Born on June 28, 1948, in Memphis, Tennessee, Kathleen “Kathy” Doyle Bates is a film and television actress and director mainly known for starring in comic and dramatic roles.
Bates has bagged multiple laurels in her over 50-year-long career, including an Oscar, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two British Academy Film Awards. She has also received nominations for a Tony Award.
Bates is the youngest of three siblings—all girls—and was born to Bertye Kathleen Talbot and Langdon Doyle Bates. Her mother was a homemaker, while her father was a mechanical engineer. Her grandfather, Finis L. Bates, was an author.
Their on-screen encounter and friendship brought together two Oscar winners, with Tandy grabbing the Best Actress award for “Driving Miss Daisy.”
The star’s ancestral roots combine English, Irish, Scottish, and German. One of her ancestors was an Irish emigrant from New Orleans and served as the doctor to Andrew Jackson, America’s seventh president.
Bates is said to be the first female to win an Oscar for Best Actress in a Thriller/Horror for her performance as Annie Wilkes in the 1990 movie, “Misery.” In addition to playing the unhinged and obsessed fan and former nurse, Wilkes, Bates starred as the unsinkable Molly Brown in “Titanic.”
Another one of her memorable roles comes from the 1999 film, “Fried Green Tomatoes,” directed by Jon Avnet and starring Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jessica Tandy.
Bates played the tedious and trapped Southern housewife Evelyn Couch in the film, written by Fannie Flagg. During one of her nursing home visits, her character (Evelyn) crosses paths with Ninny Threadgoode (played by Tandy) and is mesmerized by her tales about life in her hometown of Whistle Stop, Alabama...CONTINUE READING