Kate Nelligan Explained

Kate Nelligan
Birth Date:1950 3, mf=y
Birth Name:Patricia Colleen Nelligan
Birth Place:London, Ontario, Canada
Occupation:Actress
Alma Mater:Central School of Speech and Drama
Yearsactive:1972–2010
Children:1 son

Patricia Colleen Nelligan (born March 16, 1950), known professionally as Kate Nelligan, is a Canadian stage, film and television actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1991 film The Prince of Tides, and the same year won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Frankie and Johnny. She is also a four-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway, receiving nominations for Plenty (1983), A Moon for the Misbegotten (1984), Serious Money (1988) and Spoils of War (1989).

Early life

Nelligan, the fourth of six children, was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of Patrick Joseph Nelligan and his wife Josephine Alice (née Deir). Her father was a factory repairman and municipal employee in charge of ice rinks and recreational parks, and her mother was a schoolteacher.[1]

Her mother, whom Nelligan has described as "very powerful, very brilliant and very, very crazy",[2] suffered from alcohol abuse and other psychological problems, and was institutionalized.[3] Nelligan attended London South Collegiate Institute in London, Ontario, where she went by “Trish”,[4] and then studied at Glendon College in Toronto, but did not graduate.[5] Instead, she switched to studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England.

Career

In August 1972, Nelligan launched her professional stage career as a "funny and convincing" Corie in the Bristol Old Vic production of Barefoot in the Park by Neil Simon.[6] In the Bristol Old Vic studio space in the following April she took the role of Leila in The Screens, an abridgement by Howard Brenton of Jean Genet's savage Les Paravents.[7] On television, she appeared in a regular role in the British television series The Onedin Line. In 1974, she was invited to London to play the part of Jenny in David Hare's play Knuckle at the Comedy Theatre, followed by a season with the National Theatre playing Ellie in Heartbreak House. 1975 saw her appear opposite Anthony Hopkins in the televised play The Arcata Promise followed by the televised theatrical version of The Count of Monte Cristo that featured an all-star cast of British and American actors. That same year her first feature-length film The Romantic Englishwoman was released.

In 1977, again with the National Theatre, Nelligan gave a "stunning" performance as Marianne, opposite Stephen Rea, in Horváth's Tales from the Vienna Woods directed by Maximilian Schell.[8] Also in 1977, she played the part of Rosalind in As You Like It, directed by Trevor Nunn, opposite Peter McEnery in Stratford-upon-Avon and the following year in London.[9] This she followed with Plenty, another play from David Hare, at the National Theatre, for which she received the 1978 "Best Actress" Evening Standard Theatre Award, with a runner-up position as "Best Actress in a New Play" in that season's Oliviers.[10] [11] She was cast in a similar role, playing opposite Bill Paterson, in Hare's BAFTA-award-winning companion play Licking Hitler, for BBC television.[12]

Again on screen, in 1978 Nelligan played the part of Isabella in the BBC Television Shakespeare production of Measure for Measure, a performance that led the New York Times to describe her as providing "the image of idealized faultlessness".[13] In 1979, she was the female lead alongside Frank Langella and Laurence Olivier in Dracula. In 1981, she starred opposite fellow Canadian Donald Sutherland in Eye of the Needle, a wartime espionage thriller based on the Ken Follett best-selling novel. Two years later Nelligan moved to New York City, where she earned nominations for the Tony Award as Best Actress in a Play three times and one Featured Actress in a Play between 1983 and 1989 for the five Broadway plays in which she appeared.[14]

In 1991, Nelligan won a BAFTA for "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" for her performance in Frankie and Johnny.[15] For her performance in the 1991 film The Prince of Tides she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.[16] Between 1987 and 2004, she was nominated for five Gemini Awards for her performances in Canadian television mini-series and films and won twice, both in 1993.[17] In 1996, she played the wife of James Mink in the CBS television film Captive Heart: The James Mink Story.[18]

Personal life

Nelligan and American composer Robert Reale married in 1989. Together they have a son. The couple divorced in 2000.[19]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1975Isabel
1979DraculaLucy Seward
1980CrossoverPeabody
1981Eye of the NeedleLucy Rose
1983Without a TraceSusan Selky
1985EleniEleni Gatzoyiannis
1987ControlSarah Howell
1990White RoomJane
1991Frankie and JohnnyCora
1991Shadows and FogEve
1991Lila Wingo Newbury
1993Fatal InstinctLana Ravine
1994WolfCharlotte Randall
1995Margaret's MuseumCatherine MacNeil
1995How to Make an American QuiltConstance Saunders
1996Up Close & PersonalJoanna Kennelly
1998U.S. MarshalsUS Marshal Catherine Walsh
1998Boy Meets GirlMrs. Jones
1999Olive Worthington
2007PremonitionJoanne

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1971Great PerformancesLaura"The Arcata Promise"
1973Alice Keppel"Daisy"
1973Country MattersChristie Davenport"The Four Beauties"
1973–74Leonora BiddulphRecurring role
1974ITV Sunday Night DramaLaura"The Arcata Promise"
1975MercedesTV film
1976Marguerite Gautier"1.1", "1.2"
1977Ann"Treats"
1977Play for TodayHilary"Do as I Say"
1978Play for TodayAnna Seaton"Licking Hitler"
1979Measure for MeasureIsabellaTV film – BBC Shakespeare series
1980Thérèse RaquinThérèse RaquinTV miniseries
1980Play for TodayCaroline"Dreams of Leaving"
1980Forgive Our Foolish WaysVivien LanyonTV series
1982VictimsRuth HessionTV film
1987KittyTV film
1989JoAnn ThatcherTV film
1991American PlayhouseBarbara Hoyle"Three Hotels"
1991PerformanceKate"Old Times"
1992Road to AvonleaSydney Carver"After the Honeymoon"
1992KayTV film
1992Holly PlumTV film
1992Heritage MinutesEmily Murphy"Emily Murphy"
1993Liar, Liar: Between Father and DaughterSusan MioriTV film
1993Stephanie ChadfordTV film
1994Golden FiddlesAnne BalfourTV miniseries
1994In Spite of LoveEliseTV film
1994Million Dollar BabiesHelena ReidTV miniseries
1995Sheila WalkerTV film
1996Captive Heart: The James Mink StoryElizabeth MinkTV film
1996Calm at Sunset, Calm at DawnMargaret PfeifferTV film
1999Love Is StrangeKathryn McClainTV film
1999Swing VoteJustice Sara Marie BrandwynneTV film
2000Blessed Strangers: After Flight 111Kate O'RourkeTV film
2001Walter and HenryElizabethTV film
2003Mrs. WhichTV film
2004Human CargoNina WadeTV miniseries
2006In from the NightVera MillerTV film
2008Eleventh HourGepetto"Resurrection"
2010Judge Sylvia Quinn"Ace", "Gray"

Broadway plays

Awards and nominations

YearAwardNominated workResult
1978Olivier Award for Best Actress in a New PlayPlenty
1979BAFTA TV Award for Best ActressMeasure for Measure
1980 Dreams of Leaving / Therese Raquin / Forgive Our Foolish Ways
1983Tony Award for Best Actress in a PlayPlenty
1984A Moon for the Misbegotten
1988Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a PlaySerious Money
1989Tony Award for Best Actress in a PlaySpoils of War
1989Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama SeriesRoad to Avonlea
1990Gemini Award for Best Actress in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries
1990Genie Award for Best Actress in a Leading RoleWhite Room
1991Academy Award for Best Supporting ActressThe Prince of Tides
1991Frankie and Johnny
1993The Diamond Fleece
1995Margaret's Museum

Notes and References

  1. http://www.filmreference.com/film/50/Kate-Nelligan.html Kate Nelligan profile
  2. https://www.angelfire.com/ms/nelligan/artintpeople.html Bored with being a lady, actress Kate Nelligan gets down to earthy
  3. Web site: Kate Nelligan Biography – Yahoo! Movies.
  4. Web site: Lion's Pride Winter 2003 . South Alumni.
  5. http://myglendon.yorku.ca/monglendon.nsf/GLNewsE/4FCF4CB1C3EB71BE8525723D004E8A0C?OpenDocument Senior Executive Cites Liberal Arts Education for Success
  6. News: Plumley . C. Murray . On this week at Bristol . . 24 August 1972 . 18.
  7. News: . The Screens . The Stage . 5 April 1973 . 17.
  8. News: Attacking the NT with ink-balls. Barber. John. April 30, 1979. The Times. 10. London.
  9. Web site: RSC Performances AYL197709 - As You Like It Shakespeare Birthplace Trust . collections.shakespeare.org.uk . Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
  10. Web site: The Nominees and Winners of The Laurence Olivier Awards for 1978. Official London Theatre Guide. December 4, 2007. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080118062146/http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/awards/winners/display?contentId=72667. January 18, 2008.
  11. News: . Evening Standard theatre awards: 1955-1979 . . 10 April 2012 . en.
  12. Web site: Splitting Hares. Lawson. Mark. Mark Lawson. May 3, 1999. The Guardian. August 14, 2008.
  13. "Measure for Measure", Liner notes, The Shakespeare Collection, BBC DVD, originally broadcast February 18, 1979.
  14. http://www.playbill.com/person/kate-nelligan-vault-0000039278 "Kate Nelligan Broadway"
  15. http://www.allmovie.com/movie/frankie-and-johnny-v18496/awards "'Frankie and Johnny' Awards"
  16. http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/474214%7C473925/The-Prince-of-Tides.html The Prince of Tides
  17. http://www.academy.ca/About-the-Academy/Awards-Database?flow=person&step=1&byp-award-v=0&byp-winners-v=False&byp-name-v=Kate%20Nelligan&catf=20097 "Gemini Awards, Kate Nelligan"
  18. O'Connor, John J. "Slavery as Experienced By a Mixed-Race Couple" The New York Times, April 12, 1996
  19. News: Russell . Lisa . Passages . 31 July 2022 . . . 17 August 1992. lad is the first child for the Oscar nominee and her [scil. Kate Nelligan] husband, composer Robert Reale, 36..