Born
on the 29th April 1955 in Dubuque, Iowa, Kate was the
oldest girl of eight. She left home at 17 and traveled to New York
City to study acting. There she enrolled at New York University and
was accepted into the famed Stella Adler Conservatory. At the end of
her junior year, Kate left university to commit herself full-time to
her craft.
Kate
was immediately cast as Mary Ryan on the ABC drama Ryan’s Hope,
while simultaneously earning the role of Emily in a production of
‘Our Town’.
At the
age of 23, Kate was approached by the head of programming for NBC,
Fred Silverman, who offered her a starring role in a series he had
created with her in mind- Kate Colombo. The series found Kate playing
the wife of TV’s detectives, Lt. Colombo. While a critical success
the series was cancelled after two seasons.
Mulgrew
went on to star in several feature films, including ‘Love Spell:
Isolt of Ireland’ alongside Richard Burton, and ‘A Stranger is
Watching’ with Rip Torn. She traveled to Europe to film a
mini-series ‘The Manions of America’ with Pierce Brosnan, and
spent time in Mexico filming the feature ‘Remo Williams: The
Adventure Begins.’
She
returned to television as a star of the ABC drama Heartbeat, where she
portrayed Doctor Joanne Springstein. This series, which aired for two
seasons, won a People’s Choice Award for Best Drama. Following this
Mulgrew went on to co-star in the comedy series Man Of The People with
James Garner.
Her
episodic television credits include a recurring role as a Boston
councilwoman and Sam Malone’s love interest in Cheers. She portrayed
an alcoholic anchorwoman on an episode of Murphy Brown.
Mulgrew
is also a veteran of numerous theatrical productions. She made her
Broadway debut in ‘Black Comedy’, ‘Titus Andronicus’, ‘Hedda
Gabler’ and ‘Measure for Measure.’
She is
the recipient of the 1998 Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance
by an actress in a dramatic TV series and the 24th Annual
Saturn Award for Best Genre TV Actress.
After
Voyager, Kate has been performing in a one woman show about Katherine
Hepburn's life called 'Tea At Five' in Hartford, Connecticut. She has
also been helping her husband during his political campaigning in
Ohio. She has also a guest starring role in Star Trek: Nemesis.
Kate
resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Tim Hagan, and two sons, Ian
and Alexander.
