Kim Victoria Cattrall was born on 21 August 1956[1] in theMossley Hill area ofLiverpool,[2] to British parents; secretary Gladys Shane (née Baugh; 1929–2022) and construction engineer Dennis Cattrall (1925–2012).[3] She has two sisters and a brother, Christopher Cattrall (1963–2018).[4][5] When she was 3 months old, her family immigrated to Canada and settled inCourtenay, British Columbia. At age 11, she returned to Liverpool when her grandmother became sick. She took acting examinations at theLondon Academy of Music and Dramatic Art,[6] but returned to Canada after one year and moved toNew York City at the age of 16 for her first acting role.
Cattrall began her career after graduating fromGeorges P. Vanier Secondary School in 1972,[7] when she left Canada for the US. She attended theAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, and upon her graduation signed a five-year film deal with directorOtto Preminger. She made her film debut in Preminger's action thrillerRosebud (1975). A year later,Universal Studios bought out that contract and Cattrall became one of the last participants in the contract player system of Universal (also referenced as MCA/Universal during this period) before the system ended in 1981.[8] The Universal system's representative in New York, Eleanor Kilgallen (sister ofDorothy Kilgallen), cast Cattrall in numerous television guest-star roles. One of the first jobs Kilgallen got her was in a 1977 episode ofQuincy, M.E. starringJack Klugman, whom Kilgallen also represented.
In 1978, Cattrall played the house guest of a murderous psychologist in an episode ofColumbo, and was in "Blindfold", an episode of the 1970s action seriesStarsky & Hutch, in which Starsky (played byPaul Michael Glaser) is grief-stricken because he accidentally blinded Cattrall's character, young artist Emily Harrison, by a shot of his gun. She appeared inThe Bastard (1978) andThe Rebels (1979), two television miniseries based on theJohn Jakes novels of the same names. In 1979, she played the role of Gabrielle White onThe Incredible Hulk and would go down in televisionHulk lore as one of the few characters who knew David Banner (alter ego of the title character) was alive and was the creature. Her work in television paid off and she quickly made the transition to cinema. She appeared oppositeJack Lemmon in hisOscar-nominated filmTribute (1980), and inCrossbar, the film about a high jumper who loses his leg and still participates in the Olympic trials, with Cattrall's help. The following year, she appeared inTicket to Heaven.
In 1997, she was cast inSex and the City,Darren Star's series which was broadcast on HBO. AsSamantha Jones, Cattrall gained international recognition. She capitalized on her success by appearing in steamy television commercials promotingPepsi One.Sex and the City ran for six seasons and ended as a weekly series in spring 2004 with 10.6 million viewers. Cattrall reprised the role of Samantha Jones in the 2008Sex and the City film, as well as the 2010 sequelSex and the City 2. For her role on the television series, she was nominated for fiveEmmy Awards,[9] and fourGolden Globe Awards, winning one in 2002. She also won two ensembleScreen Actors Guild Awards, shared with her co-starsSarah Jessica Parker,Kristin Davis andCynthia Nixon, although she later revealed she never got along with them.[10] She was ranked number eight inTV Guide's 50 sexiest stars of all-time list in 2005.[11] In 2008 she was honoured by the Cosmopolitan UK Ultimate Women Of The Year Awards with theUltimate Icon Award.[12] She was also awarded the NBC Universal Canada Award of Distinction[13] at the 2008 Banff World TV Festival.
Cattrall played Amelia Bly inRoman Polanski's well-receivedThe Ghost Writer (2010) and voiced the character Dee in the Canadian adult animated sitcomProducing Parker, the latter, for which she was awarded a Gemini for Best Performance in an Animated Program or Series. Cattrall has a star onCanada's Walk of Fame in Toronto.[18] While filmingSex and the City 2 inMarrakech, she took part in a seminar, 'Being directed' with directorJohn Boorman as part of the third edition of theArts in Marrakech Festival.[19] Cattrall acted oppositeMatthew Macfadyen in a 2010 revival ofNoël Coward's playPrivate Lives at theVaudeville Theatre on London's West End, for which she received aWhats on Stage nomination for Best Actress.[20]" In the same year, Cattrall starred as Gloria Scabius (alongside Macfadyen once again) in Channel 4 adaptation ofWilliam Boyd's novelAny Human Heart.
In 2013, Cattrall starred inthe Old Vic's production ofTennessee Williams'sSweet Bird of Youth, directed by Olivier Award-winnerMarianne Elliott. In 2014, she starred in and executive producedHBO Canada'sSensitive Skin, an adaptation of the 2005 British series. In 2015, the show was nominated for an International Emmy Award.[27] The show was nominated for numerous Canadian Screen Awards with Cattrall receiving a nomination in 2017[28] for her role as Davina Jackson in the series. The show is now available for streaming on Netflix.[29]
Cattrall was originally cast in the title role of Linda in a 2015 play byPenelope Skinner, to be directed by Michael Longhurst and produced at London'sRoyal Court Theatre. She was forced to drop out of that production a few days before the opening, due to "chronic, debilitating insomnia". She returned to New York and started a program of cognitive behaviour therapy to train herself to be able to sleep better. The therapy was successful; it included developing certain evening rituals, removing electronic devices from her bedroom, and limiting the use of the bed to two activities, one of which would be sleeping. Meanwhile, for the scheduled opening of Skinner's play, actressNoma Dumezweni took over the role to much acclaim and publicity.[30][31][32] Cattrall opened up to the BBCWoman's Hour on her insomnia journey and how she was able to manage it.[33] Cattrall later returned that year to guest edit the BBC'sWoman's Hour to discuss "Choosing to Be Child Free" and "Being a Parent Without Giving Birth"[34] which raised controversial response and opinions. She was also seen in 2015 on the SkyArts shortRuby Robinson,[35] a physical comedy where Cattrall starred as Ruby, a woman living with a troupe of unusual acrobat helpers, who is taught a valuable lesson by her nephew.
Cattrall took part in the BBC Arts'I'm with the Banned,[36] the flagship event in Belarus Free Theatre's (BFT) tenth-anniversary celebrations. Commissioned by The Space, the concert took place at London'sKOKO and was broadcast worldwide. Radical underground company BFT brought together a unique line-up of musicians and performers to stand up for artistic freedom of expression and against injustice.
In 2016, Cattrall starred in the BBC mini-seriesThe Witness for the Prosecution[37] based on the Agatha Christie short story. The celebrated two part mini-series was nominated for a 2017 BAFTA[38] award for "Best Mini-Series." In 2017, Cattrall also joined the cast of the hit[39] Swedish TV showModus,[40] playing the President of the United States.Modus first aired in Sweden in 2015 and was later broadcast by BBC Four in the UK. The show also airs in Canada, Australia, France and Japan and is handled by FremantleMedia International.[40] From 2018 to 2019, Cattrall starred on theParamount+ seriesTell Me a Story.
In 2020, Cattrall starred on theFox dramaFilthy Rich,[41] where she played Margaret Monreaux, the matriarch of a Southern family which has become mega-rich and famous for creating a wildly successful Christian television network. After her husband dies in a plane crash, Margaret and family are stunned to learn that he fathered three illegitimate children, all of whom are written into his will — threatening their family name and fortune. Cattrall also served as a producer on the series.[42] Cattrall was honoured at the 2020 Atlanta TV festival with the Icon Award for the show.[43]
Development began on a revival ofSex and the City following the cancellation of a third film adaptation. Catrall previously expressed that she did not want to return for the third film due to disagreeing with its planned storylines, involving killing off Mr. Big, and Samantha receiving nude pictures from Miranda's 14-year-old son, Brady.[44] The reboot titledAnd Just Like That... premiered in 2021. In 2022, Sarah Jessica Parker spoke onThe Hollywood Reporter'sAward Chatter podcast about why Cattrall wasn't asked to be a part of the revival. She stated, "We did not ask her to be part of this because she made it clear that that wasn't something she wanted to pursue, and it no longer felt comfortable for us, and so it didn't occur to us".[45] In 2023, however, Catrall reprised her role as Samantha for a brief cameo for the season 2 finale.[46]
Cattrall at theHBO party after the 1999 Emmy Awards
Cattrall has held dual British and Canadian citizenship for most of her life[48] and became an American citizen in 2020 in order to vote inthat year's election.[49][50] Cattrall does not drink alcohol, saying that, "I'm not a big drinker and when I do, I get a headache."[16] On 21 December 1988, Cattrall narrowly escaped death when she was booked onPan Am Flight 103 but, a day prior, re-arranged her schedule to fly later that evening so she could shop atHarrods.[51][52]
In 2009, Cattrall took part in theBBC One documentary seriesWho Do You Think You Are?. She discovered that her grandfather George Baugh disappeared in 1938, having abandoned his family (including Cattrall's then 8-year-old mother and her two younger sisters) and turned out to havebigamously married his new wife the following year inTudhoe; he subsequently had another four children. Cattrall was told that Baugh immigrated to Australia in 1961, became apostmaster, retired in 1972, and died inSydney in 1974.[53] Her mother and aunts had known nothing of their father's life after he left until they heard what theWho Do You Think You Are? researchers had discovered, nor had the family previously seen a clear photograph of him. An edited version of the episode was later shown as a part of theU.S. series of the same name.
On 4 February 2018, Cattrall announced that her brother had disappeared inAlberta. She asked for public help in finding him,[4] and he was found dead several hours later, having taken his own life.[5][4]
Cattrall has been married three times. Her first marriage, from 1977 to 1979, was to Larry Davis, and was annulled. Her second marriage, from 1982 to 1989, was to Andre J. Lyson; the couple lived inFrankfurt, where she learned to speak German fluently, but she admits she has forgotten much of it.[54][55][56] Her third marriage, from 1998 to 2004, was to American audio equipment designerMark Levinson; the couple co-wrote the bookSatisfaction: The Art of the Female Orgasm (2002).[57]
Cattrall briefly dated former Canadian Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau (and in 2016 was misidentified on60 Minutes, from a 1981 photo, asMargaret, the mother of his sonsJustin, Alexander, and Michel).[58][5] She has also been connected to Brazilian-American actorDaniel Benzali, American musicianGerald Casale, French public intellectualBernard-Henri Lévy, and British-Sudanese actorAlexander Siddig. She has been datingBBC employee Russell Thomas since 2016.[59]
^The Witness for the Prosecution (Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller), Billy Howle, Kim Cattrall, Monica Dolan, Andrea Riseborough, Mammoth Screen, Agatha Christie Productions, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), 26 December 2016, retrieved1 December 2020{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)