode of How I Met Your Mother (“Girls Versus Suits”) as Ted Mosby’s latest love interest. In September 2008, she started shooting the indie romantic film Waiting For Forever, directed by James Keach. In September 2009, Rachel appeared as a celebrity guest judge in the third episode of Project Runway (season 6). In that same episode, she described her height as 5’2.

Site Stats:

Full Name: Rachel Sarah Bilson

Nickname: Rach

Birthday: August 25th, 1981

Height: 5’1″ – 5’3″

Birthplace: Los Angeles, California

Eye Color: Brown

Favorite Designers: Stella McCartney and Coco Chanel.

Favorite Actors: Kate Winslet, Johnny Depp, Audrey Hepburn, and Woody Allen.

Dated: Adam Brody (2003-2006), Hayden Christensen (Engaged, 2007-present).

Siblings: Hattie, and RoseMary Bilson (stepsisters) Also has an older brother, name unknown.

Pets: (dogs) Thurmen Murmen, and Penny Lane (shared with Adam Brody).

Go Back