Jada Rowland

Jada Rowland (b. 1943) is an actress and artist who appeared on Sesame Street in the first season as Jennie, a role which utilized her drawing skills. She began her acting career as a child of the theater, appearing in the King & Coits children's theater plays starting in 1946, and in 1949, she made her Broadway debut at the age of six, as the child version of Anichu in That Lady. She also played juvenile roles on old-time radio soap operas like The Second Mrs. Burton and Road of Life.

Rowland continued her association with soap opera in television, playing Amy Ames on The Secret Storm off and on for the entire run of the series, from 1954 until 1974. It was a rare example of a soap opera allowing character and performer to age in "real time," from pre-teen to adult. She later served stints on As the World Turns, The Hamptons, and The Doctors, and was a frequent lead on the radio revival series The CBS Radio Mystery Theater (which also featured such varied players as Russell Horton and Zero Mostel). In 1983, she retired from acting, focusing instead on writing and art. Her watercolors have been featured in many New York-region galleries, and she has written and/or illustrated 13 books to date, including artwork for the 1995 early reading book The Statue of Liberty.