Kim Victoria Cattrall was born on the 21st of August 1956 in the Mossley Hill area of Liverpool, the daughter of secretary Gladys Shane (née Baugh) and construction engineer Dennis Cattrall. She had a brother named Christopher who died in 2018. When she was three months old, her family emigrated to Canada and settled in Courtenay, British Columbia. From an early age, she was captivated by her mother's tales of her maternal grandfather, George Baugh, who disappeared from his Toxteth family home in 1938, leaving behind his three young daughters, including Kim's mother, Gladys, who was eight. The family George abandoned slid into abject poverty in the impoverished suburb of Toxteth and Kim's mother remembers drinking out of jam jars and turning old jumper sleeves into socks. It marked her for much of Gladys' life. However her grandfather was living just 40 miles away in Manchester, and remarried with three children, so as her grandparents had never divorced, this made George a bigamist.
At the age of 11, Kim returned to Liverpool when her grandmother became sick and took acting examinations at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. After returning to Vancouver, at age 16, she graduated from high school and won a scholarship to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) in New York City. During her final year at the Academy, she won a role in Otto Preminger's action thriller 'Rosebud' (1975). Following her film debut, Kim returned to the theatre, first in Vancouver and then in repertory in Toronto before winning a contract at Universal Pictures in Los Angeles, California. When Universal Studios bought out her contract, one of her first jobs was in a 1977 episode of 'Quincy,M.E.' with Jack Klugman. She continued to work in TV appearing in 'Columbo' (1978), 'Starsky & Hutch' (1978) and two mini-series, 'The Bastard (1978) and 'The Rebels' (1979). Also in 1979, she played the role of Dr. Gabrielle White in 'The Incredible Hulk', being one of the few characters who knew David Banner (alter ego of the title character) was alive and was the creature. Her work in television paid off and she quickly made the transition to cinema starring opposite Jack Lemmon in his Oscar-nominated film 'Tribute' (1980). After appearing in 'Ticket to Heaven' (1981) she was in cult classics such as 'Police Academy' (1984), 'Big Trouble in Little China' (1986), 'Mannequin' (1987), and then as Mr. Spock's protegee Lieutenant Valeris in 'Star Trek V1: The Undiscovered Country' (1991).
However, it was her portrayal of sexually liberated public relations executive Samantha Jones on the HBO sitcom 'Sex and the City' (1998), and its two feature film follow-ups, that brought her worldwide attention, and gained her five Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations including winning the 2002 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. In 2008 she was honoured in the Cosmopolitan UK Ultimate Women Of The Year Awards with the Ultimate Icon Award for her role as Samantha in the hit series and was also awarded the NBC Universal Canada Award of Distinction at the 2008 Banff World TV Festival. In 2009 she voiced the character Dee in 17 episodes of the Canadian adult animated sitcom 'Producing Parker' (2009-2011) for which she was awarded a Gemini for Best Performance in an Animated Program or Series.
Then in 2010, Kim was named an Honorary Fellow of Liverpool John Moores University in recognition of her contributions to the dramatic arts. In 2014 this Mossley Hill born actress was presented with an International Arts Icon award as she returned to Merseyside to pick up her accolade by Everyman and Playhouse duo Gemma Bodinetz and Deborah Aydon. Kim, 58, treaded the boards at the Liverpool Playhouse in a production of 'Antony and Cleopatra' in 2010. It was reported, "Her performance as Cleopatra at the The Playhouse wowed critics and audiences alike and her pride in her Liverpool roots was moving to behold." A visit to Liverpool’s rebuilt Everyman Theatre was high on her list – as well as Sefton Park Meadows and Mei Mei Chinese restaurant in Berry Street. Kim revealed that she credits her Liverpool roots for helping her tackle tough roles. "It's fantastic that the ECHO is here because I always think of Liverpool as my true home," she said. "I like playing confident, strong women and rebels. I love rebels, and I think my Liverpool background definitely has an influence on my playing those sort of characters. My parents didn't have much but they had an amazing sense of humour and, coming from a lower-middle-class family which didn't have money to spare, humour certainly came in handy. What they did have they gave to all four of us kids - a belief that learning and bettering yourself always came first."
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/01/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-alexie.html
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