With the title and starring role of "DOLORES CLAIBORNE," Kathy Bates adds another formidable performance to an outstanding body of work. Twice accused of murder and struggling to rebuild a relationship with her estranged daughter, life has not been kind to Dolores Claiborne. Like her Academy Award winning performance in Rob Reiner's adaptation of Stephen King's "Misery," Ms. Bates reveals the subtext of the character with remarkable conviction and passion.
Kathy Bates established a reputation as an actress of infinite range on the stage. An Obie Award-winner for her performance as Frankie in the original off-Broadway production of "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune," Ms. Bates also received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Actress in the Mark Taper Forum production of the play. For her portrayal of the suicidal daughter in Marsha Norman's Pulitzer Prize-winning "night, Mother," she garnered a Tony Award nomination, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Dramalogue Award (also for the Mark Taper production).
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Ms. Bates attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She worked in regional theatre in Washington, D.C., and at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Ms. Bates' first major play in New York was "Vanities," and she subsequently appeared in an impressive lineup of productions, including "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean" (a role she reprised in Robert Altman's film adaptation), Lanford Wilson's "Fifth of July" and Sam Shepard's "Curse of the Starving Class." (a role she reprised for the film's adaption in 1994). She also starred as the South African school teacher Elsa Barlow in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway production of "The Road to Mecca," playing opposite the author, Athol Fugard.
Ms. Bates created an indelible impression on filmgoers in such lauded motion pictures as Milos Forman's "Taking Off," "Straight Time," (starring Dustin Hoffman) "Men Don't Leave," "White Palace," "Dick Tracy," "At Play in the Fields of the Lord," Woody Allen's "Shadows and Fog," "Prelude to a Kiss," "Used People," the cinematic adaptation of "The Road to Mecca" and "A Home of our Own." For her performance opposite Jessica Tandy in Jon Avnet's directorial debut, "Fried Green Tomatoes," she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress, Musical or Comedy.
Her work on television includes "Roe v. Wade" with Holly Hunter and Amy Madigan and "Johnny Bull," opposite Jason Robards and Colleen Dewhurst.
In April, PBS' "Great Performances" will air Ms. Bates directorial debut, a segment of "Talking With...," a series of monologues delivered by fellow actresses. In addition to herself, "Talking With..." stars Celeste Holm, Mary Kay Place, Frances McDormand, Marcia Gay Harden and Beverly D'Angelo.
Ms. Bates has just completed work on "Angus" opposite George C. Scott which will be released this summer.
