Kathleen Doyle Bates (born June 28, 1948) is an American actress and
director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an
Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe
Awards.Born in Memphis, Tennessee, she studied theatre at the Southern
Methodist University before moving to New York City to pursue an
acting career. She landed minor stage roles before being cast in her
first on screen role in Taking Off (1971). Her first Off-Broadway
stage performance was in the 1976 production of Vanities. Throughout
the 1970s and early 1980s, she continued to perform on screen and on
stage, and garnered a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in a
Play in 1983 for her performance in 'night, Mother, and won an Obie
Award in 1988 for her performance in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair
de Lune.Bates' performance as Annie Wilkes in the horror film Misery
(1990) marked her Hollywood breakthrough, winning her the Academy
Award for Best Actress. Further acclaim came for her starring role in
Dolores Claiborne (1995), The Waterboy (1998), and supporting roles in
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) and Titanic (1997). The latter, in which
she portrayed Molly Brown, became the highest-grossing film to that
point. Bates received subsequent Oscar nods in the Best Supporting
Actress category for her work in Primary Colors (1998), About Schmidt
(2002), and Richard Jewell (2019).
director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an
Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe
Awards.Born in Memphis, Tennessee, she studied theatre at the Southern
Methodist University before moving to New York City to pursue an
acting career. She landed minor stage roles before being cast in her
first on screen role in Taking Off (1971). Her first Off-Broadway
stage performance was in the 1976 production of Vanities. Throughout
the 1970s and early 1980s, she continued to perform on screen and on
stage, and garnered a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in a
Play in 1983 for her performance in 'night, Mother, and won an Obie
Award in 1988 for her performance in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair
de Lune.Bates' performance as Annie Wilkes in the horror film Misery
(1990) marked her Hollywood breakthrough, winning her the Academy
Award for Best Actress. Further acclaim came for her starring role in
Dolores Claiborne (1995), The Waterboy (1998), and supporting roles in
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) and Titanic (1997). The latter, in which
she portrayed Molly Brown, became the highest-grossing film to that
point. Bates received subsequent Oscar nods in the Best Supporting
Actress category for her work in Primary Colors (1998), About Schmidt
(2002), and Richard Jewell (2019).
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