Patricia Colleen Nelligan (born March 16, 1950), known professionally as Kate Nelligan, is a Canadian stage, film and television actress. She was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 9th Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performanc ...

for the 1991 film '' The Prince of Tides'', and the same year won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for '' Frankie and Johnny''. She is also a four-time

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nominee for her work on Broadway, receiving nominations for '' Plenty'' (1983), '' A Moon for the Misbegotten'' (1984), '' Serious Money'' (1988) and ''Spoils of War'' (1989).

Early life

Nelligan, the fourth of six children, was born in

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

, the daughter of Patrick Joseph Nelligan and his wife Josephine Alice (née Deir). Her father was a factory repairman and municipal employee in charge of

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ...

s and recreational parks, and her mother was a schoolteacher. Her mother, whom Nelligan has described as "very powerful, very brilliant and very, very crazy", suffered from alcohol abuse and other psychological problems, and was institutionalized. Nelligan attended London South Collegiate Institute in London, Ontario, where she went by “Trish”, and then studied at Glendon College in Toronto, but did not graduate. Instead, she switched to studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England.

Career

In August 1972, Nelligan launched her professional stage career as a "funny and convincing" Corie in the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

production of '' Barefoot in the Park'' by

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three ...

. In the Bristol Old Vic studio space in the following April she took the role of Leila in '' The Screens'', an abridgement by

Howard Brenton Howard John Brenton FRSL (born 13 December 1942) is an English playwright and screenwriter, often ranked alongside contemporaries such as Edward Bond, Caryl Churchill, and David Hare. Early years Brenton was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, so ...

of Jean Genet's savage '' Les Paravents''. On television, she appeared in a regular role in the British television series '' The Onedin Line''. In 1974, she was invited to London to play the part of Jenny in David Hare's play ''Knuckle'' at the Comedy Theatre, followed by a season with the National Theatre playing Ellie in '' Heartbreak House''. 1975 saw her appear opposite

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor. Considered one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for List of Anthony Hopkins performances, his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins ha ...

in the televised play ''The Arcata Promise'' followed by the televised theatrical version of '' The Count of Monte Cristo'' that featured an all-star cast of British and American actors. That same year her first feature-length film '' The Romantic Englishwoman'' was released. In 1977, again with the National Theatre, Nelligan gave a "stunning" performance as Marianne, opposite Stephen Rea, in Horváth's '' Tales from the Vienna Woods'' directed by

Maximilian Schell Maximilian Schell (8 December 1930 – 1 February 2014) was a Swiss actor. Born in First Austrian Republic, Austria, his parents were involved in the arts and he grew up surrounded by performance and literature. While he was still a child, his fa ...

. Also in 1977, she played the part of Rosalind in ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

'', directed by Trevor Nunn, opposite

Peter McEnery Peter Robert McEnery (born 21 February 1940) is a retired English stage and film actor. Early life McEnery was born in Walsall, Staffordshire, to Charles and Ada Mary (née Brinson) McEnery. He was educated at Ellesmere College, Shropshire. Hi ...

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...

and the following year in London. This she followed with '' Plenty'', another play from David Hare, at the National Theatre, for which she received the 1978 "Best Actress" Evening Standard Theatre Award, with a runner-up position as "Best Actress in a New Play" in that season's Oliviers. She was cast in a similar role, playing opposite Bill Paterson, in Hare's

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

-award-winning companion play '' Licking Hitler'', for BBC television. Again on screen, in 1978 Nelligan played the part of Isabella in the

BBC Television Shakespeare The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to ...

production of ''

Measure for Measure ''Measure for Measure'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604 and first performed in 1604. It was published in the First Folio of 1623. The play centers on the despotic and puritan Angelo (Measure for ...

'', a performance that led the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' to describe her as providing "the image of idealized faultlessness". In 1979, she was the female lead alongside

Frank Langella Frank A. Langella Jr. (; born January 1, 1938) is an American actor. He eschewed the career of a traditional film star by making the stage the focal point of his career, appearing frequently on Broadway. He has received four Tony Awards (out of ...

and

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

in ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

''. In 1981, she starred opposite fellow Canadian Donald Sutherland in '' Eye of the Needle'', a wartime espionage thriller based on the Ken Follett best-selling novel. Two years later Nelligan moved to New York City, where she earned nominations for the

as Best Actress in a Play three times and one Featured Actress in a Play between 1983 and 1989 for the five Broadway plays in which she appeared. In 1991, Nelligan won a

for "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" for her performance in '' Frankie and Johnny''. For her performance in the 1991 film '' The Prince of Tides'' she was nominated for the

. Between 1987 and 2004, she was nominated for five Gemini Awards for her performances in Canadian television mini-series and films and won twice, both in 1993. In 1996, she played the wife of James Mink in the CBS television film ''Captive Heart: The James Mink Story''.

Personal life

Nelligan and American composer Robert Reale married in 1989. Together they have a son. The couple divorced in 2000.

Filmography

Film

Television

Broadway plays

*'' Plenty'' (1983) *'' A Moon for the Misbegotten'' (1984) *'' Serious Money'' (1988) *''Spoils of War'' by Michael Weller, Music Box Theatre New York (1988) *'' Love Letters'' (1989) *'' An American Daughter'' (1997)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelligan, Kate 1950 births Canadian film actresses Canadian stage actresses Canadian television actresses Best Supporting Actress BAFTA Award winners Best Supporting Actress Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Actresses from London, Ontario Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Living people Canadian expatriate actresses in the United Kingdom Glendon College alumni