Kathy BakerBirth Place: Midland, Texas, USA Date of Birth: June 8, 1950 Heritage: American Famous for: Her role in 'Edward Scissorhands' (1990) Contact Kathy Baker | 
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Picket Fences Background: Three-time Emmy-Award winning American character actress Kathy Baker first made an impact with her supporting role as a doomed hooker on the film “Street Smart” (1987), opposite Christopher Reeve and Morgan Freeman. Due to her bravura performance, she was handed a Boston Society of Film Critics Award and a National Society of Film Critics Award, in addition to an Independent Spirit nomination. Following strong portrayals in such movies as “Permanent Record” (1988), “Jacknife” (1989) and “Edward Scissorhands” (1990), the versatile performer enjoyed TV stardom as Dr. Jill Brock on the CBS critically acclaimed series “Picket Fences” (1992-1996), during which time she collected her three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, two Viewers for Quality Television Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She also received Emmy nominations for her guest performances in the shows “Touched by an Angel” (2000) and “Boston Public” (2001) and for her scene-stealing role in the 2002 TV film “Door to Door.” Baker's more recent film credits include “The Cider House Rules” (1999), “The Glass House” (2001), “Assassination Tango” (2002), “Cold Mountain” (2003), the remake “All the King's Men” (2006) and “The Jane Austen Book Club” (2007). In the ensemble drama “Nine Lives” (2005), the appealing actress took home a Bronze Leopard Award at the 2005 Locarno International Film Festival and shared a Gotham nomination. As a stage actress, Baker won an Obie Award after portraying May on the booming Off-Broadway play “Fool for Love” (1983), by Sam Shepard. Moviegoers should not miss Baker's awesome performances in the forthcoming films “Shades of Ray” (2007), “Last Chance Harvey” and “Miss Nobody”(both 2008). On the small screen, she is set to reprised her role as Rose Gammon on the Tom Sellect vehicle “Jesse Stone: Thin Ice” (2008). Outside the spotlight, Baker has been married twice. She and first husband Donald Camillieri divorced after fourteen years of marriage. They have two children together. She is now the wife of TV director Steven Robman, whom she married in 2003.
Childhood and Family: Kathy Whitton Baker was born on June 8, 1950, in Midland, Texas, to French-born Helene Andree (aka. Lany Baker) and John Seawand Baker, who was an educator and geologist. She was raised in New Mexico as a Quaker. Due to the violence and emotional warfare rife, Kathy decided to leave the acting program at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California and then transferred to the University of California-Berkeley, from which she earned a B.A degree in French in 1977. She lived in France for several years to study haute cuisine at Paris' renowned Cordon Bleu. Upon receiving her Le Grande Diplome, she returned to the USA and worked as a pastry chef. Kathy was married to Donald Camillieri from 1985 to 1999. They have two children, including Julian Joseph Camillier (born in 1984). She married present husband Steven Robman, a TV director, in June 2003.
Career: Texas-born, New Mexico-raised Kathy Baker started acting in Albuquerque Children's Theatre when she was ten years old, but did not pursue professional career until she was in her 30s. She dropped out of the acting program at college and spent several years at France, her mother's native country, to study cooking. Back to the USA, Baker worked as a pastry chef at San Francisco and auditioned at the Magic Theatre. Eventually, she nabbed a starring role in the Magic Theatre's production of “The Man Who Killed the Buddha,” where she was discovered by Sam Shepard. Impressed by her outstanding performance, Shepard cast Baker opposite Ed Harris in the San Francisco's premiere of his play, “Fool for Love” (1982), playing May. The actress reprised her role in the successful Off-Broadway run in the following year and received an Obie Award for her fine acting. After the success, she made her film acting debut as Scott Glenn's wife in Philip Kaufman's “The Right Stuff” (1983), which also starring Sam Shepard and Ed Harris. Baker resurfaced three years later in 1986, when she starred opposite Peter Weller in the thriller “A killing Affair/My Sister's Keeper,” directed by David Saperstein. Later that same year, she debuted on the small screen costarring with Marlo Thomas, Ray Baker and Caroline Kava in the based-on-true story TV-film “Nobody's Child,” which aired on CBS. It was in 1987 that Baker enjoyed her breakout film role when she was cast as an ill-fated prostitute named Punchy on the crime/drama “Street Smart.” Costarring with Christopher Reeve and Morgan Freeman, the then up and coming Baker displayed her extraordinary attraction and won a Boston Society of Film Critics and a National Society of Film Critics as well as an Independent Spirit nomination, for her bright scene-stealing performance. Also in 1987, she found herself guest starring on episodes of NBC's “Amazing Stories” and ABC's “Mariah.” Next up for Baker, the actress offered a memorable cameo turn as the mother of a popular and talented high school student who commits suicide in the touching drama “Permanent Record” (1988) and then returned to the starring role as a recovering drug user in the drama “Clean and Sober” (also 1988), opposite Michael Keaton. She confirmed her status as an exceptional performer in the following year with her costarring turn opposite Robert De Niro and Ed Harris in the drama film “Jacknife,” playing a spinster schoolteacher who puts her life on detention to take care of her troubled Vietnam vet brother (played by Harris). She closed out the decade with a supporting part in the Oscar nominee “Dad” (1989), starring Jack Lemmon. After playing Marcie Guilford in the HBO original film “The Image” (1990), Baker delivered a rare comedic appearance as the smitten neighbor on Tim Burton's “Edward Scissorhands” (1990), starring Johnny Depp in the title role. She went on to have supporting roles in the pleasant medical drama “Article 99” and the thriller “Jennifer 8” (both 1992) and reunited with De Niro for the comedy “Mad Dog and Glory” (1993). She also starred in the NBC TV-movie “One Special Victory” (1991), a basketball drama directed by Stuart Cooper, and appeared in the Showtime drama “Lush Life” (1993). However, it was Baker's first regular role as Dr. Jill Brock on the David E. Kelley created drama/comedy “Picket Fences” (1992-1996) that brought the actress massive acclaim and popularity. A slightly offbeat show, “Picket Fences”did not acquire a very large viewers, but its consuming critical plaudit maintained the CBS series on the airwaves for a respectable four-season run. For her brilliant performance, Baker took home three Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (1993, 1995 and 1996), a 1994 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series-Drama, a 1995 Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series as well as two consecutive Viewers for Quality Television for Best Actress in a Quality Drama Series in 1994 and 1995. Baker revisited the big screen after the demise of “Picket Fences” with a supporting part as Peter Gallagher's sister-in-law in the drama/romance “To Gillian on her 37th Birthday” (1996). She next played the mother of two sons (portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix and Billy Crudup) on the period drama “Inventing the Abbotts” (1997) and was featured as one of the nurses at the orphanage in the Oscar-nominated film “The Cider House Rules” (1999), scripted by John Irving based on his bestselling novel. Meanwhile, Baker became even more busy with work on television. She memorably portrayed a community activist attempting to sedate the improving tide of white supremacy in her community on USA Network's drama, “Not in This Town” (1997), had a feature role in the HBO original movie “Weapons of Mass Distraction” (also 1997) and delivered an emotionally moving performance as a survivor of the Oklahoma City bombing in Lifetime's “Oklahoma City: A Survivor's Story” (1998). Still in 1998, she had a recurring role as a woman accused of killing a baby in two episodes of the ABC legal drama “The Practice.” She then costarred as a single-minded social worker in director Michael Pressman's holiday drama, “A Season for Miracles” (CBS, 1999). Entering the new millennium, Baker found herself acting in the Sundance-screened episodic film “Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her” (2000), which was aired on Showtime in 2001. The same year, she also played the dual role of a spoiled soap opera star/unvarnished shopkeeper in Showtime children's fantasy film “Ratz” and guested as Ellen in an episode of CBS's drama, “Touched By an Angel,” for which she was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. She picked up her next Emmy nomination in 2001 for her guest stint as a controlling mother, Meredith Peters, on the Fox show “Boston Public,” again created by David E. Kelley. Her role was turned into a series regular in the 2001-2002 season. While working on “Boston Public,” Baker costarred in the thriller movie “The Glass House” (2001). Baker teamed up with William H. Macy, Helen Mirren and Kyra Sedgwick in the made-for-TV film “Door to Door” (2002) and received an Emmy nomination for her supporting role as Gladys Sullivan. Later that same year, she acted along side Robert Duvall in his drama film, “Assassination Tango” (2002), and then in 2003 she was featured in the Nicole Kidman vehicle “Cold Mountain.” Baker joined the ensemble cast of Rodrigo García's “Nine Lives” (2005) that included Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, Joe Mantegna, Ian McShane, Aidan Quinn, Sissy Spacek and Robin Wright Penn. As Camille, she won a Bronze Leopard for Best Actress at the 2005 Locarno International Film Festival and jointly earned a Gotham nomination in the category of Best Ensemble Cast. The same year, she also acted in the TV films “Fathers and Sons” and “Spring Break Shark Attack” and appeared in episodes of “Medium” and “Nip/Tuck.” The industrious performer costarred with Sean Penn, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Kate Winslet, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Clarkson, James Gandolfini and Jackie Earle Haley in the gripping film “All the King's Men” (2006), based on the Robert Penn Warren novel, and more recently, portrayed Bernadette, a yoga enthusiast, on the big screen version of “The Jane Austen Book Club” (2007). On the small screen front, she kept busy playing roles in the TV films “Babylon Fields” and “Jesse Stone: Sea Change” and made guest appearances in the shows “Gilmore Girls” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (all 2007). Currently, Baker has completed filming the comedy feature “Shades of Ray” (2007), playing the mother of Zachary Levi. She also has supporting roles in the upcoming films “Last Chance Harvey” (2008), directed and written by Joel Hopkins and costarring with Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman and James Brolin, and “Miss Nobody” (2008), a dark comedy starring Leslie Bibb. As for television, she will reprise her role as Rose Gammon on the TV film sequel “Jesse Stone: Thin Ice” (2008), starring Tom Selleck.
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