Mother: Bertye Kathleen Bates. She died in 1997.

Her performance as Annie Wilkes in Misery (1990) is ranked #77 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

Auditioned for TV series "Three's Company" (1977) for role that ultimately went to Joyce DeWitt. Bates says she was relieved she didn't get the part because, after auditioning, she felt she really didn't want it.

Was nominated for Broadway's 1983 Tony Award as Best Actress (Play) for "'night, Mother."

Graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, USA in 1969 with an BFA in Theater.

Member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Actors Branch) [1998-2007].

Born at 11:12am-CDT.

Playwright Terrence McNally originally wrote the role of Frankie in "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune" for Bates. Johnny was played by Kenneth Welsh in the 1987 Off-Broadway production that starred Bates.

Donated $1 million to Hurricane Katrina victims.

She is a close friend of Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson, Elizabeth Perkins, John Travolta, Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet and Oprah Winfrey.

She is an artist and writer and hopes to someday write and illustrate her own children`s book. She has spoken at award ceremonies for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

Often mistaken for comedienne Roseanne, who in turn has spoofed Bates` Annie Wilkes role in Misery in a Saturday Night Live sketch.

Her Oscar-winning role as Annie Wilkes in Misery (1990) was ranked #17 on the American Film Institute`s villains list of the 100 years of The Greatest Screen Heroes and Villians.

Father, Langdon Doyle Bates, was a mechanical engineer. Mother Bertye Kathleen Bates died in 1997.

Youngest of 3 sisters. Sisters: Patricia and Mary.

Lived with ex-husband Tony Campisi for 12 years before marrying him.

Did her first ever nude scene at the age of 43 in At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991). She disrobed again for About Schmidt (2002).

Graduated from White Station High in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

Her two older sisters appeared briefly in Primary Colors (1998).