Kate Capshaw | |
|---|---|
 Capshaw in 1984 | |
| Born | Kathleen Sue Nail (1953-11-03)November 3, 1953 (age 72) Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Missouri |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1981–2001 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 6, includingJessica,Sasha,Sawyer, andDestry |
| Relatives | Arnold Spielberg (father-in-law) |
Kathleen Sue Spielberg (néeNail; born November 3, 1953),[1] known professionally asKate Capshaw, is an American former actress and painter. She is best known for her portrayal ofWillie Scott, an American nightclub singer and performer inIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), directed by her eventual husbandSteven Spielberg. Since then, she starred inDreamscape (1984),Power (1986),SpaceCamp (1986),Black Rain (1989),Love Affair (1994),Just Cause (1995),The Locusts (1997), andThe Love Letter (1999). Her portraiture work has been shown in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and the Pérez Art Museum Miami.[2][3][4]
Capshaw was born Kathleen Sue Nail, the daughter of Edwin L. Nail (1933–1998), an airline employee and Beverly (née Simon; 1933–2013).[5][6]
She married marketing manager Robert Capshaw in January 1976 and they had one child,Jessica Capshaw, before divorcing in 1980.[7] She kept the surname Capshaw, which she used for her professional name upon becoming an actress.
Capshaw moved to New York City to pursue her dream of acting, landing her first role on the soap operaThe Edge of Night. After auditioning for a small role inA Little Sex, she was offered the role of the leading lady, which is when she asked for a dismissal fromThe Edge of Night. She starred inDreamscape in 1984, and afterwards was directed by her then-boyfriendArmyan Bernstein inWindy City.[8]
She met film director and future husbandSteven Spielberg upon winning the female lead asWillie Scott inIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), a prequel to Spielberg'sRaiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Capshaw starred oppositeHarrison Ford, who playedIndiana Jones. In addition, she appeared as Andie Bergstrom, an appealing and stern yet frustrated camp instructor in the 1986 filmSpaceCamp, oppositeRichard Gere andGene Hackman inPower (1986), and starred as Susanna McKaskel inThe Quick and The Dead (1987) withSam Elliott. Capshaw also starred in the spy film/romanceHer Secret Life.[9]
Capshaw had roles in several films throughout the late 1980s into the 1990s. She starred alongsideMichael Douglas andAndy García inBlack Rain (1989),Sean Connery andLaurence Fishburne inJust Cause (1995), andWarren Beatty andAnnette Bening inLove Affair (1994). She was also featured in the 1997 filmThe Alarmist withDavid Arquette andStanley Tucci. In 1999, she starred in and producedThe Love Letter.
In 2001, she starred in the made-for-cable filmA Girl Thing,[10] withStockard Channing,Rebecca De Mornay andElle Macpherson.[11] It is her last acting role to date.
In 2009, Capshaw began studying visual arts, including drawing, painting, and portraiture. She focused on painting portraits of homeless youth, and in 2019, three of her works were selected as finalists in the SmithsonianNational Portrait Gallery’sOutwin Boochever Portrait Competition. These portraits were included in the exhibition The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today.[12][13]
In 2024, Capshaw held a solo exhibition titledKate Capshaw: Exclusive Tonsorial Services at the Pérez Art Museum Miami. The work was inspired by conversations with Sergei (Sirj) Grant, a local barber and community leader involved in financial education and youth advocacy in Miami-Dade County.[14]
In 2022, the National Portrait Gallery commissioned Capshaw to a paint a portrait of Spielberg; accompanying the portrait will be a film of Spielberg’s work, curated by Capshaw, to be projected onto the portrait.[15] The portrait and film will enter the National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection after it is presented at the Portrait of a Nation Gala in November 2025, where Spielberg is a 2025 Portrait of a Nation Honoree. The work will remain on display through October 2026.[16]
During the production of the filmIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Capshaw became close to director Steven Spielberg, whom she later married. Originally anEpiscopalian, sheconverted to Judaism before marrying Spielberg on October 12, 1991.[17][18] They were married in both a civil ceremony and an Orthodox ceremony.[19]
There are seven children in the Spielberg–Capshaw family.
On April 28, 2023, Capshaw along with formerFirst LadyMichelle Obama made a surprise appearance on stage duringBruce Springsteen's show inBarcelona where they provided backing vocals and tambourine on the song "Glory Days".[23]
| Year | Title | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | A Little Sex | Katherine Harrison | |
| 1984 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | Willie Scott | |
| 1984 | Best Defense | Laura Cooper | |
| 1984 | Dreamscape | Jane DeVries | |
| 1984 | Windy City | Emily Reubens | |
| 1986 | Power | Sydney Betterman | |
| 1986 | SpaceCamp | Andie Bergstrom | |
| 1987 | The Quick and the Dead | Susanna McKaskel | |
| 1988 | Private Affairs | Brunetta | |
| 1989 | Black Rain | Joyce | |
| 1990 | Love at Large | Mrs. Ellen McGraw | |
| 1991 | My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys | Jolie Meadows | |
| 1994 | Love Affair | Lynn Weaver | |
| 1995 | Just Cause | Laurie Prentiss Armstrong | |
| 1995 | How to Make an American Quilt | Sally Dodd | |
| 1997 | The Locusts | Delilah Ashford Potts | |
| 1997 | The Alarmist | Gale Ancona | |
| 1999 | The Love Letter | Helen MacFarquhar | Also producer |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | The Edge of Night | Jinx Avery Mallory #1 | TV series |
| 1982 | Missing Children: A Mother's Story | Elaine Rogers | TV film |
| 1987 | The Quick and the Dead | Susanna McKaskel | TV film |
| 1987 | Her Secret Life | Annie | TV film |
| 1988 | Internal Affairs | Joanna Gates | TV film |
| 1993 | Black Tie Affair | Margo Cody | TV series; 13 episodes |
| 1994 | Next Door | Karen Coler | TV film |
| 1996 | Duke of Groove | Rebecka | Short film |
| 2001 | A Girl Thing | Casey Montgomery | TV film |
| 2001 | Due East | Becky Purdue | TV film |
