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Actor · Acting

Kate Nelligan

Born 1950-03-16
📍 London, Ontario, Canada

Kate Nelligan, born Patricia Colleen Nelligan on March 16, 1950, in London, Ontario, Canada, is a retired stage, film, and television actress celebrated for her commanding performances and versatility. She trained at Glendon College in Toronto and London's Central School of Speech and Drama before launching her professional career in 1972 with the Bristol Old Vic, appearing in productions like Barefoot in the Park. Nelligan rose to prominence in the UK with the National Theatre in plays such as David Hare's Knuckle (1974) and Tales from the Vienna Woods (1977), alongside early television roles in The Onedin Line and her film debut in The Romantic Englishwoman (1975).

In the early 1980s, she relocated to New York, where she garnered critical acclaim on Broadway, earning four Tony Award nominations for Plenty (1983), A Moon for the Misbegotten (1984), Serious Money (1988), and Spoils of War (1989). Her film career flourished with standout roles in Eye of the Needle (1981) opposite Donald Sutherland, Without a Trace (1983), and later Frankie and Johnny (1991), for which she won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress; she also received an Academy Award nomination for The Prince of Tides (1991). Other notable films include Wolf (1994), U.S. Marshals (1998), and The Cider House Rules (1999).

Filmography 62

Eleventh Hour
as Gepetto
2008
Premonition
as Joanne
2007
In from the Night
as Vera Miller
2006
Revisiting Brideshead
as Self (archive footage)
2005
A Wrinkle in Time
as Mrs. Which
2003
Walter and Henry
as Elizabeth
2001
Blessed Stranger: After Flight 111
as Kate O'Rourke
2000
The Cider House Rules
as Olive Worthington
1999
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
as Sylvia Quinn
1999
Swing Vote
as Justice Sara Marie Brandwynne
1999
Love Is Strange
as Kathryn McClain
1999
Boy Meets Girl
as Mrs. Jones
1998
Stolen Moments
as Narrator (voice)
1998
U.S. Marshals
as Walsh
1998
Calm at Sunset
as Margaret Pfeiffer
1996
Captive Heart: The James Mink Story
as Elizabeth Mink
1996
Up Close & Personal
as Joanna Kennelly
1996
How to Make an American Quilt
as Constance Saunders
1995
Margaret's Museum
as Catherine MacNeil
1995
A Mother's Prayer
as Sheila Walker
1995
Million Dollar Babies
as Helena Reid
1994
Into the Deep
as Self - Narrator (voice)
1994
Wolf
as Charlotte Randall
1994
Spoils of War
as Elise
1994
By Woman's Hand
as Self - Narrator (voice)
1994
Fatal Instinct
as Lana Ravine
1993
Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story
as Stephanie Chadford
1993
Liar, Liar
as Susan Miori
1993
The Diamond Fleece
1992
Heritage Minutes: Emily Murphy
as Emily Murphy
1992
Terror Stalks the Class Reunion
as Kay
1992
The Prince of Tides
as Lila Wingo Newbury
1991
Shadows and Fog
as Eve
1991
Old Times
1991
Frankie and Johnny
as Cora
1991
Performance
as Kate
1991
Golden Fiddles
as Anne Balfour
1991
White Room
as Jane
1990
Love & Hate: The Story of Colin and Joanne Thatcher
as JoAnn Thatcher
1989
Kojak: The Price of Justice
as Kitty
1987
Control
as Sarah Howell
1987
Eleni
as Eleni
1985
Without a Trace
as Susan Selky
1983
Victims
as Ruth Hession
1982
Eye of the Needle
as Lucy
1981
Mr. Patman
as Peabody
1981
Therese Raquin
as Thérèse
1980
Dreams of Leaving
as Charlotte
1980
Dracula
as Lucy Seward
1979
Measure for Measure
as Isabella
1979
Licking Hitler
as Anna Seaton
1978
Do as I Say
as Hilary
1977
Bethune
as Frances Bethune
1977
The Lady of the Camellias
as Marguerite Gautier
1976
The Count of Monte-Cristo
as Mercédès
1975
The Romantic Englishwoman
as Isabel
1975
The Arcata Promise
as Laura
1974
The Edwardians
as Alice Keppel
1972
Country Matters
as Christie Davenport
1972
Play for Today
as Hilary
1970
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as Margaret Pfeiffer
1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as Vera Miller
1951