Veteran character actress Kathryn Kates, best known for her roles in television series such as Orange Is the New Black, Law & Order: SVU, and Seinfeld as well as The Sopranos prequel film The Many Saints of Newark has died at the age of 73. According to Kates’ representatives at Headline Talent Agency (via Deadline), she died of cancer on Saturday in Florida.
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“Kathryn has been our client for many years, and we have grown much closer to her in this last year since she knew of her cancer returning,” Headline Talent said in a statement. “She was always incredibly brave and wise and approached every role with the greatest of passion. She will be greatly missed”
Over the course of her career, Kates appeared on many television series with quite a quite a few guest appearances on popular television series in the 1990s including Matlock, Thunder Alley, and Seinfeld. She also appeared on Caroline in the City, Lizzie McGuire, Judging Amy, Rescue Me, and more.
Later, she appeared as Amy Kanter-Bloom, the mother of Piper Chapman’s ex-fiancé (played by Jason Biggs) on Orange Is the New Black. On Law and Order: SVU, Kates played Judge Marlene Simons. Most recently, Kates appeared in the short film Welcome to Sarajevo and played Angie DeCarlo in The Sopranos prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark.
A native New Yorker, Kates was also involved in theater. She was an understudy for Broadway’s Significant Other in 2017 and appeared in a number of Off-Broadway shows. Kates was also a founding member of the Colony Theatre in Los Angeles.
Kates is survived by her brother Joshua, sister Mallory, sister-in-laws Sue Ann and Gloria, and nephew Ben.
Photo: Walter McBride/WireImage via Getty
