June 2023

Honored numerous times for her work, Kathy Bates is an undeniable force on stage, screen and television. Bates won an Academy Award® and a Golden Globe® for her portrayal of obsessed fan Annie Wilkes in Rob Reiner’s 1990 hit “Misery,” based on Stephen King’s novel. In 1995, Bates appeared in the title role of King’s “Dolores Claiborne.”

Currently, she can be seen in the Lionsgate feature adaption of Judy Blume’s classic novel “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” alongside Rachel McAdams.

Additionally, Bates will also star in the Netflix rom-com “A Family Affair” with Nicole Kidman, Joey King, Liza Koshy and Zac Efron. The film will release on the platform later this year. She is set to star in the independent feature film “Thelma,” which recounts the real-life story of the mother of John Kennedy Toole, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Confederacy of Dunces. Bates will star alongside John Malkovich and Lewis Pullman in the film, which is penned by Black List screenwriter Andrew Farotte and will be directed by Ken Kwapis.

Upcoming, Bates will star in the highly anticipated, reimagined CBS series MATLOCK as a new incarnation of the Andy Griffith character from the original hit series. She also serves as an executive producer on the show. Additionally, Bates recently wrapped production on Castille Landon’s comedy “Summer Camp” opposite Diane Keaton and Alfre Woodard.

Bates recently received the National Board of Review Award as well as an Oscar® and Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal as Bobi Jewell in Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell.” Starring alongside Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde and Jon Hamm, the WB film is based on Marie Brenner’s 1997 Vanity Fair article “American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell.”

In 1999, Bates received Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations and won a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award® and a Critics Choice Award for her performance in Mike Nichols’ “Primary Colors.” Bates earned her third Oscar nomination for her role in Alexander Payne’s “About Schmidt,” for which she won a National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress and garnered Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations.

Her film work has also been recognized with Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations for Jon Avnet’s film adaptation of Fanny Flagg’s “Fried Green Tomatoes,” and she also shared a SAG Award nomination with the ensemble cast of James Cameron’s blockbuster “Titanic,” as well as a nomination for the ensemble of Woody Allen’s biggest success, “Midnight in Paris.”

Bates received her star on the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame on Sept. 20, 2016.

Her additional film credits include: “The Blind Side” with Sandra Bullock; Stephen Frears’ period drama “Cheri,” in which she starred with Michelle Pfeiffer; Sam Mendes’ drama “Revolutionary Road,” which reunited her with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet; Adam Sandler’s “The Waterboy”; Robert Altman’s “Come Back to the Five & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean”; “Straight Time” with Dustin Hoffman; and Milos Forman’s “Taking Off.”

On television, Bates has received 14 Emmy® nominations, winning her first award in 2003 playing the ghost of Charlie Harper in Chuck Lorre’s TWO AND A HALF MEN. Bates won rave reviews and her second Emmy as the deliciously evil Madame LaLaurie in Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story: Coven” on FX. She received two more Emmy nods for her respective performances in “American Horror Story: Freak Show” and “American Horror Story: Hotel.”

For the 1996 HBO film “The Late Shift,” Bates won a Golden Globe and a SAG Award and earned an Emmy nomination. Her television honors also include Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations for her performance as Miss Hannigan in The Wonderful World of Disney musical “Annie.”

Bates has also been honored for her work behind the camera as a director. She helmed the A&E telefilm “Dash and Lily,” starring Sam Shepard and Judy Davis, which earned nine Emmy nominations, including one for Bates as Best Director. She also directed five episodes of the acclaimed HBO series “Six Feet Under,” earning a Directors Guild of America Award® nomination for the episode “Twilight.” Her directing credits also include episodes of “Oz,” “Homicide: Life on the Street” and PBS’ “Great Performances.”

Bates first gained the attention of critics and audiences on the New York stage starring as Joanne in Jack Heifner’s “Vanities” – one of the longest-running plays in Off-Broadway history. She was nominated for a Tony Award® for her portrayal of the suicidal daughter in the original Broadway production of Marsha Norman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “‘night, Mother.” She has been honored with an Obie Award® for her performance as Frankie in the original Off-Broadway production of Terrence McNally’s “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.” She portrayed Elsa Barlow in Athol Fugard’s “The Road to Mecca” alongside Fugard and Yvonne Bryceland.

For the past several years, Bates has served as the national spokesperson for the Lymphatic Education and Research Network (LE&RN). LE&RN is an internationally recognized non-profit organization founded in 1998 to fight lymphatic diseases and lymphedema through education, research and advocacy. With chapters throughout the world, LE&RN seeks to accelerate the prevention, treatment and cure of these diseases while bringing patients and medical professionals together to address the unmet needs surrounding lymphatic diseases, which include lymphedema and lipedema.

Bates currently resides in Los Angeles, Calif.