Kate Mulgrew

Katherine Kiernan Mulgrew, born on April 29, 1955, in Dubuque, Iowa, is the second oldest of eight children in an Irish Catholic family. Her mother, Joan, encouraged her early interest in acting, leading her to audition for local theatre productions. At 17, Mulgrew moved to New York City to pursue acting, gaining acceptance into the Stella Adler Conservatory. After only a year of study, she secured the lead role of Mary Ryan in the ABC soap opera ‘Ryan’s Hope’ in 1975, marking her debut in television. During this period, she also performed as Emily in the American Shakespeare Theatre’s production of ‘Our Town’ in Stratford, Connecticut. At age 23, following her success on ‘Ryan’s Hope’, Mulgrew was cast as Kate Columbo in ‘Mrs. Columbo’, a spin-off series which ran for two seasons. Her early film career included co-starring with Richard Burton in ‘Lovespell’ (1981) and Pierce Brosnan in the miniseries ‘The Manions of America’ (1981). Mulgrew also appeared in films like ‘Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins’ (1985) and ‘Throw Momma from the Train’ (1987), and had guest roles in television series such as ‘Cheers’ (1986) and ‘Murphy Brown’ (1992).

Mulgrew’s career reached a significant milestone in 1995 when she was cast as Captain Kathryn Janeway in ‘Star Trek: Voyager’. She became the first female captain to lead a ‘Star Trek’ series, portraying the character for seven seasons and briefly appearing as Admiral Kathryn Janeway in ‘Star Trek: Nemesis’ (2002). This role earned her the Saturn Award for Best TV Actress in 1998. After ‘Voyager’, Mulgrew returned to theatre, starring as Katharine Hepburn in the one-woman play ‘Tea at Five’ (2002-2005), which garnered her a Carbonell Award for Best Actress. In 2008, she received an Obie Award for her portrayal of Clytemnestra in Charles L. Mee’s ‘Iphigenia 2.0’. From 2013 to 2019, Mulgrew gained further recognition for her role as Galina ‘Red’ Reznikov in the Netflix series ‘Orange Is the New Black’, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. She has also authored two memoirs, ‘Born With Teeth’ (2016) and ‘How To Forget: A Daughter’s Memoir’ (2019).

Her voice acting work includes roles in ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ as Red Claw, the video game series ‘Dragon Age’ as Flemeth, and a reprisal of her Janeway role in ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ (2021-2024). Mulgrew continues to be active in television, with roles in ‘Mr. Mercedes’ (2019), ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’ (2022), and ‘Flowers in the Attic: The Origin’ (2022). Throughout her career, Mulgrew has demonstrated versatility across various mediums and genres, establishing a notable presence in the entertainment industry.