Age, Biography, and Wiki
As of 2025, Kathy Bates is 77 years old. She was born Kathleen Doyle Bates and began her acting journey after studying theater at Southern Methodist University. Bates' early career included minor stage roles before transitioning to on-screen performances. Her breakthrough came with notable roles in films like Misery (1990) and Fried Green Tomatoes (1991).
| Occupation | Soap Opera Actress |
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| Date of Birth | 28 June 1948 |
| Age | 76 Years |
| Birth Place | Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Cancer |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Kathy Bates stands at approximately 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm) tall. However, specific weight and other measurements are not widely documented.
| Height | 5 feet 3 inches |
| Weight | |
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Dating & Relationship status
Information on Kathy Bates' current dating status is not widely available. She has kept her personal life relatively private over the years.
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Bates studied theater at 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 role was in the play Vanities (1976). She garnered a nomination for the Tony Award Best Lead Actress in a Play for the Marsha Norman play 'night, Mother (1983), and won an Obie Award for her role in Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (1988).
Bates won the Academy Award for Best Actress for portraying Annie Wilkes in the psychological thriller Misery (1990). She was also nominated in Best Supporting Actress for her performances as a tough political operative in Primary Colors (1998), a free spirited neighbor in About Schmidt (2002), and the mother of a bombing suspect in Richard Jewell (2019). Bates' other notable roles were in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Dolores Claiborne (1995), Titanic (1997), The Waterboy (1998), Revolutionary Road (2008), The Blind Side (2009), Midnight in Paris (2011), and Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023).
The New York Times wrote that, in the early 1980s, Bates "established herself as one of America's finest stage actresses". In 1983, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play 'night, Mother. The stage production ran for more than a year. She found further success on Off Broadway, in Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, for which she won an Obie Award for Best Actress in 1988. McNally specifically wrote the play for Bates. She later succeeded Amy Irving in the Off-Broadway production of The Road to Mecca in 1988. Around this time, she shifted her focus to screen acting, with roles in The Morning After (1986), and Summer Heat (1987).
Bates gained wider recognition in 1997 when she portrayed American socialite Molly Brown in James Cameron's epic romance disaster film Titanic. She received her second Academy Award nomination (and first in the Best Supporting Actress category) for her work as the acid-tongued political advisor Libby Holden in Primary Colors (1998), which was adapted from the book by political journalist Joe Klein. That same year, she starred as Adam Sandler's overprotective mother in The Waterboy (1998). The following year, she was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her work as deranged alien hunter Charlotte Everly in the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun as well as for Outstanding Directing in a Miniseries or Movie for her work on the Dashiell Hammett-Lillian Hellman biopic Dash & Lilly. In 2000, Bates received another Emmy Award nomination for her turn as Miss Hannigan in Disney's remake of Annie (1999).
In 2019, Bates portrayed American politician Miriam A. Ferguson in the Netflix crime film The Highwaymen. She also starred in the Clint Eastwood biographical drama film Richard Jewell, playing the mother of the title individual. For her performance, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, as well as her fourth Academy Award nomination (also in the Best Supporting Actress category).
| Parents | |
| Husband | Tony Campisi (m. 1991-1997) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of early 2025, Kathy Bates' net worth is reported to be approximately $20 million by several sources, though some estimates suggest it could be higher, around $32 million. Her wealth stems from her extensive work in film, television, and theater, as well as any business ventures or investments she may have.
Career, Business, and Investments
Kathy Bates has appeared in over 120 film and television projects, including blockbuster hits like Titanic (1997) and The Blind Side (2009). Her career highlights include winning an Academy Award for her portrayal of Annie Wilkes in Misery and earning multiple Emmy nominations for her work in television. Besides acting, Bates has also directed projects like Dash & Lilly (1999), for which she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing. In terms of business investments, there is limited information available about specific ventures.
Her paternal grandfather Finis L. Bates was a lawyer and author. Her great-great-grandfather, an Irish immigrant to New Orleans, Louisiana, served as President Andrew Jackson's doctor. She graduated early from White Station High School (1965) and from Southern Methodist University (1969), where she studied theater and became a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. She moved to New York City in 1970 to pursue an acting career. Bates is an alumna of the William Esper Studio for the performing arts in Manhattan, New York City.
On September 20, 2016, Bates received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her work in the film industry. Her star is located at 6927 Hollywood Boulevard. In 2017, Bates starred in the Netflix television series Disjointed, in which she played the character of Ruth Whitefeather Feldman, an owner of a California medical marijuana dispensary. The show aired for two seasons.
She has been praised for her ability to portray a wide range of characters across genres and performing media. Bates ascribes this to her perceived lack of conventional beauty, which has allowed her to take on unconventional and interesting roles from the very beginning of her career. Derek Malcolm of The Guardian noted that Bates emerged as a new kind of a film actress unrestrained by the necessity to be glamorous, a standard that had hitherto been expected of female screen stars. Referring to her acting talent, Malcolm added that, "[Bates] is a fine actress who knows that less in the way of a ‘performance’ is often more and that strong moments have to be severely rationed." Roger Ebert suggested that her role of Annie Wilkes is a prime example of Bates' exceptional talent for versatility, commenting that she is "uncanny in her ability to switch, in an instant, from sweet solicitude to savage scorn".
In April 2019, in her official capacity as LE&RN’s spokesperson, Bates testified to the United States Congress and led advocates in a Capitol Hill Lobby Day to garner congressional support for further research funding for lymphatic diseases. With the goal to make lymphedema a treatable disease, she asked Congress to establish a National Commission on Lymphatic Disease Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and to expand lymphatic disease research and programming at the NIH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2018, Bates addressed supporters at the first-ever DC/VA Walk to Fight Lymphedema & Lymphatic Diseases at the Lincoln Memorial. She was awarded the 2018 WebMD Health Heroes "Game Changer" Award for her role in raising awareness of chronic lymphatic disease.
Social Network
Kathy Bates maintains a relatively low profile on social media platforms. She is not known for being highly active online, focusing more on her professional engagements.
On television, Bates received Emmy Awards for her performances in Two and a Half Men (2012) and for her portrayal of Delphine LaLaurie in American Horror Story: Coven (2013). She was also Emmy-nominated for The Late Shift (1996), Annie (1999), Six Feet Under (2003), Warm Springs (2005), Harry's Law (2011–2012), American Horror Story: Freak Show (2014), and American Horror Story: Hotel (2015). Since 2024, she portrays the titular lead in the CBS series Matlock.
In 2013, she began starring in the American Horror Story series' third season, Coven, as Delphine LaLaurie, an immortal racist New Orleans socialite who is brought back into the modern world after spending 180 years buried alive. For that role, she won her second Emmy Award, in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. Bates claimed that Ryan Murphy, the creator of the series, "resurrected [her] career".
Bates returned for the fourth season of American Horror Story, Freak Show, this time as Ethel Darling, a bearded lady who performs in a freak show. She subsequently returned again for the fifth season, Hotel, where she played Iris, the hotel's manager. Bates returned for her fourth, and the show's sixth season, Roanoke, playing two characters—Thomasin "The Butcher" White and Agnes Mary Winstead. She received further Emmy Award nominations for Freak Show and Hotel.
In 2003, Bates was diagnosed with ovarian cancer; in January 2009, she said she had been in remission for more than five years. In September 2012, she revealed via Twitter that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer two months earlier and had undergone a double mastectomy. In 2014, at the New York Walk for Lymphedema & Lymphatic Diseases, Bates announced via pre-recorded audio that, due to the double mastectomy, she has lymphedema in both arms. That year, Bates was designated a spokesperson by the Lymphatic Education & Research Network (LE&RN) and appointed chairperson for LE&RN's honorary board.
In 2024, Bates appeared on the MeSsy Podcast with Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler to speak about her breast cancer diagnosis, her experience managing lymphedema, and her national lobbying and global advocacy work as the spokesperson for LE&RN. Bates has also discussed her efforts to raise awareness about lymphedema in interviews with The Saturday Evening Post and on the Office Ladies podcast. On March 6, 2025, Bates commemorated World Lymphedema Day, appearing in a video campaign for LE&RN alongside advocates from around the world to raise awareness about lymphedema.
Education
Bates attended Southern Methodist University, where she studied theater. This educational background helped her lay the foundation for her acting career, which she pursued in New York City after graduating.
In conclusion, Kathy Bates is a testament to enduring talent and dedication in the entertainment industry. Her net worth reflects her successful career spanning multiple decades, and her decision to retire from acting marks the end of an era in Hollywood.
Outside of acting, Bates is also known for her advocacy. After undergoing a double mastectomy and developing lymphedema, Bates became a spokesperson for the Lymphatic Education & Research Network (LE&RN).
In 2020, it was reported that Bates would be starring in an Irish drama film, The Miracle Club, with Maggie Smith and Laura Linney. The film's plot is being described as a "joyful and hilarious" journey of a group of riotous working-class women from Dublin, whose pilgrimage to Lourdes in France leads them to discover each other's friendship and their own personal miracles." The film premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. She was cast in the coming-of-age film Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023), a feature adaptation of Judy Blume’s novel of the same name, directed by Kelly Fremon Craig.
In addition to commending Bates for her versatility, critics have pointed to her remarkable talent for making her characters believable, no matter how strange or unconventional their personality may be. Jacob Trussell of Film School Rejects notes how "truthful" Bates' performances are, observing that her ability to access a character's inner life enables her to "approach [them] from unique angles that can surprise even the writers who created them".
Bates has spoken extensively about her experience with lymphedema and the need for greater awareness about lymphatic diseases as part of her advocacy work as spokesperson for LE&RN. She has provided numerous keynote addresses on this subject including in 2016 at the Gordon Research Conference in Lymphatics, in 2017 at the Research!America's Annual Meeting where she received the Isadore Rosenfeld Award for Impact on Public Opinion for raising awareness of lymphedema and lymphatic diseases alongside honorees former President Joseph Biden and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, in 2018 at the Lymphedema Symposium at Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School, and in 2019 at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting .
