Danneel Ackles (née Elta Danneel Graul; March 18, 1979), credited professionally before 2012 as Danneel Harris, is an American actress and model. She played the role of Shannon McBain on the American daytime soap opera One Life to Live and Rachel Gatina on the WB/CW television drama series One Tree Hill.
Elta Danneel Graul was born in Lafayette, Louisiana and raised in nearby Eunice, a small town in St. Landry Parish. Her father Edward E. Graul Jr. is a practicing ophthalmologist and her mother Deborah Graul works as an interior designer. She was named after her great-grandmother. Her first name is Elta, but she goes by her middle name, Danneel, professionally. The name "Danneel" was inspired by Danneel Street in New Orleans.[citation needed] She moved to Los Angeles to pursue a modeling career.
Before she landed her first acting role, Harris worked as a model with such companies as Big Sexy Hair and Juicy Jeans. She first appeared in a television commercial. In 2003, Harris landed her first role on the American Broadcasting Company Soap Opera television series One Life to Live as Shannon McBain, a student attending the fictional Llanview University. Harris relocated to New York for the role, and left the series in December 2004. Harris has since gone on to appear in shows such as JAG, Charmed, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, What I Like About You, NCIS, and Joey. Harris's first film role was in the short film The Plight of Clownana.[citation needed]

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