Catherine Mary Stewart (; born 22 April 1959) is a Canadian actress. Her film roles include '' The Apple'', '' Night of the Comet'', '' The Last Starfighter'' and ''

Weekend at Bernie's ''Weekend at Bernie's'' is a 1989 American black comedy film directed by Ted Kotcheff, written by Robert Klane, and starring Andrew McCarthy, Jonathan Silverman, Catherine Mary Stewart, and Terry Kiser. It tells the story of two young in ...

''. She was also the original Kayla Brady in ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

''.

Early life

Stewart was born on 22 April 1959, in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, the daughter of Mary (Stewart) and John Ralph Nursall. Her parents taught at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

, her mother a physiology teaching assistant and her father a biology professor. Stewart attended Strathcona Composite High School. She first took jazz dance lessons, and moved to London after high school to study dance and general performing arts, and where she passed the audition for her first movie, ''The Apple''.

Career

In 1980, Stewart landed a role in '' The Apple'', a musical science fiction cult film. During the production of ''The Apple'', the director

Menahem Golan Menahem Golan (; May 31, 1929 – August 8, 2014, originally Menachem Globus) was an Israelis, Israeli film producer, screenwriter, and director. He co-owned The Cannon Group with his cousin Yoram Globus. Cannon specialized in producing low-to-mid ...

took issue with her original name Mary Nursall and insisted she change it, which she did using her mother's maiden name. After moving to Los Angeles, she obtained a role on the

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

'', playing the original Kayla Brady from January 1982 to December 1983. She also auditioned for projects like '' Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story'', against

Jamie Lee Curtis Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for List of Jamie Lee Curtis performances, her performances in the horror and slasher film, slasher genres, she is regarded as a scream qu ...

. In 1984, she starred in two science fiction feature films, '' The Last Starfighter'' as Maggie Gordon and '' Night of the Comet'' as Regina Belmont. She later played a leading role in the teen comedy '' Mischief''. In the mid-1980s, Stewart appeared in two

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

: '' Hollywood Wives'' (1985) and ''

Sins In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considere ...

'' (1986), where she played the younger version of

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Awards, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emm ...

's character. She made guest appearances on television series such as '' Knight Rider'', ''

Hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

'', ''

Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 ...

'' and '' The Outer Limits''. She starred in several made-for-TV movies such as '' Murder by the Book'' (1987), '' Passion and Paradise'' (1989), '' Perfect Harmony'' (1991) and '' Ordeal in the Arctic'' (1993). In 1989, she appeared as Gwen Saunders in the comedy film ''

''. She, too, had a small role on The A-Team, season 2 episode titled Steel. Beginning in the mid-1990s, she scaled back her appearances while raising her family. After her children had grown, she again started appearing in television and film roles, and expressed an interest in directing. In 2010, she appeared in the film ''A Christmas Snow''. In 2016, she directed the short movie ''A Walk to Remember''. She starred in the

Hallmark A hallmark is an official Mark (sign), mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''Wikti ...

holidays movies ''Rock N' Roll Christmas'' in 2019 and ''A Christmas Comeback'' in 2020.

Personal life

She is the sister of Alan Nursall, a scientist and media personality who reports on science news for the Canadian TV series ''

Daily Planet The ''Daily Planet'' is a fictional newspaper appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Superman. The newspaper was first mentioned in ''Action Comics'' #9 (November 13, 1939) – Underworld Politics ...

'' and the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

. Another brother, John Nursall, is a freelance writer and TV/film documentary director and producer. She was married to actor John Findlater in 1983 and divorced in 1985. She married Richard Allerton in 1992. She has a daughter and a son and lived in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, as of 2013.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* *
Interview with Catherine Mary Stewart at Classic Film & TV Cafe, 27 January 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Catherine Mary 1959 births 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses Actresses from Edmonton Canadian expatriate actresses in the United States Canadian film actresses Canadian soap opera actresses Canadian television actresses Living people