Moira Kelly as Karen Roe
Karen Roe on
One Tree Hill is played by Moira Kelly. When she was just 18 years old, Karen became pregnant with Dan Scott's child. However, Dan left her for college, where he met Deborah Lee. He was about to return to Karen when Deb confronted him and told him that she was pregnant with his child. Forced to make a choice, he stayed with Deb, who seemed more financially stable than Karen.
After giving birth to Lucas, Karen single-handedly raised her son, with occasional help from Keith, Dan's kind and humble brother. As a high school student, Lucas was convinced by his mother to play basketball, a sport he discovered he was good at. Karen also grew closer to Keith, who seemed to be always there for her. She later was able to gain confidence and let go of her past, and move on with her life. She pursued her dream of going to Italy to take cooking lessons, and right before she left, she kissed Keith, indicating a budding relationship. This was broken, however, upon her return, when she found Lucas on the brink of death after getting hit by a car driven by a drunk Keith. Keith, who felt terribly sorry for what he did, continued to pursue Karen, proposing to her. However, she declined. Keith then decided to go away for a while, and Lucas expressed his desire to leave town, too. Karen then reluctantly let her son go with Keith, signaling her giving Keith a second chance to prove him worthy of her trust.
In season 2, Dan created trouble for Karen, as she started dating a 21-year-old business teacher, Andy Hargrove. Dan had Andy fired, and manipulated Lucas to get him to live with Dan. Determined to find something to use against Dan, Karen began investigating her ex-high school flame. She then discovered that Dan hired Jules to get together with Keith to make her jealous.
Keith and Karen got back together in season 3, and were eventually engaged. Keith was already making plans to adopt Lucas, but their happiness was short-lived after Dan shot Keith dead. Karen then went into shock, after which she found out that Lucas had a heart disease. After getting past her grief, she revealed that she was pregnant with Keith's child.
Dan tried to reconcile with Karen, who later found out the truth about Keith's murder. Dan was put to jail and Karen soon gave birth to a baby girl, Lily Roe. She then confronted Dan in prison, saying that it hurts to know why her baby's father wasn't there, and that was because he was killed by the little brother he loved so much.
(Photo courtesy of The CW)