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Kathy Bates

Kathy Bates has been honored numerous times for her work on stage, screen and television. She won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of obsessed fan Annie Wilkes in Rob Reiner's 1990 hit Misery, based on Stephen King's novel. In 1999, she received Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations and won a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award and a Critics Choice Award for her performance in Mike Nichols' Primary Colors. Bates earned her third Oscar nomination for her role in Alexander Payne's About Schmidt, for which she also garnered Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations and won a National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her film work has also been recognized with Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations for Jon Avnet's Fried Green Tomatoes, and she also shared in a SAG Award nomination with the ensemble cast of James Cameron's top-grossing blockbuster Titanic.

Bates has a wide range of upcoming projects, including the features Earthbound, and Wedlocked, due out in 2010, and a guest star arc on the hit NBC comedy The Office this spring.

Bates was recently seen in John Lee Hancock's smash hit drama The Blind Side; Stephen Frears' period drama Cheri; the independent drama Personal Effects; Sam Mendes' acclaimed drama Revolutionary Road; and the sci-fi remake The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Her long list of film credits also includes P.S. I Love You, Fred Claus, Failure to Launch, Little Black Book, Dragonfly, American Outlaws, The Waterboy, The War at Home, Dolores Claiborne, A Home of Our Own, Prelude to a Kiss, Shadows and Fog, At Play in the Fields of the Lord, Dick Tracy, Men Don't Leave, "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, Straight Time and Taking Off." Bates lent her voice to Jerry Seinfeld's animated comedy Bee Movie, as well as Charlotte's Web and The Golden Compass.

On the small screen, Bates most recently appeared in the FX miniseries Alice, in which she played the Queen of Hearts. She won a Golden Globe and a SAG Award and earned an Emmy Award nomination for the 1996 HBO film The Late Shift. Her television honors also include Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations for her performance in the musical Annie; another SAG Award nomination for her role in the telefilm My Sister's Keeper; and four additional Emmy Award nominations for her work on the projects 3rd Rock from the Sun, Six Feet Under, Warm Springs, and Ambulance Girl, which she also directed.

Bates has also been honored for her work behind the camera as a director. She helmed the A&E telefilm Dash and Lilly, starring Sam Shepard and Judy Davis, which earned nine Emmy nominations, including one for Bates as Best Director. She also directed five episodes of the acclaimed HBO series Six Feet Under, earning a Directors Guild of America Award for the episode entitled Twilight. Her directing credits also include the telefilm Fargo and episodes of such series as Oz, NYPD Blue and Homicide: Life on the Street.

Bates first gained the attention of critics and audiences on the New York stage. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her portrayal of the suicidal daughter in the original Broadway production of Marsha Norman's Pulitzer Prize-winning play 'night, Mother. She also won an Obie Award for her performance as Frankie in the original off- Broadway production of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2010.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Kathy Bates Facts

Birth NameKathleen Doyle-Bates
OccupationActress
BirthdayJune 28, 1948 (75)
SignCancer
BirthplaceMemphis, Tennessee, USA
Height5' 3" (1m60)  How tall is Kathy Bates compared to you?
Awards1999 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role (for Primary Colors)
1997 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Film (for The Late Shift)
1997 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Best Female Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries (for The Late Shift)
1991 Academy Awards: Best Actress (for Misery)
1991 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama (for Misery)

Selected Filmography

The Boss
Complete Unknown
P.S. I Love You
The Golden Compass
Titanic
Rat Race
The Blind Side
Charlotte's Web
Bad Santa 2
Continue » Find more details on the Kathy Bates Movies page