Katherine Evelyn Anita "Katie" Cassidy (born November 25, 1986) is an American actress who has performed in The CW TV series Melrose Place, Supernatural, and Gossip Girl, and is considered to be a modern-day Scream queen for her roles in When a Stranger Calls, Black Christmas, A Nightmare on Elm Street and the horror TV series, Harper's Island. Cassidy also starred in Taken, and has roles in the upcoming films Fencewalker and Monte Carlo.Cassidy was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actor David Cassidy and model Sherry Williams, who first met and dated in early 1970. Sherry and David separated but remained close friends. Cassidy's paternal grandparents were actors Jack Cassidy and Evelyn Ward. She grew up in Calabasas, California with her mother and stepfather, Richard Benedon, an ER physician. She has two older sisters, Jenna and Jamie. She also has a younger half brother Beau Cassidy. As a child, Cassidy took to tumbling, competing and eventually became a cheerleader for the California Flyers, a competitive team. She cheered as a freshman for Calabasas High School where she attended high school and graduated with honors in 2005.
While in elementary school, Cassidy became interested in show business and participated in several community theatre productions beginning at the age of 7, and as a teenager studied with an acting coach. She did some modeling which culminated in a campaign ad for Abercrombie and Fitch in 2004. Her mother would not allow her to act professionally until completing her high school education with college prep courses. In 2006, she appeared in supporting roles in films such as When a Stranger Calls and Click. Click opened at #1 at the box office with $40 million. She also starred as the protagonist, Kelli Presley, in Dimension Films remake of the 1974 film Black Christmas. The film was released throughout late December 2006 and grossed $21 million. In 2007, she appeared in supporting roles in films such as Walk the Talk, You Are Here (later renamed to Spin), and Live! in which she played Jewel Jensen an aspiring actress looking her big break in Hollywood. Also in 2007, she filmed numerous scenes in the film remake Revenge of the Nerds alongside Adam Brody and Jenna Dewan. Production was halted and the movie was eventually cancelled. In 2008 she appeared as Amanda in Taken and had a recurring regular role on The CW's Supernatural as Ruby.
In 2009, Cassidy appeared as Patricia 'Trish' Wellington in the CBS mini-series Harper's Island. It was also in this year that Cassidy signed on as a series regular on The CW's reboot Melrose Place of the 1990s drama series of the same name. She played Ella Simms, a publicist who works at Amanda Woodward's company. The media has drawn similarities from Cassidy's character and Heather Locklear's character, Amanda. Her role as Ella has drawn positive critical comment from the Los Angeles Times who wrote: "Cassidy is already being singled out as the show's deliciously devious one to watch" and has been cited as "the best thing about the Melrose reboot" by New York magazine. The series premiered September 8, 2009 and was cancelled after one season. Cassidy also joined the cast of the remake of the horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street. She played Kris Fowles, friend to lead character Nancy Holbrook (Rooney Mara) and victim of Freddy Krueger. Filming began in Chicago and was released April 30, 2010. Cassidy was nominated for a Teen Choice Award in the "Horror/Thriller Actress" category for her role which she lost to Megan Fox. Cassidy has been cast in the upcoming romantic comedy Monte Carlo which was filmed in in Monaco, Budapest and Paris. In June 2010, Cassidy landed a recurring role as the primary antagonist Juliet Sharp in the 4th season of Gossip Girl. Her character will be a student at Columbia and a love interest for Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford). Her first appearance was in the season 4 premiere and has appeared in 11 episodes to date. She is a spokesperson for the charity H.E.L.P Malawi. Cassidy previously dated Jesse McCartney and her Harper's Island co-star Matt Barr, and is now dating Los Angeles Kings player Jarret Stoll, which was confirmed in January 2010.
