Kim Cattrall (born on August 21, 1956, in Liverpool, England, UK) is an Anglo-Canadian actress. She has gained notoriety and success in film, stage and television and became an international celebrity after landing her Golden Globe-winning role of femme fatale Samantha Jones in the HBO comedy series Sex and the City.

Childhood

Cattrall was born Kim Victoria Cattrall in Liverpool, 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 British Columbia, Canada. When her English grandmother become 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 5-Year movie deal with director Otto Preminger. A year later, Universal Studios bought out that contract and Catrall became one of the last participants of Universal Contract Player System. Her participation in the system was a great leap forward in her career by all accounts. During her time with Universal she guest starred in numerous television programmes of varying style and genre. Her work on 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. Her early success was an indication of things to come - she became a highly successful actress during the 1980s and starred in a flurry of Box Office hits.

Playing the sexy gym teacher in the 1982 smash hit Porky's was her first taste of celebrity status, and she followed her success up two years later in the original Police Academy. During 1985 she starred in 3 movies - Turk 182!, City Limits and Hold-Up, all of which gained satisfactory success and continued to push her career forward. In 1987, her lead role in Mannequin proved a huge success with audiences. Aside from her film work, Catrall is also a much respected stage and theatre actress, with some of her best performances in Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge and Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters. The 1990's proved to be a less successful period of her career, with various film roles that rarely made the most of her talents. All that changed, however, around 1997 when she was cast in Darren Star's ambitious comedy project titled Sex and the City.

As Samantha Jones in Sex and the City, Kim gained international recognition and acclaim for her portrayal of the incredibly sexy Femme Fatale. Her comedic timing and sheer charisma ensured her success in the boundary pushing HBO series and by the end of the show's first season, Kim was an international success story. She capitalised on her success playing Samantha by appearing in steamy television commercials promoting short lived Pepsi product Pepsi One. She also signed a lucrative publishing deal to write a book about sex with her third husband, whom she is now separated from. 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 the ill-received Britney Spears star vehicle Crossroads. Reports claim that Cattrall's high financial demands and a difficult 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 that she was back on silver screens, in the Disney picture Ice Princess. The same year she gained critical approval as Claire, a paralysed woman who wants to die, in the West End drama revival of Whose Life Is It Anyway.

Trivia

• Due to 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 [Cattrall] 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."

• At age 25, she briefly dated the now-deceased former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

• Rumoured to have not gotten along with co-star Sarah Jessica Parker.

Credits

• Ice Princess (2005)
• Sex and the City (1998–2004)
• Crossroads (2002)
• 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)
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
• The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
• Honeymoon Academy (1990)
• Brown Bread Sandwiches (1989)
• The Return of the Musketeers (1989)
• Smokescreen (1988)
• Masquerade (1988)
• Palaise Royale (1988)
• Midnight Crossing (1988)
• Mannequin (1987)
• Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
• Hold-Up(1985)
• City Limits (1985)
• Turk 182 (1985)
• Police Academy (1984)
• Sins Of The Past (1984)
• Porky's (1981)
• Ticket To Heaven (1981)
• Tribute (1980)
• The Gossip Columnist (1980)
• The Night Rider (1979)
• The Rebels (1979)
• Crossbar (1979)
• The Bastard (1978)
• Good Against Evil (1977)
• Deadly Harvest (1976)
• Rosebuds (1975)
• Piffle it's only a Sniffle

External links

• Kim Cattrall at the Internet Movie Database
• The Observer: 'A lot of guys my age are terrified of me' de:Kim Cattrall

pt:Kim Cattrall