Kim Victoria Cattrall Bio
Kim Victoria Cattrall (born 21 August 1956) is a British-Canadian-American actress and producer with a career spanning more than five decades in film, television, and theatre. She first gained recognition through diverse film roles in the 1980s before achieving international fame portraying Samantha Jones on HBO’s Sex and the City (1998–2004), a role that earned her five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations. Cattrall has maintained an active career across multiple countries, continuing to appear in television series and feature films while also establishing herself as a respected stage performer in London’s West End and on Broadway.
Early Life and Background
Kim Victoria Cattrall was born on 21 August 1956 in the Mossley Hill area of Liverpool, England, to British parents Gladys Shane (née Baugh) and Dennis Cattrall. She has two sisters and a brother, Christopher Cattrall (1963–2018). When she was just three months old, her family emigrated to Canada and settled in Courtenay, British Columbia. At age 11, she returned to Liverpool when her grandmother became ill. During her time in England, she took acting examinations at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before making the decision to move to New York City at the age of 16 to pursue her first acting role.
After graduating from Georges P. Vanier Secondary School in Courtenay in 1972, Cattrall left Canada for the United States to dedicate herself to acting. She attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, where she received formal training in the craft. Upon graduation, she signed a five-year film deal with director Otto Preminger, which launched her professional acting career and opened doors to the entertainment industry.
Path to Acting
Cattrall began her professional acting career shortly after graduating from drama school, securing her five-year deal with Otto Preminger. She made her film debut in Preminger’s action thriller Rosebud (1975), marking the beginning of her transition from theatre and television to feature films. Shortly after, Universal Studios bought out her contract, making her one of the last participants in the studio’s contract player system before it ended in 1981.
Her early career was marked by steady work in both television and film. She appeared in guest-star roles on popular television series throughout the late 1970s, including episodes of Quincy, M.E. (1977), Columbo (1978), Starsky & Hutch (1978), and The Incredible Hulk (1979). She also appeared in television miniseries such as The Bastard (1978) and The Rebels (1979), building a solid foundation for her eventual move into leading film roles.
Kim Victoria Cattrall Career
Early Career (1970s–1990s)
The early 1980s saw Cattrall transition successfully from television to cinema, with prominent roles that showcased her versatility. She appeared opposite Jack Lemmon in the critically acclaimed film Tribute (1980) and starred in Ticket to Heaven (1981). In 1981, she played Miss Honeywell in Porky’s, a role that brought her wider recognition among mainstream audiences. This was followed by a appearance in Police Academy (1984), further cementing her status as a reliable comic actress.
Cattrall continued building her filmography with notable roles throughout the mid-to-late 1980s. She starred opposite Kurt Russell as his love interest in the action film Big Trouble in Little China (1986), which has since become a cult classic. Her lead role in Mannequin (1987) proved particularly successful with audiences, establishing her as a box-office draw. One of her most acclaimed film roles came in 1991 when she portrayed Lieutenant Valeris in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. She was so invested in the character that she designed her own hairstyle and contributed to developing the character’s name.
Breakthrough (1998–2004)
In 1997, Cattrall was cast as Samantha Jones in Sex and the City, Darren Star’s HBO series that became a cultural phenomenon. As the confident and unapologetically sexual publicist, Cattrall delivered a performance that resonated globally with audiences. The series ran for six seasons and became one of HBO’s most successful original programs, earning a devoted fanbase and critical acclaim.
For her portrayal of Samantha Jones, Cattrall received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in 2002. She also shared two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Comedy Series with her co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon. The character of Samantha became iconic, with Cattrall ranking number eight on TV Guide’s list of the 50 sexiest stars of all time in 2005. She reprised the role in the 2008 Sex and the City film and its 2010 sequel Sex and the City 2, both of which achieved significant commercial success at the box office.
Notable Works and Milestones
Beyond Sex and the City, Cattrall has maintained a diverse career spanning multiple decades and mediums. In theatre, she has delivered acclaimed performances in productions including Wild Honey on Broadway (1986), Miss Julie at McCarter Theatre (1993), Private Lives in London’s West End (2010), Antony and Cleopatra at Liverpool Playhouse (2010), and Sweet Bird of Youth at The Old Vic (2013). Her Broadway performance in Private Lives earned her a Drama League Award nomination, while her West End work garnered a WhatsOnStage nomination for Best Actress.
From 2014 to 2016, Cattrall starred in and executive produced HBO Canada’s Sensitive Skin, an adaptation of the British series. The show received critical acclaim and nominations for International Emmy and Canadian Screen Awards. She continued her television work with recurring roles in Tell Me a Story on Paramount+ (2018–2019), Filthy Rich on Fox (2020), the Peacock revival series Queer as Folk (2022), and the Netflix series Glamorous (2023). From 2022 to 2023, she played future Sophie in the Hulu sitcom How I Met Your Father. In 2023, she made a cameo appearance in And Just Like That…, the Sex and the City revival, marking her return to the character that made her famous.
Kim Victoria Cattrall Award Nominations
Cattrall has received widespread recognition for her performances throughout her career. Her most significant award recognition came from her role in Sex and the City, where she earned five Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and four Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, winning the Golden Globe in 2002. Her work on Sensitive Skin earned her a nomination for the 2016 Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series. Her stage performances have also garnered award recognition, including Drama League Award and WhatsOnStage Award nominations for her work in Private Lives.
Kim Victoria Cattrall Family
Cattrall was born to construction engineer Dennis Cattrall and secretary Gladys Shane (née Baugh). Her mother passed away in 2022, and her father died in 2012. She has two sisters and a brother, Christopher Cattrall, who tragically passed away in 2018 after being reported missing in Alberta. Cattrall discovered information about her family history through her participation in the BBC documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? in 2009, where she learned that her grandfather George Baugh had abandoned the family in 1938 and lived a separate life in Australia under a bigamous marriage.
Personal Life
Cattrall has held dual British and Canadian citizenship for most of her life and became an American citizen in 2020 specifically to vote in that year’s presidential election. She has been married four times: to Larry Davis (1977–1979, annulled), Andre J. Lyson (1982–1989), and Mark Levinson (1998–2004). During her marriage to Lyson, the couple lived in Frankfurt, Germany, where she became fluent in German, though she has since forgotten much of the language. She has also been linked romantically to former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and actor Daniel Benzali.
Since 2016, Cattrall has been in a relationship with British BBC employee Russell Thomas. The couple married at Chelsea Old Town Hall in London on 4 December 2025. In December 1988, Cattrall narrowly escaped death when she was originally booked on Pan Am Flight 103 but rearranged her schedule a day prior to do shopping at Harrods, missing the flight that would later be destroyed in the terrorist bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.