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Kahan James was born in Houston, Texas, to Kathleen James from Oakland, California, and Kamran Behbehani from Tehran, Iran.
Kahan was raised by Kathleen, who was an art dealer in Houston from the late 1970's to the early 2000's. He grew up accompanying her on visits to artists' studios and openings, and installing and lighting gallery exhibits and corporate collections for the likes of Enron and USAA. Encouraged by his mother to study the works of creators like Pink Floyd, Stanley Kubrick, and David Mamet, Kahan's upbringing precipitated his interests in conceptual art, music, language, and storytelling.
After a failed attempt at a career in music as a teen, Kahan entered the linguistics department at UC Berkeley, where he studied philosophy and communication with George Lakoff, John Searle and John McWhorter. He took an acting class for confidence as a lecturer and went on to perform in several productions, and his mentors and peers urged him to pursue acting professionally.
While completing a degree in dramatic art at Cal, Kahan wrote a two-act play called The Standing Wave, which under the mentorship of Edward Albee was entered into Stages Repertory Theater's Annual Festival Of New Plays in 2000, where it won an award and went on to receive an acclaimed production in Houston. During the same period Kahan co-wrote, co-directed, and created 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 assistant-directed 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.
