Catherine Hicks

Catherine Hicks Headshot

Actress

Birth Date: August 6, 1951

Age: 72 years old

Birth Place: New York City, New York

Catherine Hicks had a master's degree in theater and Broadway credits by the time she earned an Emmy nomination for playing Marilyn Monroe in the warmly received "Marilyn: The Untold Story" (ABC, 1980). She continued her ascent with high-profile roles in projects like the campy miniseries "Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls" (CBS, 1981) and the series "Tucker's Witch" (CBS, 1982-83), as well as feature films "Peggy Sue Got Married" (1986) and, most famously, as the whale-obsessed biologist in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986). She won a Best Actress Saturn Award for her starring role as a mother who buys Chucky, a demonically possessed doll, in the horror hit "Child's Play" (1988). After supporting roles in "She's Out of Control" (1989) and "Turbulence" (1997), Hicks landed her most famous part, as the down-to-earth Annie Camden, who, along with her reverend husband Eric (Stephen Collins), used faith and common sense to shepherd their brood in the long-running inspirational family drama "7th Heaven" (The WB, 1996-2006; The CW, 2006-07). Although she never quite achieved household name status, Catherine Hicks built an impressively varied career that showed her considerable range and talent.

Born Aug. 6, 1951 in New York City, Catherine Mary Hicks grew up in Arizona but graduated from Saint Mary's College in Indiana. Determined to be an actress, she went on to study drama at Cornell University on a fellowship, earning her master's degree in theater. Hicks made her screen debut as pediatrician Dr. Faith Coleridge on the soap opera "Ryan's Hope" (ABC, 1975-1989) and began earning Broadway credits soon after, including a role opposite Jack Lemmon in the drama "Tribute." After essaying the junior high school principal on the TV version of "The Bad News Bears" (CBS, 1979-1980), she scored the highly coveted role of screen icon Marilyn Monroe in "Marilyn: The Untold Story" (ABC, 1980), despite looking nothing like the sex symbol. While many had previously essayed Monroe, Hicks's sensitive and genuine portrayal earned her an Emmy nomination as Best Actress in a Miniseries or Special.

The following year, she won the role of Ann Welles, the young woman searching for her place in the world, who undergoes a rough education on life in the miniseries version of "Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls" (CBS, 1981). Buoyed by her continuing success, Hicks followed by scoring the the female lead of the fun, frothy sitcom, "Tucker's Witch" (CBS, 1982-83), as the magical half of a husband-and-wife detective team. She also continued to make big-screen inroads with roles in "Garbo Talks" (1984), "The Razor's Edge" (1984) and "Peggy Sue Got Married" (1986), but more fans took note of her as Dr. Gillian Taylor, a biologist interested in cetology and romancing Captain Kirk (William Shatner) in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986), a role that earned her a Best Supporting Actress Saturn Award nomination. She charmed with a small role in the Dudley Moore/Kirk Cameron body-switch comedy "Like Father Like Son" (1987) and won a Best Actress Saturn Award for her role as a terrified mother who inadvertently buys her son a murderous doll named Chucky in "Child's Play" (1988).

Her "Child's Play" role proved auspicious in other ways as well. In 1990, she married famed make-up and special effects artist Kevin Yagher, who had designed and executed the notorious Chucky. The actress continued to work steadily, booking roles in the Tony Danza big-screen comedy "She's Out of Control" (1989), the glossy nighttime soap opera "Winnetka Road" (NBC, 1994) and the airplane thriller "Turbulence" (1997). Her most famous role, however, came when she was cast as Annie, the warm and wise wife to reverend Stephen Collins, as well as being the mother of their large brood on the family drama "7th Heaven" (The WB, 1996-2006; The CW, 2006-07). Although its gentle tone and inspirational overtones struck some as cloying, the series delighted others with its focus on family values and faith, and Hicks herself provided a strong maternal influence. Continuing in the vein of her inspirational-leaning later career roles, she appeared in the religious indie drama "The Genesis Code" (2010) and settled into a string of roles in family-themed projects, such as "Elf Sparkle and the Special Red Dress" (2010) and "A Christmas Wedding Tail" (Hallmark Channel, 2011).

Credits

The Legend of Alice Flagg

Actor
Hazel Burroughs
Movie
2016

After the Rain

Actor
Linda
Movie
2016

Butter

Actor
Movie
2016

Win, Lose or Love

Actor
Movie
2015

A Christmas Reunion

Actor
Aunt Linda
Movie
2015

That Gal...Who Was in That Thing: That Guy 2

Actor
Movie
2015

The Dog Who Saved Easter

Actor
Cressida
Movie
2014

Cowboys and Indians

Actor
Barkeep
Movie
2013

Reach

Actor
Movie
2013

Dangerous Attraction

Actor
Annette Bramble
Movie
2012

A Christmas Wedding Date

Actor
Shirley
Movie
2012

Ghost Phone: Phone Calls From the Dead

Actor
Gertrude
Movie
2011

A Valentine's Date

Actor
Judge Cramer
Movie
2011

The Clinic

Actor
Jean
Movie
2011

Game Time: Tackling the Past

Actor
Anna Walker
Movie
2011

A Christmas Wedding Tail

Actor
Ellen
Movie
2011

Dorfman

Actor
Rose
Movie
2011

The Genesis Code

Actor
Myra Allitt
Movie
2010

Stranger With My Face

Actor
Shelley Stratton
Movie
2009

My Name Is Jerry

Actor
Dana Holderman
Movie
2009

Poison Ivy: The Secret Society

Actor
Elisabeth
Movie
2008

Poison Ivy: The Secret Society

Actor
Elisabeth
Movie
2008

Magiczny zegar

Actor
Movie
2000

For All Time

Actor
Kristen
Movie
2000

Turbulence

Actor
Maggie
Movie
1997

Eight Days a Week

Actor
Ms. Lewis
Movie
1997

7th HeavenStream

Actor
Annie Jackson Camden
Series
1996

7th Heaven: Beginnings

Actor
Show
1996

Redwood Curtain

Actor
Julia Riordan
Movie
1995

Dillinger and Capone

Actor
Abigail
Movie
1995

Animal Room

Actor
Mrs. Mosk
Movie
1995

Cortina de Secuoyas

Actor
Movie
1995

Burke's Law

Guest Star
Pamela Crawford
Show
1994

Diagnosis MurderStream

Guest Star
Series
1993

Querida Renacer es Gozar

Actor
Movie
1991

Hi Honey, I'm Dead

Actor
Arnold Pischkin
Movie
1991

Liebestraum

Actor
Mary Parker
Movie
1991

Momento Para Recordar

Actor
Movie
1990

Carrera Contra el Tiempo

Actor
Movie
1990

Running Against Time

Actor
Laura Whittaker
Movie
1990

She's Out of ControlStream

Actor
Janet Pearson
Movie
1989
11%

Spy

Actor
Angela Berk
Movie
1989

Cognac

Actor
Ella Frazier
Movie
1989

Souvenir

Actor
Tina Boyer
Movie
1988

Child's PlayStream

Actor
Karen Barclay
Movie
1988
73%

Tajna manastirske rakije

Actor
Movie
1988

Laguna Heat

Actor
Jane Algernon
Movie
1987

Like Father, Like Son

Actor
Dr. Amy Larkin
Movie
1987

La Vérité cachée

Actor
Movie
1987

Peggy Sue Got MarriedStream

Actor
Carol Heath
Movie
1986
87%

Star Trek IV: The Voyage HomeStream

Actor
Dr. Gillian Taylor
Movie
1986
82%

Fever Pitch

Actor
Flo
Movie
1985

Dette de jeu

Actor
Movie
1985

The Razor's EdgeStream

Actor
Isabel Bradley
Movie
1984
53%

Garbo Talks

Actor
Jane Mortimer
Movie
1984

Sparrow

Actor
Valerie
Movie
1983

Happy Endings

Actor
Lisa Sage
Movie
1983

Tucker's WitchStream

Actor
Amanda Tucker
Series
1982

Death Valley

Actor
Sally
Movie
1982

Better Late Than Never

Actor
Sable
Movie
1982

El Valle de la Muerte

Actor
Movie
1982

Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls

Actor
Ann Welles
Movie
1981

Marilyn: The Untold Story

Actor
Marilyn Monroe
Movie
1980

To Race the Wind

Actor
Beth
Movie
1980

The Bad News Bears

Actor
Dr. Emily Rappant
Series
1979

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny CarsonStream

Guest
Talk
1962

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