After moving to New York City, Bates worked several odd jobs as well as minor stage roles while struggling to find work as an actress. At one point, she worked as a cashier at theMuseum of Modern Art.[7]
In 1970, Bates was cast in a minor role in theMiloš Forman comedyTaking Off (credited as "Bobo Bates"), her first on-screen role in a feature film.[8] Following this, she continued to struggle to find acting roles, later claiming in an interview withThe New York Times that more than one casting agent told her that she wasn't sufficiently attractive to be a successful actress:
I'm not a stunning woman. I never was aningenue; I've always just been a character actor. When I was younger it was a real problem, because I was never pretty enough for the roles that other young women were being cast in. The roles I was lucky enough to get were real stretches for me: usually a character who was older, or a little weird, or whatever. And it was hard, not just for the lack of work but because you have to face up to how people are looking at you. And you think, "Well, y'know, I'm a real person."[9]
In 2002, she received her third Academy Award nomination, again in the Best Supporting Actress category, for performance as an aging free-spirited woman inAbout Schmidt, oppositeJack Nicholson. A scene in the film, which features Bates completelynude entering a hot tub, was noted by critics and received significant public attention.[21][22][23][24]NPR called it "the scene everyone is talking about".[22] Bates spoke about the scene in several interviews; speaking toHello!, she said:
"People either laugh or cheer ... I was at the premiere and there are a lot of women who are shouting, 'You go, girl!' ... I think there are a lot of women in the audience who are thrilled to see a real woman up on the screen in all her glory."[8]
On September 20, 2016, Bates received astar on theHollywood Walk of Fame for her work in the film industry. Her star is located at 6927Hollywood Boulevard.[37][38] In 2017, Bates starred in theNetflix television seriesDisjointed, in which she played the character of Ruth Whitefeather Feldman, an owner of a Californiamedical marijuana dispensary.[39] The show aired for two seasons.
In 2020, it was reported that Bates would be starring in an Irish drama film,The Miracle Club, withMaggie Smith andLaura Linney. The film's plot is being described as a "joyful and hilarious" journey of a group of riotous working-class women from Dublin, whose pilgrimage to Lourdes in France leads them to discover each other's friendship and their own personal miracles."[44] The film premiered at the 2023Tribeca Film Festival. She was cast in thecoming-of-age filmAre You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023), a feature adaptation ofJudy Blume'snovel of the same name, directed by Kelly Fremon Craig.[45]
In 2024, Bates began starring as Madeline Matlock in theCBS TV seriesMatlock. In September 2024, theNew York Times reported that Bates would retire after the production ofMatlock.[46] However, she later said that she had no plans to quit acting, and that while she "had one foot out the door" prior to beginning production onMatlock, she hoped to play the role "for years".[47] In October 2024, after only two episodes had aired,[48] CBS announced that the show had been renewed for a second season.[49][50] In February 2025, Bates won theCritics Choice Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of "Matty" Matlock.[49] In 2025, at age 77, she received a nomination for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, becoming the oldest person to do so.[51]
Since her universally acclaimed breakout role inMisery (1990), Bates has often been referred to by the media as one of America's most respected actresses.[52][53][54]
She has been praised for her ability to portray a wide range of characters across genres and performing media.[55][56] Bates ascribes this to her perceived lack of conventional beauty, which has allowed her to take on unconventional and interesting roles from the very beginning of her career.[57] Derek Malcolm ofThe Guardian noted that Bates emerged as a new kind of a film actress unrestrained by the necessity to be glamorous, a standard that had hitherto been expected of female screen stars. Referring to her acting talent, Malcolm added that, "[Bates] is a fine actress who knows that less in the way of a 'performance' is often more and that strong moments have to be severely rationed."[58]Roger Ebert suggested that her role ofAnnie Wilkes is a prime example of Bates' exceptional talent for versatility, commenting that she is "uncanny in her ability to switch, in an instant, from sweet solicitude to savage scorn".[59]
In addition to commending Bates for her versatility, critics have pointed to her remarkable talent for making her characters believable, no matter how strange or unconventional their personality may be.[60][61][62] Jacob Trussell ofFilm School Rejects notes how "truthful" Bates' performances are, observing that her ability to access a character's inner life enables her to "approach [them] from unique angles that can surprise even the writers who created them".[63]
Due to being theatrically trained, Bates tends to invest considerable time in studying the script, examining her given character's background, and rehearsing.[64][65]
As a teenager, Bates wrote self-described "sad songs" and struggled with bouts ofdepression.[66] Bates was married to Tony Campisi for six years, from 1991 until their divorce in 1997.[67] She met Campisi in 1977 and dated him for 14 years before their marriage.[9][68]
In 2003, Bates was diagnosed withovarian cancer; in January 2009, she said she had been inremission for more than five years.[69][70] In September 2012, she revealed viaTwitter that she had been diagnosed withbreast cancer two months earlier and had undergone a doublemastectomy.[71] In 2014, at the New York Walk for Lymphedema & Lymphatic Diseases, Bates announced via pre-recorded audio that, due to the double mastectomy, she haslymphedema in both arms. That year, Bates was designated a spokesperson[72] by the Lymphatic Education & Research Network (LE&RN) and appointed chairperson for LE&RN's honorary board.[73][74]
In 2021, Bates participated in LE&RN's National Lymphedema Awareness Campaign,[75] funded by theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to highlight her personal experience battling lymphedema and the risks of developing lymphedema for cancer patients.
In April 2019, in her official capacity as LE&RN's spokesperson, Bates testified to theUnited States Congress[76] and led advocates in a Capitol Hill Lobby Day[77] to garner congressional support for further research funding for lymphatic diseases. With the goal to make lymphedema a treatable disease, she asked Congress[77] to establish a National Commission on Lymphatic Disease Research at theNational Institutes of Health (NIH), and to expand lymphatic disease research and programming at the NIH and theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2018, Bates addressed supporters at the first-ever DC/VA Walk to Fight Lymphedema & Lymphatic Diseases[78] at theLincoln Memorial. She was awarded the 2018WebMD Health Heroes "Game Changer" Award for her role in raising awareness ofchronic lymphatic disease.[79]
Between roughly 2017 and 2024, Bates lost 100 pounds (45 kg), and said the weight loss gave her more energy to take on the leading role inMatlock.[80]
Bates has spoken extensively about her experience with lymphedema and the need for greater awareness about lymphatic diseases as part of her advocacy work as spokesperson for LE&RN. She has provided numerous keynote addresses on this subject including in 2016 at the Gordon Research Conference in Lymphatics,[83] in 2017 at the Research!America's Annual Meeting[84] where she received the Isadore Rosenfeld Award for Impact on Public Opinion[85] for raising awareness of lymphedema and lymphatic diseases alongside honorees former President Joseph Biden and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, in 2018 at the Lymphedema Symposium[86] at Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School, and in 2019 at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting[87][88].
In 2024, Bates appeared on theMeSsy Podcast with Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler[89] to speak about her breast cancer diagnosis, her experience managing lymphedema, and her national lobbying and global advocacy work as the spokesperson for LE&RN. Bates has also discussed her efforts to raise awareness about lymphedema in interviews withThe Saturday Evening Post[90] and on theOffice Ladies[91] podcast. On March 6, 2025, Bates commemorated World Lymphedema Day, appearing in a video campaign[92] for LE&RN alongside advocates from around the world to raise awareness about lymphedema.
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