An attractive, versatile supporting player and occasional lead, Kim Cattrall won attention as the sex-starved coach in the surprise hit teen comedy, “Porky’s” (1981) and was excellent as a bitchy socialite opposite Rob Lowe in Bob Swaim’s stylish thriller, “Masquerade” (1988), although she may be probably best remembered as the animated alter ego of the titular clotheshorse in the 1987 romantic comedy “Mannequin”. With a long list of credits in better forgotten low-budget features, Cattrall did more impressive work on the small screen with roles as the mysterious former lover of James Belushi in the Oliver Stone-produced, “Twin Peaks”-style miniseries, “Wild Palms” (ABC, 1993), a former beauty queen, wife and mother having an affair with the stable boy in the short-lived “Angel Falls” (CBS, 1993) and a fortyish femme fatale PR agent living the high life in NYC on the hit HBO series “Sex and the City” (1998- ).
Born in Liverpool, England, but raised in Canada, Cattrall did some acting as an 11-year in a Liverpool theater during a visit back home. She dropped out of high school at age 16 to move to NYC and try her hand at acting. She became possibly the youngest graduate ever of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and made her professional stage debut in a production of “The Rocky Picture Horror Show”. She has since appeared infrequently on stage: she was Masha in a 1985 production of “Three Sisters” and co-starred with Ian McKellen in the unsuccessful Chekhov adaptation “Wild Honey” (1986). Other credits include “The Misanthrope” in 1989 at Chicago’s famed Goodman Theatre and the title role of “Miss Julie” (1992) at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey.
A lovely brunette who also made a convincing blonde intermittently throughout her career, Cattrall made her feature film acting debut for producer-director Otto Preminger in “Rosebud” (1975), but it was not until 1980 that she had a truly showy part, that of the young woman hand-picked by Jack Lemmon to bring his stuffy son Robby Benson alive in “Tribute”. She followed with a memorable scene amidst smelly gym socks in “Porky’s”, was among the ensemble in the first “Police Academy” (1984) and starred opposite Kurt Russell as a sharp lawyer in John Carpenter’s “Big Trouble in Little China” (1986). Her spate of unremarkable film work has been punctuated by such memorable work as her turn as the villainous Justine DeWinter in the otherwise uninspired reunion film “The Return of the Musketeers” (1989), Mr. Spock’s protege Valeris in “Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country” (1991) and the high school friend about to embark on her third marriage in “Live Nude Girls” (1995).
On the small screen, Cattrall won notice as Melanie Adams in the CBS miniseries “Scruples” (1980) and played an aspiring political columnist who ends up writing something else entirely in “The Gossip Columnist” (syndicated, 1980). She kept busy with turns in such forgettable fare as 1984′s “Sins of the Past” (ABC) and 1991′s “Miracle in the Wilderness” (TNT), but returned with a spark to the role of Susan, the title character’s best friend, in “The Heidi Chronicles” (TNT, 1995). Work in the miniseries thrillers “Robin Cook’s ‘Invasion’” (NBC, 1997) and “Peter Benchley’s ‘Creature’” (ABC, 1998) kept the alluring actress in the public eye.
Cattrall finally landed a role that made the most of her youthful good looks and onscreen poise and charisma and earned her popularity and critical acclaim: public relations maven Samantha Jones on the racy HBO sitcom “Sex and the City” (1998-2004). The most carnally adventurous of a group of successful NYC professionals, Samantha would have to be played by an exceptionally self-assured performer and Cattrall’s strikingly unreserved but polished and skilled portrayal of the straight-talking socialite earned the actress five Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Cattrall never landed the trophy, however, but did take home a 2003 Golden Globe). Easily the show’s most outrageous, if sometimes cartoonish, character, Samantha was integral to the show’s comedic success, and when Cattrall balked at the big-screen version of the series–officially due to scheduling issues, but reportedly due to friction with Sarah Jessica Parker and her other co-stars and producers–the project was scuttled.
Off the success of the show, Cattrall also landed roles in the features “Baby Geniuses” (1999), which reunited her with “Porky’s” director Bob Clark; “15 Minutes” (2001) opposite Robert DeNiro; “The Devil and Daniel Webster” (2001); and, as Britney Spears’ neglectful mother, in “Crossroads” (2002). Playing off of her character’s seductive reputation, Cattrall also co-wrote the 2002 sex-tip tome Satisfaction: The Art of the Female Orgasm with her then-husband Mark Levinson–ironically, the couple split shortly after the book’s publication. She took a role in the Disney film “Ice Princesss” (2005) as a hard-driving ice skating coach with big plans for her daughter–the family-oriented film was the project Cattrall took instead of the “Sex and the City” feature (though Cattrall said she would definitely consider returning to the character should a big screen effort finally come to fruition).
- Also Credited As:
Clare Woodgate
- Born:
on 08/21/56 in Liverpool, England
- Job Titles:
Actor
Family
- Father: Dennis Cattrall.
- Mother: Shane Cattrall.
- Siblings: has three; Cattrall is the second oldest
- : has one stepdaughter
Significant Others
- Husband: Andreas Lyson. German; married in 1982; separated c. 1987; divorced in 1989
- Husband: Mark Levinson. born c. 1947; married on September 4, 1998 in East Hampton, New York
- Husband: . first husband; Canadian; briefly married when she was in her early 20s
- Companion: Daniel Benzali. engaged as of August 1996; separated; reconciled in 1997; no longer together
- Companion: Jonathan Silverman. dated in the late 1980s; no longer together
Education
- London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, London, England
- American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York, New York
Milestones
- 1956 Moved from England to Vancouver Island, Canada, at the age of three months
- 1967 Returned to England to visit at age 11 (date approximate)
- 1975 Feature film acting debut in Otto Preminger’s “Rosebud” while in final year at Academy of Dramatic Arts
- 1977 Made TV-movie acting debut in “Good Against Evil” (ABC)
- 1978 Featured in the syndicated miniseries “The Bastard”
- 1979 Reprised role in the syndicated miniseries sequel “The Rebels”
- 1980 Acted in the CBS miniseries “Scruples”, based on Judith Krantz’s bestseller
- 1980 First major film acting role (as an adult) in “Tribute”
- 1980 Played title role in the syndicated TV-movie “The Gossip Columnist”
- 1981 Had a memorable featured role in the teen sex comedy “Porky’s”
- 1984 Played a former call girl turned vigilante in the NBC TV-movie “Sins of the Past”
- 1984 Was one of the recruits attending “Police Academy”
- 1985 Acted in the drama feature “Turk 182″
- 1986 Made Broadway debut opposite Ian McKellan in “Wild Honey”, Michael Frayn’s translation of Chekhov’s “Ivanov”
- 1986 Was featured in John Carpenter’s adventure “Big Trouble in Little China”
- 1987 Played the title character’s animated alter ego in the silly romantic comedy “Mannequin”
- 1988 Featured opposite Rob Lowe in the thriller “Masquerade”
- 1989 Had a supporting role as a villainess in the uninspired reunion film “The Return of the Musketeers”
- 1990 Co-starred as Tom Hanks’ sophisticated wife in Brian De Palma’s disappointing “Bonfire of the Vanities”
- 1991 Played Mr Spock’s protegee, Valeris, in “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country”
- 1993 Co-starred in the short-lived CBS primetime soap “Angel Falls”
- 1993 Played featured role of Paige in the four-part ABC miniseries “Wild Palms”
- 1995 Had a supporting role in the TNT presentation of Wendy Wasserstein’s popular play “The Heidi Chronicles”
- 1995 Played a woman reliving her youth with a slumber party on the eve of her third marriage in the comedy-drama “Live Nude Girls”
- 1996 Featured in the supernatural thriller “Unforgettable”
- 1996 Starred opposite Jeff Fahey in the CBS thriller “Every Woman’s Dream”
- 1997 Featured in the NBC miniseries thriller “Robin Cook’s ‘Invasion’”
- 1998 Co-starred as sexually liberated PR agent Samantha Jones in the HBO comedy series “Sex and the City”; earned Emmy nominations in 2000 and 2001
- 1998 Played a woman under attack by genetically engineered killer sharks in the ABC miniseries “Peter Benchley’s ‘Creature’”
- 1999 Had a co-starring role in the misfire “Baby Geniuses”
- 2001 Made cameo appearance as a hardnosed TV producer in “15 Minutes”
- 2002 Appeared in Alec Baldwin’s troubled directorial debut “The Devil and Daniel Webster”
- 2002 Received a SAG nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series (“Sex and the City”)
- 2003 Received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in “Sex and the City”
- 2004 Received a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Samantha in “Sex and the City”
- 2005 Starred in the romantic dramedy “Ice Princess” playing a coach to an aspiring figure skater (Michelle Trachtenberg)
- 2005 Will headline an update of Brian Clark’s play “Whose Life Is It Anyway?” at London’s Duke of York’s Theatre
- Made professional debut with little theater company in Liverpool
- Returned to Vancouver; later performed in repertory theater in Toronto
- Signed to long-term contract with Universal Studios
- Stage debut in production of “The Rocky Horror Show”
