Kathy Bates
Kathleen Doyle "Kathy" Bates (born June 28, 1948)[1] is an American actress and film director. After appearing in several minor roles in film and television during the 1970s and the 1980s, Bates rose to prominence with her performance in Misery (1990), for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe.[2] She followed this with major roles in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) and Dolores Claiborne (1995), before playing a featured role as Molly Brown in Titanic (1997).
She received a Tony Award nomination for her 1983 performance in the Broadway play 'night, Mother. She won a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance in Primary Colors (1998), for which she also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for About Schmidt (2002). Her television work has resulted in eleven Emmy Award nominations, two of which were for her starring role on the television series Harry's Law[3] and most recently, a win for her acclaimed guest appearance on the CBS sitcom, Two and a Half Men as the ghost of Charlie Harper, a role formerly portrayed by Charlie Sheen. It was confirmed in March 2013 that she would co-star in the third season of the FX television series American Horror Story.[4]
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Early life [edit]
Bates was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the youngest of three daughters of Bertye Kathleen (née Talbert; 1907–1997), a homemaker, and Langdon Doyle Bates (1900–1989), a mechanical engineer.[1] Her paternal grandfather was lawyer and author Finis L. Bates. One of her great-great-grandfathers emigrated from Ireland to New Orleans, Louisiana, and served as President Andrew Jackson's doctor.[5] She graduated from White Station High School, and later attended Southern Methodist University, where she majored in theatre, is a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority, and graduated in 1969. She moved to New York City in 1970 to pursue an acting career.[6] She was raised Methodist.[citation needed]
Career [edit]
Bates' history of Broadway appearances includes Lanford Wilson's Fifth of July and the Robert Altman-directed Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean opposite Karen Black and Cher. She received a Tony Award nomination in 1983 for her stage role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play 'night, Mother opposite Anne Pitoniak. The production of 'night, Mother ran for more than a year. One of her other successful New York stage productions was, Off Broadway, in Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune which ran 533 performances. McNally specifically wrote the play for Bates and F. Murray Abraham, who had to drop out and was replaced by Kenneth Welsh. The play was later filmed as Frankie and Johnny, starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. She succeeded Amy Irving in the off-Broadway production of The Road to Mecca in 1988.
Bates' first feature film was the 1971 Miloš Forman comedy Taking Off (credited as "Bobo Bates"), wherein she sings an original song "Even Horses Had Wings". Bates' next feature was the Dustin Hoffman film Straight Time (1978). In 1990, she would appear again with Hoffman in Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy as a stenographer. She appeared in films such as Summer Heat and The Morning After, while guest-starring in television shows such as L.A. Law, before landing the role of obsessed fan Annie Wilkes, who holds her favorite author (played by James Caan) captive, in the 1990 thriller Misery, based on the Stephen King novel. Bates received her first Academy Award nomination for that role, winning Best Actress. Soon after, she starred with Jessica Tandy in the acclaimed 1991 movie Fried Green Tomatoes, based on the novel by comedic actress Fannie Flagg. In 1977, Bates made her soap opera debut as Phyllis on NBC's soap opera The Doctors. From 1983 to 1984, she played prison inmate Belle Bodelle on All My Children and from 1984 to 1985, she played Evelyn Maddox on One Life to Live.
In 1995, Bates played the title character in Dolores Claiborne, a film adaption of another Stephen King novel, although she was not nominated for an Oscar. In 1997, Bates played Molly Brown in James Cameron's Titanic. Based on the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic, the film went on to earn more than US$1.8 billion in box-office receipts worldwide.[7]
Bates also excelled in her role as the acid-tongued "dustbuster" political advisor Libby Holden in the 1998 drama Primary Colors which was adapted from the book in which political journalist Joe Klein novelized his experiences on the Presidential campaign trail in 1991–1992. For this performance, she received her second Academy Award nomination, for Best Supporting Actress. In 2002 she received her third nomination, for About Schmidt. More recently, she and Terry Bradshaw played the parents of Matthew McConaughey's character in the 2006 film Failure to Launch. Bates was featured in an uncredited cameo in the miniseries of Stephen King's The Stand.
Bates has been nominated for an Emmy Award[8] eight times: Outstanding actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, for her performance as Jay Leno's manager Helen Kushnick in HBO's The Late Shift (1996), and, twice again in the same category; as Miss Hannigan in Disney's remake of Annie (1999), and for the HBO Franklin Roosevelt biopic Warm Springs (2005). She was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for Lifetime Television's Ambulance Girl (2006), which she also directed and received a Supporting Actress nomination for Alice.
She appeared on 10 episodes of the HBO cable television series Six Feet Under for which she received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, as Bettina, in 2003. She also was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for 3rd Rock from the Sun in 1999, the same year that she was nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Miniseries or Movie for the Dashiell Hammett-Lillian Hellman biopic Dash & Lilly. She also had a recurring guest role on the American version of The Office as Jo Bennett.
Starting in the 1990s, Bates forged a formidable career as a director. She has directed episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, NYPD Blue, Oz, Six Feet Under, and Everwood. Bates directed the television movies Dash and Lilly and the self-starring Ambulance Girl. She directed and co-starred in Have Mercy (2006) with Melanie Griffith. In 2008, she re-teamed with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road. She starred in David E. Kelley's legal drama Harry's Law, which began airing on NBC on January 17, 2011, but was cancelled on May 14, 2012.[9]
In 2012, Bates made a guest appearance on Two and a Half Men as the ghost of Charlie Harper on the episode, "Why We Gave Up Women", which aired on April 30, 2012. In the episode Charlie has returned as a ghost to haunt his brother, Alan (Jon Cryer). He tells Alan that after a life of womanizing and debauchery, he was sent to hell and condemned to spend eternity in a woman's body. This guest appearance resulted in Bates' winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. It was Bates' first Emmy win after nine nominations.
Affiliations [edit]
Bates is the Executive Committee Chair of the Actors Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors.[10]
Cancer battles [edit]
Bates has successfully battled ovarian cancer since her diagnosis in 2003. In September 2012, she revealed via Twitter that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer two months earlier and had undergone a double mastectomy.[11][12]
Filmography [edit]
Film [edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Taking Off | Audition Singer | as Bobo Bates |
| 1978 | Straight Time | Selma Darin | |
| 1982 | Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean | Stella Mae | |
| 1983 | Two of a Kind | Furniture man's wife | |
| 1986 | The Morning After | Woman on Mateo Street | |
| 1987 | Summer Heat | Ruth | |
| 1987 | My Best Friend Is a Vampire | Helen Blake | as Kathy D. Bates |
| 1988 | Arthur 2: On the Rocks | Mrs. Canby | |
| 1989 | Signs of Life | Mary Beth Alder | |
| 1989 | High Stakes | Jill | |
| 1990 | Men Don't Leave | Lisa Coleman | |
| 1990 | Dick Tracy | Mrs. Green | |
| 1990 | White Palace | Rosemary | |
| 1990 | Misery | Annie Wilkes | |
| 1991 | Shadows and Fog | Prostitute | |
| 1991 | At Play in the Fields of the Lord | Hazel Quarrier | |
| 1991 | Fried Green Tomatoes | Evelyn Couch | |
| 1992 | The Road to Mecca | Elsa Barlow | |
| 1992 | Prelude to a Kiss | Leah Blier | |
| 1992 | Used People | Bibby Berman | |
| 1993 | Living and Working in Space: The Countdown Has Begun | Lunar Mom | Direct-to-video |
| 1993 | A Home of Our Own | Frances Lacey | |
| 1994 | North | Alaskan mom | |
| 1994 | Curse of the Starving Class | Ella Tate | |
| 1995 | Dolores Claiborne | Dolores Claiborne | |
| 1995 | Angus | Meg Bethune | |
| 1996 | Diabolique | Det. Shirley Vogel | |
| 1996 | The War at Home | Maurine Collier | |
| 1997 | Swept from the Sea | Miss Swaffer | |
| 1997 | Titanic | Molly Brown | |
| 1998 | Primary Colors | Libby Holden | |
| 1998 | The Effects of Magic | Raphaella, the Magic Bunny | voice |
| 1998 | The Waterboy | Helen "Mama" Boucher | |
| 1998 | A Civil Action | Bankruptcy judge | uncredited |
| 1999 | Baby Steps | Mrs. Mellon | short film |
| 1999 | Dash and Lily | Director | |
| 2000 | Bruno | Mother Superior | |
| 2001 | Rat Race | The Squirrel Lady | uncredited |
| 2001 | American Outlaws | Ma James | |
| 2002 | Love Liza | Mary Ann Bankhead | |
| 2002 | Dragonfly | Mrs. Belmont | |
| 2002 | About Schmidt | Roberta Hertzel | |
| 2002 | Unconditional Love | Grace Beasley | |
| 2004 | Around the World in 80 Days | Queen Victoria | |
| 2004 | Little Black Book | Kippie Kann | |
| 2004 | Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy | Sea Hag | voice |
| 2004 | The Ingrate | The Judge | short film |
| 2004 | The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing | Narrator | documentary |
| 2004 | The Bridge of San Luis Rey | The Marquesa | |
| 2005 | Hansel and Gretel | Narrator | direct-to-video |
| 2005 | Guilty Hearts | The Judge | |
| 2005 | Rumor Has It... | Aunt Mitsy | uncredited |
| 2006 | Failure to Launch | Sue | |
| 2006 | Have Mercy | Unknown | |
| 2006 | Solace | Marrow's wife | |
| 2006 | Relative Strangers | Agnes Menure | |
| 2006 | Bonneville | Margene | |
| 2006 | Charlotte's Web | Bitsy the Cow | voice |
| 2007 | Bee Movie | Janet Benson | voice |
| 2007 | Fred Claus | Mother Claus | |
| 2007 | The Golden Compass | Hester | voice |
| 2007 | P.S. I Love You | Patricia | |
| 2007 | Christmas Is Here Again | Miss Dowdy | voice |
| 2008 | The Family That Preys | Charlotte Cartwright | |
| 2008 | The Day the Earth Stood Still | Secretary of Defense, Dr. Regina Jackson | |
| 2008 | Revolutionary Road | Mrs. Helen Givings | |
| 2009 | Cheri | Madame Charlotte Peloux | |
| 2009 | Personal Effects | Gloria | |
| 2009 | The Blind Side | Miss Sue | |
| 2009 | The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club | Narrator | |
| 2010 | Valentine's Day | Susan Milton | |
| 2011 | Midnight in Paris | Gertrude Stein | |
| 2011 | You May Not Kiss the Bride | Bryan's Mother | |
| 2011 | A Little Bit of Heaven | Beverly Corbett |
Television [edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | The Doctors | Phyllis | Unknown episodes |
| 1978 | The Love Boat | Sally Allison | 3 episodes |
| 1984 | All My Children | Belle Bodelle | Unknown episodes |
| 1984 | One Life to Live | Evelyn Maddox | Episode: "December 17, 1984" |
| 1986 | Johnny Bull | Katherine Kovacs | Television film |
| 1986 | Cagney & Lacey | Brenda Harris | Episode: "Revenge" |
| 1986-1987 | St. Elsewhere | Polly | 2 episodes |
| 1987 | Murder Ordained | Bobbi Birk | Television movie |
| 1989 | Roe vs. Wade | Unknown | Television film |
| 1989 | China Beach | Jan | Episode: "The World: Part 2" |
| 1989 | L.A. Law | Charlotte Haley | Episode: "One Rat, One Ranger" |
| 1989 | No Place Like Home | Boonie Cooper | Television film |
| 1993 | Hostages | Peggy Say | Television film |
| 1993-2004 | The American Experience | Narrator | 2 episodes |
| 1994 | The Stand | Rae Flowers (uncredited) | Episode: "The Plague" |
| 1995 | The West Side Waltz | Mr. Goo | Television film |
| 1996 | The Late Shift | Helen Kushnick | Television film |
| 1999 | Annie | Miss Agatha Hannigan | Television film |
| 1999 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Charlotte Everly | Episode: "Alien Hunter" |
| 2000 | MADtv | Stuart's Grandma | Episode: "#6.2" |
| 2001 | King of the Hill | Police Officer | Episode: "Lupe's Revenge" |
| 2002 | My Sister's Keeper | Christine Chapman | Television film |
| 2003-2005 | Six Feet Under | Bettina | 10 episodes |
| 2005 | Ambulance Girl | Jane Stern | Television film |
| 2005 | Warm Springs | Helena Mahoney | Television film |
| 2009 | Alice | Queen of Hearts | 2 episodes |
| 2010-2011 | The Office | Jo Bennett | 8 episodes |
| 2011-2012 | Harry's Law | Harriet Korn | 34 episodes |
| 2012 | Two and a Half Men | Charlie Harper | Episode: "Why We Gave Up" |
| 2013 | American Horror Story: Coven | TBD |
Awards and nominations [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ a b "Film Reference.com biography". FilmReference.com. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
- ^ Bagger, The (January 9, 2009). "Kathy Bates: An Oscar and a Lovely Career to Go With It". The New York Times. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
- ^ "Kathy Bates". emmys.com. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
- ^ Prudom, Laura (15 March 2013). "'American Horror Story: Coven': Kathy Bates To Star In Season 3, Featuring Witches And Filming In New Orleans". The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
- ^ Larson, Scott (July 16, 2006). "Public Interview with Kathy Bates.". ScottsMovies.com. Scott's Movie Comments. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
- ^ "Kathy Bates' Yahoo biography". movies.Yahoo.com. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
- ^ "Worldwide Grosses". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 20, 2009.
- ^ Kathy Bates Emmy Nominated
- ^ "NBC Adds To New Scripted Lineup With Four New Series – 'The Cape', 'Outlaw', 'Harry's Law', And 'Friends With Benefits' – And Renews 'Chuck' For Fourth Season In 2010–11" (Press release). NBC Universal. May 14, 2010. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
- ^ Published June 27, 2007 by. "June 28, 2007 – Happy Birthday Kathy Bates!". Theinsider.com. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
- ^ "Kathy Bates reveals she is battling breast cancer". Retrieved September 13, 2012.
- ^ Celizic, Mike (January 9, 2009). "Kathy Bates reveals her triumph over ovarian cancer". MSN. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kathy Bates |
- Official website
- Kathy Bates at the Internet Broadway Database
- Kathy Bates at the Internet Movie Database
- Kathy Bates at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Kathy Bates at the TCM Movie Database
- Kathy Bates at AllRovi
- Kathy Bates at Yahoo! Movies
- Kathy Bates at Emmys.com
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- 1948 births
- Actresses from Tennessee
- American film actresses
- American female film directors
- American people of Irish descent
- American soap opera actresses
- American stage actresses
- American television actresses
- American television directors
- Best Actress Academy Award winners
- Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film) winners
- Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (television) winners
- Emmy Award winners
- Female television directors
- Film directors from Tennessee
- Living people
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- People from Memphis, Tennessee
- People with cancer
- Southern Methodist University alumni
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- Ovarian cancer survivors
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- American film directors
- Breast cancer survivors
