Katherine Bailess is an American

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

, and

dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

best known for playing the role of Erica Marsh on the CW's hit show '' One Tree Hill'', Life and Death Brigade member Stephanie on ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. The show debuted October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagship series for the network. The show ran fo ...

'', and

Kyle Hart Kyle Patrick Hart (born November 23, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Boston Red Sox and in the KBO League for the NC Dinos. List ...

on the

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

series '' Hit the Floor''.

Early life

Bailess was born in

Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat. The population was 21,573 at the 2020 census. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vicksburg ...

, to Natalie and Bobby Bailess. Her father is an attorney and a former linebacker for the

Ole Miss Rebels football The Ole Miss Rebels football program represents the University of Mississippi, also known as "Ole Miss". The Ole Miss Rebels, Rebels compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Colleg ...

team at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

. She began training classically in dance at age four. She also participated in competitive gymnastics and cheerleading throughout her childhood. At age 11, Bailess performed on the televised

Miss Mississippi Miss Mississippi is a scholarship beauty contest, pageant and a preliminary of Miss America. The contest began in 1934, has been held in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Vicksburg since 1958, and provides more money than any other scholarship pageant in ...

Pageant as a dancer, and continued to perform for the pageant for seven years. She won scholarships to study dance at both the

Broadway Dance Center Broadway Dance Center is a dance school located at 322 West 45th Street west of Times Square in New York City. It was founded in 1984 as one of the first "drop-in" dance training schools in the world, offering classes in jazz, tap, ballet, conte ...

in New York City and

Ann Reinking Ann Reinking (November 10, 1949December 12, 2020) was an American dancer, actress, choreographer, and singer. She worked predominantly in musical theater, starring in Broadway productions such as ''Coco'' (1969), '' Over Here!'' (1974), ''Goodti ...

's Broadway Theater Project in Florida. She was a

debutante A debutante, also spelled débutante ( ; from , ), or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and is presented to society at a formal "debut" ( , ; ) or possibly debutante ball. Origin ...

. After college, Bailess went on to study at the

William Esper Studio The William Esper Studio was founded in 1965 as a school for the performing arts in Manhattan, New York. The school is dedicated to the acting technique of Sanford Meisner. Its founder, William "Bill" Esper, is occasionally referred to as the bes ...

's two-year intensive program.

Career

Bailess starred in the 2003 film ''

From Justin to Kelly ''From Justin to Kelly'' is a 2003 American musical romantic comedy film, written by Kim Fuller and directed by Robert Iscove. The movie features Kelly Clarkson, the winner of the first season of ''American Idol'', and Justin Guarini, the ru ...

'', playing the role of Alexa, and in Universal’s 2004 film ''

Bring It On Again ''Bring It On Again'' is a 2004 American cheerleading comedy film directed by Damon Santostefano and starring Anne Judson-Yager and Bree Turner. This film is a sequel to '' Bring It On series'', but there are no recurring cast members or canon ...

'', playing the role of Colleen Lipman. Her TV credits include recurring roles on the popular WB shows ''Gilmore Girls'' and ''One Tree Hill''. Kat also recurred on Fox’s '' The Loop'', ''Sordid Lives'' the Series and guest starred on ''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

''. Bailess starred in the

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

comedic series ''Shit Southern Women Say'' written and directed by Julia Fowler. Bailess played the role of

in the VH1 scripted series '' Hit the Floor''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

Katherine Bailess
Official Website *
Katherine Bailess
as Kyle Hart on

's Hit the Floor (TV series) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailess, Katherine Living people 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Mississippi American country singer-songwriters American debutantes American women country singers American female dancers American women singer-songwriters American film actresses American people of Welsh descent American television actresses American television hosts YouTubers from Mississippi Dancers from Mississippi Female models from Mississippi Marymount Manhattan College alumni Musicians from Vicksburg, Mississippi Singer-songwriters from Mississippi William Esper Studio alumni American women television hosts Year of birth missing (living people)