![Kathy Bates speaking at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Entertainment Weekly: Women Who Kick Ass", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (Kathy Bates) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/mynewsla.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/SDCC_2015_-_Kathy_Bates_19711594786.jpg?ssl=1)
Shirley MacLaine and Billy Bob Thornton were among those joining Bates in speaking at the ceremony in front of the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX. Bates and Thornton are part of the cast of “Bad Santa 2,” set to be released Nov. 23.
“So many people make it possible for us actors to do the thing that we dearly love to do — the studios, the networks, the producers, the directors, actors, artists and craftsmen who build and design the costumes, the makeup and hair and the special effects, the crews who sweat through every hour with us with never a complaint, and the guys who feed us and the drivers get us all there and back safely,” Bates said. “If it weren’t for them, I’d be mumbling to myself dancing around in my underwear in an empty parking lot.”
Bates won a best actress Oscar in 1991 for her portrayal of an obsessed fan in “Misery.” She also received best supporting actress Oscar nominations in 1999 for “Primary Colors” and in 2003 for “About Schmidt.”
Bates has received 14 Emmy nominations. She received an outstanding supporting actress in a miniseries or movie Emmy in 2014 for her portrayal of real-life socialite Madame Marie Delphine LaLurie on FX’s “American Horror Story: Coven.”
Bates won an outstanding guest actress in a comedy Emmy in 2012 for her role as the ghost of the character played by Charlie Sheen on CBS’ “Two and a Half Men.”
Born June 28, 1948, in Memphis, Tennessee, Bates graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1969 and moved to New York City in 1970 to pursue an acting career.
Bates made her movie debut in 1971 in the comedy “Taking Off.” Her film credits also include “Titanic,” “Fried Green Tomatoes” and “Midnight in Paris.”
Bates also received Emmy nominations for her work on “The Late Shift,” “3rd Rock from the Sun,” “Annie,” “Six Feet Under,” “Warm Springs,” “Ambulance Girl,” “Alice,” “Harry’s Law,” “American Horror Story: Freak Show” and “American Horror Story: Hotel.”
Bates received an outstanding directing Emmy nomination in 1999 for the A & E movie about writers Dashiell Hammett and Lillian Hellman, “Dash and Lilly.”
The ceremony came six days after the premiere of FX’s “American Horror Story: Roanoke” in which Bates plays the leader of a hostile tribe.
Bates will star in the Netflix marijuana workplace comedy “Disjointed.”
Bates first gained attention for her stage work in New York City, beginning in 1976 with the off-Broadway comedy-drama “Vanities.” She received a Tony nomination in 1983 for best actress in a play for her role as the suicidal daughter in “‘night, Mother.”
—City News Service