Actress Kathy Bates has been a TV and movie mainstay for decades. She plays tough roles and is just as strong in real life.
Diagnosed with a chronic illness, she had to change a lot. In 1970, she went to New York to act. She said she was never a typical leading lady but still made it. “I was a character actor. Younger, it was tough. I wasn’t pretty enough. It was hard for work and facing how people saw me,” Bates said.
Her Broadway career took off in 1980 with Stella May in Come Back To The Five And Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. She missed some film roles of her stage characters. But at 42, she became a star overnight as a psycho fan in Misery and won an Oscar.
She talked about her roles. “You’re either young and glamorous for leads or not attractive enough for side roles. The lead lacks power. A character has power but not always femininity.”
She directed for shows like Homicide: Life On The Street and Six Feet Under.