
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).

as Edith Wilson

as Leila Ford

as Ginny Moon

as Self (archive footage)

as Eileen Dunne

as Sylvia Simon

as Bernadette

as Self (archive footage)

as Bobi Jewell

as Ma Ferguson

as Barbara Haggermaker

as Dorothy Kenyon

as Vera

as Sunny Soke

as Nina

as Ida Marquette

as Maime Trotter

as Headmistress

as Self – Stella Mae (archive footage)

as Lenore

as Beth

as Self

as Gertrude Stein

as Bryan's Mother

as Beverly Corbett

as Susan

as Pancho Barnes (Voice)

as Miss Sue

as Madame Peloux

as Gloria

as Mrs. Helen Givings

as Regina Jackson

as Charlotte Cartwright

as Hester (voice)

as Patricia

as Mother Claus

as Janet Benson (voice)

as Miss Dowdy (voice)

as The Judge

as Bitsy the Cow (voice)

as Margene Cunningham

as Agnes Menure

as Sue

as Aunt Mitsy (uncredited)

as Herself

as Jane Stern

as Helena Mahoney

as Narrator (voice)

as The Marquesa

as Narrator (voice)

as Siren / Sea Hag (voice)

as Kippie Kann

as Queen Victoria

as Narrator

as Self (archive footage)

as Self

as Self

as Mary Ann Bankhead

as Roberta Hertzel

as Grace Beasley

as Mrs. Belmont

as Herself

as Christine Chapman

as Ma James

as The Squirrel Lady (uncredited)

as Frances Marion (voice)

as Mother Superior

as Miss Agatha Hannigan

as Mrs. Mellon

as Bankruptcy Judge (uncredited)

as Mama Boucher

as Raphaella, the Magic Bunny

as Self

as Libby Holden

as Miss Swaffer

as Molly Brown

as Maurine Collier

as Det. Shirley Vogel

as Helen Kushnick

as Mr. Goo

as Meg Bethune

as Big Eight (segment "Rodeo")

as Dolores Claiborne

as Ella Tate

as Alaskan Mom

as Frances Lacey

as Bibby Berman

as Peggy Say

as Leah Blier

as Evelyn Couch

as Hazel Quarrier

as Prostitute

as Elsa Barlow

as Annie Wilkes

as Rosemary

as Mrs. Green

as Lisa Coleman

as Bonnie Cooper

as Jill

as Jessie

as Mary Beth Alder

as Mrs. Canby

as Helen Blake

as Ruth

as Bobbi Birk

as Woman on Mateo Street

as Katherine Kovacs

as Furniture Man's Wife

as Stella Mae

as Selma Darin

as Audition Singer

as Babs