Kathy Bates Biography

Kathy Bates (born on June 28, 1948 in Memphis, Tennessee to Langdon Doyle Bates and Bertye Kathleen Talbot) is an Academy Award-winning American theatrical, film and television actress, and a television director. Kathy is perhaps best known for her Oscar-winning performance in the 1990 thriller Misery.

Biography

Kathy Bates graduated from White Station High School in Memphis. She attended the Southern Methodist University, majoring in theatre, and graduated in 1969.

Kathy Bates performed in little-seen films such as Summer Heat and The Morning After, and guest-starred 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, which was based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. Kathy 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. In 1995, Bates turned in another applauded portrayal as the title character in Dolores Claiborne, and earned rave reviews for her role as the acid-tongued "dustbuster" political advisor Libby Holden in the 1998 semi-biographical film, Primary Colors, for which she won her second Academy Award nomination for Best supporting actress, though she did not win. She was nominated again in 2002 for About Schmidt, though she again did not win.

Kathy Bates was recently nominated for the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her performance in Warm Springs. She later appeared in ten episodes of the cable television series Six Feet Under.

In 1991, Kathy Bates married actor Tony Campisi, who she had lived with for 12 years prior; they divorced in 1997.

Trivia

• Bates is also the secretary of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors.
• Kathy Bates' nickname is Bobo.
• Kathy Bates did her first nude scene at the age of 43 in the 1991 film, At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991) and again for a scene in About Schmidt.
• Starting in the 1990's, Bates forged a formidable career as a director. Kathy  has directed episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, NYPD Blue, Oz, Six Feet Under, and Everwood. Bates has also directed the TV movies Dash and Lilly and the self-starring Ambulance Girl. In 2007, Bates will direct and also star in Have Mercy opposite Melanie Griffith.

Academy Awards

• 1990 - Best Actress - Misery (Won)
• 1998 - Best Supporting Actress - Primary Colors (Nominated)
• 2003 - Best Supporting Actress - About Schmidt (Nominated)

Film List

• Taking Off (1971)
• Straight Time (1978)
• Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)
• Two of a Kind (1983)
• The Morning After (1986)
• Summer Heat (1987)
• My Best Friend Is a Vampire (1988)
• Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988)
• Signs of Life (1989)
• High Stakes (1989)
• Men Don't Leave (1990)
• Dick Tracy (1990)
• White Palace (1990)
• Misery (1990)
• At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991)
• Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
• The Road to Mecca (1992)
• Shadows and Fog (1992)
• Prelude to a Kiss (1992)
• Used People (1992)
• A Home of Our Own (1993)
• North (1994)
• Curse of the Starving Class (1994)
• Dolores Claiborne (1995)
• Angus (1995)
• Diabolique (1996)
• The War at Home (1996)
• Swept from the Sea (1997)
• Titanic (1997)
• Primary Colors (1998)
• The Effects of Magic (1998)
• The Waterboy (1998)
• A Civil Action (1998)
• Baby Steps (1999)
• Bruno (2000)
• Rat Race (2001)
• American Outlaws (2001)
• Love Liza (2002)
• Dragonfly (2002)
• About Schmidt (2002)
• Unconditional Love (2002)
• The Ingrate (2004) (short subject)
• Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
• Little Black Book (2004)
• The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2004)
• 3 & 3 (2005)
• Rumor Has It (2005)
• Failure to Launch (2006)
• Relative Strangers (2006)