Kathy Bates

Kathy Bates is an American Academy Award-winning actress and director who portrayed Bettina on Six Feet Under. She also directed five episodes of the series.

Biography
Born in Tennessee, she began her acting career in 1971 with a part in Miloš Forman's comedy Taking Off, in which she sang an original song. Throughout the next decade, she began working in television and appeared twice onscreen with Dustin Hoffman in the movies Straight Time and Dick Tracy, respectively.

However, she came to recognition in the 1990 Rob Reiner movie adaptation Misery, based on the Stephen King novel, playing obsessed fan Annie Wilkes and received the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She has received a further two Academy Award nominations for her roles in the movies Primary Colors and About Schmidt, respectively, as well as gaining further recognition for her role as the 'Unsinkable' Molly Brown in James Cameron's epic Titanic.

She has also been nominated for an Emmy Award twelve times, winning two. During the 1990s she also forged a career as a director.