Kim Cattrall

Kim Victoria Cattrall (born August 21, 1956) is an Anglo-Canadian actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Samantha Jones in the HBO comedy/romance series Sex and the City, for which she was nominated for the Emmy Award and the Golden Globe Award.

Childhood

Cattrall was born in Widnes, a town in north Cheshire, England. Her mother, Shane Cattrall, was a housewife; her father, Dennis Cattrall, was a construction worker. Cattrall has three siblings. When she was less than a year old, her family emigrated to Courtenay British Columbia, Canada. When her grandmother became ill, she returned to England at the age of 11. During this time she took lessons at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

Career

Cattrall began her career at age 16 when she left home to live alone in New York City. There, she attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and upon her graduation signed a five-year movie deal with director Otto Preminger. A year later, Universal Studios bought out that contract and Cattrall became one of the last participants of Universal Contract Player System. During her time with Universal, she guest starred in numerous television programmes of varying style and genre. Her work in television paid off, and she quickly made the transition to cinema. She starred opposite Jack Lemmon in his Oscar-nominated movie Tribute in 1980. The following year, she starred in the critically acclaimed Ticket to Heaven.

In 1982, Cattrall played Honeywell in Porky's, and that followed that up two years later in the original Police Academy. During 1985, she starred in three movies, Turk 182, City Limits and Hold-Up. In 1987, her lead role in Mannequin proved a huge success with audiences. One of her most well-known film roles is that of Lieutenant Valeris in The Undiscovered Country.

Aside from her film work, Cattrall is also a stage and theatre actress, with performances in Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge and Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters. In 1997, she was cast in Darren Star's new series, titled Sex and the City.

As Samantha Jones in Sex and the City, Kim gained international recognition. She capitalised on her success playing Samantha by appearing in steamy television commercials promoting the short-lived Pepsi product Pepsi One. She also signed a publishing deal to write a book about sex with her third husband, Mark Levinson. In addition, she can be heard reading the poetry of Rupert Brooke on the CD Red Rose Music SACD Sampler Volume One.

Her film work continued during Sex and the City, when she starred in Britney Spears' first film venture, Crossroads. She played the role of Caroline. Reports claim that Cattrall's high financial demands and a strained relationship with co-star Sarah Jessica Parker are responsible for the end of Sex and the City, but whatever the cause, Cattrall played Samantha for the last time in Spring 2004. In 2005 she appeared in the Disney picture Ice Princess, where she played the character of Tina Harwood the Hayden Panettiere and Trevor Blumas mom, and also portrayed Claire, a paralysed woman who wants to die, in the West End drama revival of Whose Life Is It Anyway. In early 2006 it was reported that Cattrall will soon join the cast of Desperate Housewives, playing Edie's (Nicollette Sheridan) wild sister.

Personal life

Cattrall has been married three times, to Larry Davis, Andre J. Lyson, who she divorced in 1989, and Levinson, who she divorced in 2004. She was previously engaged to actor Daniel Benzali and at age 25, briefly dated the now-deceased former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. She dated the much-younger Canadian chef Alan Wyse (over two decades her junior) from the summer of 2004 to 2005. She is currently involved with her Whose Life is it Anyway? co-star Alexander Siddig ^* best known for his role as Dr. Julian Bashir on the televsion series Deep Space Nine. Coincidentally, one of Kim Cattrall's more notable film roles was as the conspiring Vulcan protégé Lt. Valeris aboard the USS Enterprise in The Undiscovered Country.

Trivia

Because of an erroneous entry in the Internet Movie Database, it is often believed that Cattrall's birth name was "Clare Woodgate". This is, in fact, the birth name of British actress Georgina Cates.
In the January 2 edition of The Observer newspaper, an interview with Cattrall repeated the "Clare Woodgate" mistruth. The Observer later published a correction stating that, "Our interview ... was wrong to repeat a website which said ^* was born in Liverpool in 1956 'as plain Clare Woodgate'. She was born to Shane and Dennis Cattrall in Liverpool as Kim Victoria Cattrall. Apologies."
Rumoured not to have gotten along with co-star Sarah Jessica Parker.

Credits

Ice Princess (2005)...Tina Harwood
Sex and the City (1998–2004)...Samantha Jones
Crossroads (2002)...Caroline Wagner
15 Minutes (2001)
36 Hours To Die (1999)
Baby Geniuses (1999)
Modern Vampires (1999)
Peter Benchley's Creature (1998)
Exception To The Rule (1997)
Robin Cook's Invasion (1997)
Every Woman's Dream (1996)
Unforgettable (1996)
Where Truth Lies (1996)
Live Nude Girls (1995)
Above Suspicion (1995)
Op Center (1995)
The Heidi Chronicles (1995)
Running Delilah (1994)
Wild Palms (1993)
Breaking Point (1994)
Double Vision (1992)
Split Second (1992)
Miracle In The Wilderness (1991)
The Undiscovered Country (1991)
The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
Honeymoon Academy (1990)