Kathleen Doyle Bates (born June 28, 1948) is an American actor and director. Known for her roles in comedic and dramatic films and television programs, she has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, including an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

, two

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

and two British Academy Film Awards. Born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...

, she studied theater at the

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , pr ...

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 ''Vanities'' is a comedy-drama stage production written by Jack Heifner. The story centers on the lives and friendship of three Texas cheerleaders starting from high school in 1963, continuing through college as sorority sisters in 1968, and e ...

.'' Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, she continued to perform on screen and on stage, and garnered a

nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Play in 1983 for her performance in ''

'night, Mother ''night, Mother'' is a play by American playwright Marsha Norman. The play won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. The play is about a daughter, Jessie, and her mother, Thelma. It begins with Je ...

'', and won an Obie Award in 1988 for her performance in '' Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune''. Her performance as Annie Wilkes in the tense psychological thriller '' Misery'' (1990) marked her Hollywood breakthrough, winning her the

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. ...

. Further acclaim came for her starring roles in '' Fried Green Tomatoes'' (1991) and ''

Dolores Claiborne ''Dolores Claiborne'' () is a 1992 psychological thriller novel by Stephen King. The novel is narrated by the title character. Atypically for a King novel, it has no chapters, double-spacing between paragraphs, or other section breaks; thus, t ...

'' (1995), and supporting roles in '' The Waterboy'' (1998) and '' Titanic'' (1997). Bates received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in '' Primary Colors'' (1998), '' About Schmidt'' (2002), and '' Richard Jewell'' (2019). Her television work has resulted in 14 Emmy Award nominations, including two for her leading role on the NBC series '' Harry's Law'' (2011–12). She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her appearance on the ninth season of ''Two and a Half Men'' (2012) and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her portrayal of Delphine LaLaurie on the third season of '' American Horror Story'' (2013). She also received accolades for her portrayal of

Miss Hannigan ''Annie'' is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip '' Little Orphan Annie'' and loosely based on the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" written by James Whitcomb Riley. The musical includes music by Charles Strouse, l ...

in the 1999 television adaptation of '' Annie''. Her directing credits include several episodes of the HBO television series '' Six Feet Under'' (2001–03) and the television film ''

Ambulance Girl ''Ambulance Girl'' is a 2005 made-for-television film starring Kathy Bates and Robin Thomas. It premiered in the United States on September 12, 2005 on the Lifetime network. The film is based on the memoir by Jane Stern, ''Ambulance Girl: How I ...

'' (2005).

Early life

Bates was born in

, the youngest of three daughters of mechanical engineer Langdon Doyle Bates and homemaker Bertye Kathleen ('' née'' Talbert). Her paternal grandfather was lawyer and author

Finis L. Bates Finis Langdon Bates (August 22, 1848 – November 29, 1923) was an American lawyer and author of ''The Escape and Suicide of John Wilkes Booth'' (1907). In this 309-page book, Bates claimed that John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of U.S. president ...

. Her great-great-grandfather, an Irish emigrant to

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame a ...

's doctor. She graduated early from White Station High School (1965) and from

(1969), where she studied theatre and became a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. She moved to New York City in 1970 to pursue an acting career. Bates is an alumna of the William Esper Studio for the performing arts in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, New York City.

Career

Early work and success on stage (1970–1989)

After moving to New York City, Bates worked several odd jobs as well as minor stage roles while struggling to find work as an actress. At one point, she worked as a cashier at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...

. In 1971, Bates was cast in a minor role in the Miloš Forman comedy '' Taking Off'' (credited as "Bobo Bates"), her first on screen role in a feature film. Following this, she continued to struggle to find acting roles, later claiming in an interview with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' that more than one casting agent told her that she wasn't sufficiently attractive to be a successful actress:

"I'm not a stunning woman. I never was an ingenue; I've always just been a character actor. When I was younger it was a real problem, because I was never pretty enough for the roles that other young women were being cast in. The roles I was lucky enough to get were real stretches for me: usually a character who was older, or a little weird, or whatever. And it was hard, not just for the lack of work but because you have to face up to how people are looking at you. And you think, 'Well, y'know, I'm a real person.'"

After ''Taking Off'' was released, Bates didn't work on another feature film until she appeared opposite Dustin Hoffman in '' Straight Time'' (1978). Throughout the 1970s, she continued to perform on stage. Her first Off-Broadway performance was in the 1976 production of ''

.'' Bates subsequently originated the role of Lenny in the first production of '' Crimes of the Heart'' at the Actors Theatre of Louisville in 1979. Beginning in 1980, she appeared in Lanford Wilson's '' Fifth of July.'' In 1982, she starred in the Robert Altman-directed '' Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean'' with Karen Black and

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industr ...

. During this time, she also began working in television, starring in a variety of