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 ...
Known For
Complete Filmography

The Great Lillian Hall
2024
as Edith Wilson
Lillian Hall, a Broadway actress, has never missed a performance throughout her long, illustrious career. Yet in the rehearsals her confidence is chal...

The Great Lillian Hall
2024
Executive Producer
Lillian Hall, a Broadway actress, has never missed a performance throughout her long, illustrious career. Yet in the rehearsals her confidence is chal...

A Family Affair
2024
as Leila Ford
The only thing worse than being the assistant to a high-maintenance movie star who doesn't take you seriously? Finding out he's smitten with your mom.

Summer Camp
2024
as Ginny Moon
Childhood best friends Nora, Ginny and Mary used to spend every summer at sleepaway camp together, and now, fifty years later, seize the opportunity t...
Titanic: Stories from the Heart
2023
as Self / Molly Brown (archive footage)
Director James Cameron, producer Jon Landau, and star Kate Winslet, share memories and favorite moments, and recount the challenges of making the grea...

The Miracle Club
2023
as Eileen Dunne
Three close friends who have never left the outskirts of Dublin (much less Ireland) get the journey of a lifetime — a visit to Lourdes, the picturesqu...

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
2023
as Sylvia Simon
When her family moves from New York City to New Jersey, an 11-year-old girl navigates new friends, feelings, and the beginning of adolescence.

Home
2021
as Bernadette
An ex-felon returns home from prison and must confront the demons of his past.

Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
2021
as Self (archive footage)
Hopkins’ career has spanned several decades, which is why we will also use many interviews that he gave throughout his life, allowing us to put him ba...

Richard Jewell
2019
as Bobi Jewell
Richard Jewell thinks quick, works fast, and saves hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives after a domestic terrorist plants several pipe bombs and they...

The Highwaymen
2019
as Ma Ferguson
In 1934, Frank Hamer and Manny Gault, two former Texas Rangers, are commissioned to put an end to the wave of vicious crimes perpetrated by Bonnie Par...

The Death & Life of John F. Donovan
2019
as Barbara Haggermaker
A decade after the death of an American TV star, a young actor reminisces about the written correspondence he once shared with the former, as well as ...

On the Basis of Sex
2018
as Dorothy Kenyon
Young lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg teams with her husband Marty to bring a groundbreaking case before the U.S. Court of Appeals and overturn a century o...

Krystal
2018
as Vera
A young man living a sheltered life develops a crush on a stripper and joins her Alcoholics Anonymous group just so he can be in the same room with he...

Bad Santa 2
2016
as Sunny Soke
Fueled by cheap whiskey, greed and hatred, Willie Soke teams up with his angry little sidekick, Marcus, to knock off a Chicago charity on Christmas Ev...

Complete Unknown
2016
as Nina
Tom’s birthday dinner party is turned upside down by the unexpected arrival of Alice, an old flame who changed her identity and vanished without a tra...

The Boss
2016
as Ida Marquette
A titan of industry is sent to prison after she's caught for insider trading. When she emerges ready to rebrand herself as America's latest sweetheart...

The Great Gilly Hopkins
2015
as Maime Trotter
Young and feisty Gilly Hopkins (Sophie Nélisse) devises a scheme to escape from her new foster home and reunite with her birth mother.

Boychoir
2015
as Headmistress
A troubled and angry 11-year-old orphan from a small Texas town, ends up at a Boy Choir school after the death of his single mother. Completely out of...

Tammy
2014
as Lenore
For Tammy, a burger-joint employee, a bad day keeps getting worse. She wrecks her car, loses her job, and finds that her husband has been unfaithful. ...

And the Oscar Goes To...
2014
as Self (archive footage)
The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy ...
Cadaver
2012
as Beth
A cadaver wakes up to say a last goodbye to his wife, but discovers a truth in death that he didn't know in life.

Reflections on Titanic
2012
as Self
An enthralling and fast-paced four-part documentary feature that covers the making of one of the last major Hollywood epics; Titanic. Cast and crew sp...

Midnight in Paris
2011
as Gertrude Stein
While on a trip to Paris with his fiancée's family, a nostalgic screenwriter finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s every day at midnight.

You May Not Kiss the Bride
2011
as Bryan's Mother
Bryan, an unassuming pet photographer has action and adventure thrust upon him when he is forced to wed Masha, a Croatian crime lord's daughter, and s...

A Little Bit of Heaven
2011
as Beverly Corbett
A guarded woman finds out she's dying of cancer but, when she meets her match, the threat of falling in love is scarier than death.

Valentine's Day
2010
as Susan Milton
Intertwining couples and singles in Los Angeles break-up and make-up based on the pressures and expectations of Valentine's Day.

The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club
2009
as Pancho Barnes (Voice)
A documentary profile of Pasadena society girl turned adventurer and aviator, Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes. In the 1920's and 30's, Barnes was Hollyw...

The Blind Side
2009
as Miss Sue
The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a...

Chéri
2009
as Madame Peloux
The son of a courtesan retreats into a fantasy world after being forced to end his relationship with the older woman who educated him in the ways of l...

Personal Effects
2009
as Gloria
Walter is a rising star in the NCAA wrestling world until his life is ripped apart by the brutal murder of his sister. Returning home to console his m...

Revolutionary Road
2008
as Mrs. Helen Givings
A young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their ...

The Day the Earth Stood Still
2008
as Regina Jackson
A representative of an alien race that went through drastic evolution to survive its own climate change, Klaatu comes to Earth to assess whether human...

Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys
2008
as Charlotte Cartwright
Wealthy socialite Charlotte Cartwright and her dear friend Alice Pratt, a working class woman of high ideals, have enjoyed a lasting friendship throug...

The Golden Compass
2007
as Hester (voice)
After overhearing a shocking secret, precocious orphan Lyra Belacqua trades her carefree existence roaming the halls of Jordan College for an otherwor...

P.S. I Love You
2007
as Patricia
A young widow discovers that her late husband has left her 10 messages intended to help ease her pain and start a new life.

Fred Claus
2007
as Mother Claus
Fred Claus and Santa Claus have been estranged brothers for many years. Now Fred must reconcile his differences with his brother whom he believes over...

Bee Movie
2007
as Janet Benson (voice)
Barry B. Benson, a recent college graduate who wants more out of his life than making honey, decides to sue the human race after learning about the ex...

Christmas Is Here Again
2007
as Miss Dowdy (voice)
When the evil Krad steals Santa's toy bag, he crushes the holiday spirit- and over time, the world's children forget all about Christmas. Now, a wide-...

Guilty Hearts
2007
as The Judge
Over the course of this drama's six separate stories, a variety of couples struggle with the infidelity, dishonesty and heartbreak that plagues their ...

Charlotte's Web
2006
as Bitsy the Cow (voice)
Wilbur the pig is scared of the end of the season, because he knows that come that time, he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Ch...

Bonneville
2006
as Margene Cunningham
Faced with the decision of a lifetime, Arvilla Holden enlists her two best friends and sets off in a vintage '66 Bonneville convertible to deliver her...

Relative Strangers
2006
as Agnes Menure
An uptight professional meets his lower-class biological parents for the first time.

Failure to Launch
2006
as Sue
At 35, Tripp has an interesting job, a hip car, a passion for sailing, an active dating life, and a great house - trouble is, he still lives with his ...

Rumor Has It...
2005
as Aunt Mitsy (uncredited)
Sarah Huttinger's return home with her fiance convinces her that the sedate, proper, country-club lifestyle of her family isn't for her – and that may...

Six Feet Under: In Memoriam
2005
as Herself
A eulogy for the groundbreaking HBO series.

$200,000,001: A Ship's Odyssey (The Titanic Crew Video)
2005
as Self / Molly Brown (archive footage)
A light-hearted documentary dedicated to the cast and crew of Titanic, created by directors of photography, Ed W. Marsh, and Anders Falk.
Titanic: Behind The Scenes
2005
as Self / Molly Brown (archive footage)
Behind the scenes featurettes on the making of Titanic, included in the special features of the DVD and Blu-ray release.

Ambulance Girl
2005
as Jane Stern
The story revolves around former food writer, Jane Stern, and how she conquered clinical depression after becoming a paramedic.

Ambulance Girl
2005
Director
The story revolves around former food writer, Jane Stern, and how she conquered clinical depression after becoming a paramedic.

Warm Springs
2005
as Helena Mahoney
Franklin Roosevelt, left a paraplegic from polio at 39 years of age, seeks out a miracle cure in the backwoods of Georgia.

Hansel and Gretel
2005
as Narrator (voice)
The classic story of a woodcutter's two lost children, who find a house in the forest made of sweets and candy that belongs to a hungry witch.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey
2004
as The Marquesa
The Bridge of San Luis Rey is American author Thornton Wilder's second novel, first published in 1927 to worldwide acclaim. It tells the story of seve...

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
2004
as Narrator (voice)
Documentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles.

Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy
2004
as Siren / Sea Hag (voice)
Popeye, Olive and Bluto head out to find Popeye's long lost Pappy.

Little Black Book
2004
as Kippie Kann
Determined to learn about her boyfriend's past relationships, Stacy -- who works for a talk show -- becomes a bona fide snoop. With her colleague, Bar...

Around the World in 80 Days
2004
as Queen Victoria
A bet pits a British inventor, a Chinese thief and a French artist on a worldwide adventure that they can circle the globe in 80 days.

Fargo
2003
Director
Marge Gunderson, the still pregnant police chief of Brainerd, Minnesota, investigates the murder of a town pharmacist, shot in a snowy parking lot by ...

Declaration of Independence
2003
as Self
Famous actors and actresses read the Declaration of Independence of the United States.

Misery Loves Company
2003
as Self
A documentary presenting the behind the scenes of Rob Reiner's classic "Misery", with Reiner himself, Kathy Bates, James Caan, Frances Sternhagen, wri...

Love Liza
2002
as Mary Ann Bankhead
Following the unexplained suicide of his wife Liza, website designer Wilson Joel turns to huffing gasoline fumes and remote control gaming while avoid...

About Schmidt
2002
as Roberta Hertzel
A recently retired man embarks on a journey to his estranged daughter's wedding, only to discover more about himself and life than he ever expected.

Unconditional Love
2002
as Grace Beasley
After her husband leaves her, a woman travels to London for the funeral of the pop star, Victor Fox, she's adored all her life. There, she meets the l...

Dragonfly
2002
as Mrs. Belmont
A grieving doctor is being contacted by his late wife through his patient's near death experiences.

Making Rat Race
2002
as Herself

My Sister's Keeper
2002
as Christine Chapman
Two sisters take a journey of discovery and reconciliation based on the memoirs of Margaret Moorman. Christine has been diagnosed with schizophrenia a...

Rat Race
2001
as The Squirrel Lady (uncredited)
In an ensemble film about easy money, greed, manipulation and bad driving, a Las Vegas casino tycoon entertains his wealthiest high rollers -- a group...

American Outlaws
2001
as Ma James
When a Midwest town learns that a corrupt railroad baron has captured the deeds to their homesteads without their knowledge, a group of young ranchers...

Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Power of Women in Hollywood
2000
as Frances Marion (voice)
From 1915-1939, Frances Marion was one of the most powerful talents in the movie industry. In one of the most liberating eras for women in film, she w...

Bruno
2000
as Mother Superior
The story of a unique young boy genius, Bruno, whose expression of his own individuality leads his family and community along an emotional journey.

Annie
1999
as Miss Agatha Hannigan
Things seem pretty bad for a young girl living a "hard-knock life" in an orphanage. Fed up with the dastardly Miss Hannigan, Annie escapes the run-dow...
Baby Steps
1999
as Mrs. Mellon
Baby Steps depicts the encounter of a single gay school teacher with a midwestern adoption agent.

Dash and Lilly
1999
Director
Biographical look at the bombastic love affair that writers Dashiell Hammett and Lillian Hellman shared in 1940 and 50's Hollywood. Refusing to marry,...

A Civil Action
1998
as Bankruptcy Judge (uncredited)
Jan Schlickmann is a cynical lawyer who goes out to 'get rid of' a case, only to find out it is potentially worth millions. The case becomes his obses...
Moments of Discovery: The Making of Fried Green Tomatoes
1998
as Self
An original documentary exploring one of America's most beloved films. Take a journey with director Jon Avnet, actresses Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, M...

The Waterboy
1998
as Mama Boucher
Bobby Boucher is a water boy for a struggling college football team. The coach discovers Boucher's hidden rage makes him a tackling machine whose bone...

The Effects of Magic
1998
as Raphaella, the Magic Bunny
Titanic: Breaking New Ground
1998
as Self
This documentary narrated by Peter Coyote, shows the making of the Oscar-winning movie by James Cameron.

Primary Colors
1998
as Libby Holden
In this adaptation of the best-selling roman à clef about Bill Clinton's 1992 run for the White House, the young and gifted Henry Burton is tapped to ...

Swept from the Sea
1998
as Miss Swaffer
The film tells the story of Russian emigree and the only survivor from ship crash Yanko Goorall and servant Amy Foster in the end of 19th century. Whe...

Titanic
1997
as Molly Brown
101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fian...
Happy Birthday Elizabeth: A Celebration of Life
1997
as Self
A special celebrating Elizabeth Taylor's 65th birthday featuring never-before-seen footage of her life and career.

The War at Home
1996
as Maurine Collier
Jeremy Collier is a Vietnam veteran who has returned home and is struggling to cope with the war experiences that haunt him. He is also at odds with h...

Diabolique
1996
as Det. Shirley Vogel
The wife and mistress of a cruel school master collaborate in a carefully planned and executed scheme to murder him. The plan goes well until the body...

The Good, The Bad, and the Beautiful
1996
as Self
A documentary reflecting on women in film and the entertainment industry through the ages led and hosted by some of its most beloved female icons.

The Late Shift
1996
as Helen Kushnick
David Letterman vies with Jay Leno and his manager to succeed Johnny Carson, retiring from "The Tonight Show."

The West Side Waltz
1995
as Mr. Goo
Margaret keeps her neighbours at a distance and avoids contact except with Cara. She enjoys her company just for making music since Cara plays the vio...

Angus
1995
as Meg Bethune
Angus is a large, pathetic 14-year-old whose thoughts are most often filled with the image of only one girl, Melissa Lefevre. Angus is shy and thinks ...

Talking With
1995
as Big Eight (segment "Rodeo")
Adapted from the group of stage monologues by the pseudononymous "Jane Martin," this is a series of characters snake handler, daughter, baton twirler,...

Talking With
1995
Director
Adapted from the group of stage monologues by the pseudononymous "Jane Martin," this is a series of characters snake handler, daughter, baton twirler,...

Dolores Claiborne
1995
as Dolores Claiborne
Dolores Claiborne was accused of killing her abusive husband twenty years ago, but the court's findings were inconclusive and she was allowed to walk ...

Curse of the Starving Class
1994
as Ella Tate
Curse of the Starving Class is a play by Sam Shepard, considered the first of a series on family tragedies. Drama about a dirt-poor 1950's-era farm fa...

North
1994
as Alaskan Mom
Eleven-year-old North has had it with his parents. They are always busy with their careers and don't give North the attention he needs, so he files a ...

Tupperware!
1994
as Narrator
The remarkable story of Earl Silas Tupper, an ambitious but reclusive small-town inventor, and Brownie Wise, the self-taught sales-woman who built him...

A Home of Our Own
1993
as Frances Lacey
In 1960s Los Angeles an energetic widow and her six children try to make a dream of theirs come true: to have a home of their own. They leave L.A. and...
Living and Working in Space: The Countdown Has Begun
1993
as Lunar Mom
Life in space. Beam-ins. Intergalactic war. What about getting a driver's license or doing the laundry? This one-hour special features dozens of space...

Used People
1992
as Bibby Berman
At her husband's funeral, Pearl, Jewish mother of two divorced and antagonistic daughters, meets an old Italian friend of her husband, whose advice ye...

Hostages
1992
as Peggy Say
True account of the six men held hostage by religious extremists in Beirut during the Reagan-Bush era.

Prelude to a Kiss
1992
as Leah Blier
A couple fall in love despite the girl's pessimistic outlook. As they struggle to come to terms with their relationship, something supernatural happen...

Fried Green Tomatoes
1991
as Evelyn Couch
Amidst her own personality crisis, a southern housewife meets an outgoing old woman who tells her the story of Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison, two...

At Play in the Fields of the Lord
1991
as Hazel Quarrier
Martin and Hazel Quarrier are small-town fundamentalist missionaries sent to the jungles of South America to convert the Indians. Their remote mission...

Shadows and Fog
1991
as Prostitute
With a serial strangler on the loose, a bookkeeper wanders around town searching for the vigilante group intent on catching the killer.
The Road to Mecca
1991
as Elsa Barlow
An eldery lady, living in (litterally) the middle if nowhere, and fed up with small minded apartheid ideology starts escaping into her own world of sc...

Misery
1990
as Annie Wilkes
After an accident, acclaimed novelist Paul Sheldon is rescued by a nurse who claims to be his biggest fan. Her obsession takes a dark turn when she h...

White Palace
1990
as Rosemary
Max Baron is a Jewish advertising executive in his 20s who's still getting over the death of his wife. Nora Baker is a 40-something diner waitress who...

Dick Tracy
1990
as Mrs. Green
The comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Ca...

Men Don't Leave
1990
as Lisa Coleman
A widowed mother and her two sons move to Baltimore and struggle to adjust to urban life, encountering numerous eccentric characters along the way.

No Place Like Home
1989
as Bonnie Cooper
A Pittsburgh apartment superintendent loses his job and home when the apartment building where he lives and works at is suddenly destroyed by fire. Da...

High Stakes
1989
as Jill
A New York hooker tries to keep her daughter out of the clutches of the mobsters she works for.

Roe vs. Wade
1989
as Jessie
Holly Hunter plays a lonely, single, poorly educated Texan who finds herself pregnant with no means to support a child. To avoid giving up the child, ...

Signs of Life
1989
as Mary Beth Alder
The closing of a small shipbuilder in New England places stresses on the people involved.

Arthur 2: On the Rocks
1988
as Mrs. Canby
Arthur loses his fortune for staying with Linda, right as the two were preparing to adopt a child. As their marriage suffers, Arthur plans for a way t...

My Best Friend Is a Vampire
1987
as Helen Blake
Shortly after high school student Jeremy Capello goes on a hot date, he finds he can't stand garlic or see his reflection in mirrors.

Summer Heat
1987
as Ruth
The young wife of a tobacco farmer falls in love with their handsome hired hand.

Murder Ordained
1987
as Bobbi Birk
This is the story of a minister who's feeling unhappy in his marriage who then has an affair with a church employee, who is also married, and who also...

The Morning After
1986
as Woman on Mateo Street
Failed actress Alex Sternbergen wakes up hungover one morning in an apartment she does not recognize, unable to remember the previous evening -- and w...

Johnny Bull
1986
as Katherine Kovacs
An English girl comes to America to join her American husband in a Pennsylvania coal town in the late 1950's. She faces the ire of her new mother-in-l...

Two of a Kind
1983
as Furniture Man's Wife
God has had enough of the bad behavior and attitude of humankind, and has decided to start it all over. It is up to a struggling inventor and a bank t...

Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
1982
as Stella Mae
On the 20th anniversary of his death, the members of a James Dean fanclub gather at a five-and-dime for a reunion.

Straight Time
1978
as Selma Darin
After being released on parole, a burglar attempts to go straight, get a regular job, and just go by the rules. He soon finds himself back in jail at ...

Taking Off
1971
as Audition Singer
Unable to deal with her parents, Jeannie Tyne runs away from home. Larry and Lynn Tyne search for her, and in the process meet other people whose chil...
The Smack
N/A
as Babs
Rowan Petty, a down-on-his-luck con man who gets an opportunity to make a real score. He teams up with Jade, a woman looking to escape her life just l...

Thelma
N/A
as Thelma
Follows John Kennedy Toole's mother, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of A Confederacy of Dunces. Toole died by suicide before finding a home for his...