Days of our Lives

Kelly Rutherford Facts: Celebrities Who Started on Soaps

Published by

Shado Saeyang

5 years ago

Kelly Rutherford is a film and television actress who is best known for playing Lily van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl, as well as Megan Lewis on Melrose Place. Recently, she’s been appearing on the Dynasty reboot. She also got her start on soaps.

Along with her TV career, Rutherford has also appeared in movies such as I Love Trouble and Scream 3. From where she was born and raised to her inspiring charity work, here are five fast facts about the actress.

Who Is Kelly Rutherford?

Rutherford was born on November 6 in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, but grew up mostly in California. While there, she attended Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach. She went to New York to study acting at HB Studio and at the Beverly Hills Playhouse in California.

Soap Beginnings
The actress started her career on an episode of Loving before she was cast as Sam Whitmore on Generations. She was on the soap for two years before she left to work on other projects.

On-Screen and Off-Screen
Rutherford was cast as Lily van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl in 2007 and was on the show until it wrapped in 2012. Her character fell in love — and was married to for a period of time — Dan Humphrey’s father, Rufus Humphrey, played by Matthew Settle. Life imitated art as Rutherford and Settle also dated.

For The Girls

Along with her acting career, Rutherford is also involved with a number of charities and organizations that work to support females around the world. She is involved with Step Up, an organization that helps girls in under-resourced communities, as well as Girls Inc and UN Women for Peace.

Getting Personal With Kelly Rutherford
Rutherford married banker Carlos Tarajano in June of 2001, but the couple called it quits just six months later. She married Daniel Giersch in August of 2006. They welcomed their first child, son Hermés, in October of that year, and while she was pregnant with their second child in 2008, Rutherford filed for divorce. She welcomed their daughter, Helena, in June of 2009.