July 2025

Honored numerous times for her work, Kathy Bates is an undeniable force on stage, screen and television. Bates won an Academy Award® and a Golden Globe® for her portrayal of obsessed fan Annie Wilkes in Rob Reiner’s 1990 hit “Misery,” based on Stephen King’s novel.

Bates can currently be seen starring in the critically acclaimed CBS drama MATLOCK. At 77, Bates has made Emmy history by becoming the oldest performer ever nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. This historic nomination represents just one of many honors she has received for her captivating performance as Madeline Matlock. The Emmy Award nomination also marks a significant moment for CBS, as Bates becomes the broadcast network’s first category nominee in over a decade.

Bates won the Critics Choice Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series and has been nominated for both a Golden Globe and SAG Award for her performance. She has also claimed victories at the Satellite Awards, Gracie Allen Awards, Astra Television Awards and Gotham TV Awards, while receiving additional nominations from the Television Critics Association and Gold Derby Awards. Bates has captured audiences’ hearts and brings a fresh and unexpected take on a legal drama. Bates serves as an executive producer on the show, which has already been picked up for a second season.

Bates was also awarded The Television Showperson of the Year Award at the 2025 ICG Publicist Awards and the 2024 Los Angeles Press Club Legend Award. Both awards represent the organizations’ highest honors and celebrate Bates’ remarkable achievements in the industry. She also received the Vanguard Award at the 2025 IndieWire Honors, recognizing her reputation for bringing an invigorating energy to every role she takes on.

Bates was recently seen in Michael Cristofer’s “The Great Lillian Hall” opposite Jessica Lange, Pierce Brosnan and Lily Rabe. The film is currently streaming on HBO Max and features incredible performances from the entire cast. For her role as Edith Wilson in the film, Bates garnered a Screen Actors Guild Nomination®. Previously, Bates was seen in the Lionsgate feature adaption of Judy Blume’s classic novel “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” alongside Rachel McAdams; Castille Landon’s comedy “Summer Camp” opposite Diane Keaton and Alfre Woodard; as well as the Netflix romcom “A Family Affair” with Nicole Kidman, Joey King and Zac Efron.

Bates received the National Board of Review Award as well as an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal as Bobi Jewell in Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell.” Starring alongside Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde and Jon Hamm, the WB film is based on the 1997 article “American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell” by Marie Brenner, published in Vanity Fair. 

In 1999, for her performance in Mike Nichols’ “Primary Colors,” Bates received Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations and won a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critics Choice Award. Bates earned her third Oscar nomination for her role in Alexander Payne’s “About Schmidt,” for which she won a National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations.  

Her film work has also been recognized with Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations for Jon Avnet’s film of Fanny Flagg’s “Fried Green Tomatoes.” She also shared a SAG Award nomination with the ensemble cast of James Cameron’s all-time, top-grossing blockbuster “Titanic,” as well as a nomination for the ensemble of Woody Allen’s biggest success, “Midnight in Paris.”  

Bates received her star on the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame on Sept. 20, 2016.  

Additional film credits include: “Dolores Claiborne” with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Christopher Plummer; “The Blind Side” with Sandra Bullock; Stephen Frears’ period drama “Cheri,” in which she starred with Michelle Pfeiffer; Sam Mendes’ drama “Revolutionary Road,” which reunited her with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet; Adam Sandler’s “The Waterboy”; Robert Altman’s “Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean”; “Straight Time” with Dustin Hoffman; and Milos Forman’s “Taking Off.”  

On television Bates has received 14 Emmy nominations, winning her first in 2003 playing the ghost of Charlie Harper in Chuck Lorre’s TWO AND A HALF MEN. Bates won rave reviews and her second Emmy as the deliciously evil Madame LaLaurie in Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story: Coven” on FX. She received two more Emmy nods for Ethel in “American Horror Story: Freak Show” and Iris in “American Horror Story: Hotel.”  

For the 1996 HBO film “The Late Shift,” Bates won a Golden Globe and a SAG Award as well as an Emmy nomination. Her television honors also include Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations for her performance as Miss Hannigan in the Disney musical “Annie.”

Bates has also been honored for her work behind the camera as a director. She helmed the A&E telefilm “Dash and Lily” starring Sam Shepard and Judy Davis, which earned nine Emmy nominations, including one for Bates as Best Director. She also directed five episodes of the acclaimed HBO series “Six Feet Under,” earning a Directors Guild of America Award® nomination for the episode entitled “Twilight.” Her directing credits also include episodes of “Oz,” “Homicide: Life on the Street” and PBS’ “Great Performances.” 

Bates first gained the attention of critics and audiences on the New York stage starring as Joanne in Jack Heifner’s “Vanities” – one of the longest running plays in Off-Broadway history. She was nominated for a Tony® Award for her portrayal of the suicidal daughter in the original Broadway production of Marsha Norman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “‘night, Mother.” She has been honored with an Obie® Award for her performance as Frankie in the original Off-Broadway production of Terrence McNally’s “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.” She portrayed Elsa Barlow in Athol Fugard’s “The Road to Mecca” and starred with Fugard and Yvonne Bryceland in the film.  

For the past several years, Bates has served as the national spokesperson for the Lymphatic Education and Research Network (LE&RN). LE&RN is an internationally recognized non-profit organization founded in 1998 to fight lymphatic diseases and lymphedema through education, research and advocacy. With chapters throughout the world, LE&RN seeks to accelerate the prevention, treatment and cure of these diseases while bringing patients and medical professionals together to address the unmet needs surrounding lymphatic diseases, which include lymphedema and lipedema.  

Bates currently resides in Los Angeles.