سيرة
Kahan James was born in Houston, Texas, to Kathleen James of Oakland, California, and Kamran Behbehani from Tehran, Iran.
Raised by Kathleen, an art dealer active in Houston from the late 1970s to the early 2000s, Kahan spent his childhood visiting artists' studios and gallery openings, as well as helping install and light exhibits and corporate collections for clients such as Enron and USAA. Inspired by his mother to explore the works of creators like Pink Floyd, Stanley Kubrick, and David Mamet, Kahan developed a passion for conceptual art, music, language, and storytelling.
After an unsuccessful attempt at a music career as a teenager, Kahan enrolled in the linguistics department at UC Berkeley, where he studied philosophy and communication under George Lakoff, John Searle, and John McWhorter. To build confidence for lecturing, he took an acting class, eventually performing in multiple productions. Encouraged by mentors and peers, he decided to pursue acting professionally.
While earning a degree in dramatic art at Cal, Kahan wrote the two-act play The Standing Wave. With guidance from Edward Albee, the play was submitted to Stages Repertory Theater's Annual Festival Of New Plays in 2000, winning an award and later receiving a well-regarded production in Houston. At the same time, Kahan co-wrote, co-directed, and composed the soundtrack for the independent Super 16mm feature film Forever, which won the Deep Ellum Film Festival in Dallas, Texas, in 2001.
In 2003, Kahan served as assistant director on the Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' A Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, starring Ashley Judd, Ned Beatty, Jason Patric, and Margot Martindale, and directed by Tony and British Academy Television Award winner Anthony Page.
Kahan retired from acting in 2018 and has been producing, mixing, and mastering independent records since 2010.
