
Biography
Kathleen Doyle Bates (born June 28, 1948) is an American actress and director. She has been 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 tense psychological thriller 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). 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). Bates' 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 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 (2005).
Awards & recognition
- Primetime Emmy Award — Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie · 2014
- Primetime Emmy Award — Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series · 2012
- Academy Award — Best Actress · 1991
- Actor Awards
- Golden Globe Awards
Show all 13 awards →
- Mary Pickford Award
- Primetime Emmy Award
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Academy Award — Best Supporting Actress · 2020 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Supporting Actress · 2003 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Supporting Actress · 1999 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Actress · 1991 · nominated
- Tony Award — Best Actress in a Play · 1983 · nominated
Filmography50+ titles

Six Feet Under: In Memoriam

The Office

American Horror Story

Six Feet Under

Oz

Homicide: Life on the Street

The Big Bang Theory

Titanic

Misery

Stand Up to Cancer

The Blind Side

Fried Green Tomatoes

Feud

Everwood

Midnight in Paris

Tupperware!

Two and a Half Men

3rd Rock from the Sun

China Beach

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Richard Jewell

King of the Hill

On the Basis of Sex

Dolores Claiborne

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

P.S. I Love You

My Sister's Keeper

Straight Time

Matlock

Mad TV

NYPD Blue

L.A. Law

The Great Lillian Hall

Revolutionary Road

American Dad!

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing

A Home of Our Own

Cagney & Lacey

The Death & Life of John F. Donovan

About Schmidt

The Highwaymen

The Family That Preys

The Stand

Home

Mike & Molly

Shadows and Fog

No Place Like Home

The Great Gilly Hopkins

Warm Springs

Angus