Kathryn Morris

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Kathryn Morris
Born (1969-01-28) January 28, 1969 (age 55)
Other namesKathy Morris
OccupationActress
Years active1991–present
SpouseJohnny Messner (divorced) [1] [2] [3]
Children2

Kathryn Morris (born January 28, 1969)[4] is an American actress, best known for her lead role as Detective Lilly Rush in the CBS series Cold Case.

Career[edit]

Morris's first role was a minor one in the 1991 tele-movie Long Road Home. Several other small parts followed, including a bit part as a psychiatric patient in the Oscar-winning As Good as It Gets. Her breakthrough role came as Lt. Annalisa "Stinger" Lindstrom in the television series Pensacola: Wings of Gold in 1997 for two seasons.[5] Morris continued to work in films (notably ones directed by Rod Lurie) and had a brief stint on the Xena series in 1999 as Najara.

After seeing her in the film The Contender (which DreamWorks distributed), Steven Spielberg cast her in two successive films. Her scenes as a rock star in A.I. Artificial Intelligence, which required Morris to take intensive singing and guitar lessons were cut from the film by the director, which was particularly agonizing for her. In Minority Report, she portrayed the tormented wife of Tom Cruise's character.[6][7]

In 2003, Morris won the lead role of detective Lilly Rush in the CBS dramatic series Cold Case. She also appeared in the 2004 films Mindhunters and Paycheck, opposite Ben Affleck, and more recently as the journalist wife of Josh Hartnett in Lurie's drama Resurrecting the Champ (2007). Morris appeared in the film Cougars, Inc. which was distributed in 2011. In 2012, Morris appeared the Hallmark Channel movie The Sweeter Side of Life, a romantic comedy.[8][9]

Personal life[edit]

Morris was born in 1969 in Cincinnati, Ohio.[7][10] She grew up Christian in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, with her parents, Stanley, a Bible scholar, and Joyce, an insurance agent,[11] and five siblings before moving away. From age 6 to 17, Morris and her family traveled the southern 'Bible Belt' as a gospel group called 'The Morris Code'. The group was mainly made up of Morris's father and three (out of five) of her siblings.[7]

She attended two colleges in the Philadelphia area, Northeastern Christian Junior College and Temple University. After studying theatre in high school, she was involved in a hit-and-run collision while on her way to her first acting gig, a Japanese music video based on the musical Grease. She still made it to the gig and that's when she knew she was going to be an actress.[11]

Morris was married to actor Johnny Messner.[12] On April 8, 2013, Morris announced they were expecting twins. She gave birth to twin boys,[13] who were diagnosed with autism when they were three years old.[14] In October 2021, Morris launched The Savants: an initiative to "revolutionize how the world lives on and off the spectrum".[15]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1991 Cool as Ice Jen
1995 Sleepstalker Megan Direct-to-video
1996 Paper Dragons Kate
1996 The Prince Emily
1997 As Good as It Gets Psychiatric Patient
1998 The Prophecy II Anxious Mother Direct-to-video
1999 Screenplay Fanny
1999 Deterrence Lizzie Woods
2000 The Contender Paige Willomina
2001 A.I. Artificial Intelligence Teenage Honey
2001 The Last Castle DOD Investigator Scenes deleted
2002 Role of a Lifetime Chelsea Cellini
2002 Minority Report Lara Anderton
2002 Hostage Linda Delacroix Segment for the BMW short film series The Hire
2003 Paycheck Rita Dunne
2004 Mindhunters Sara Moore
2007 Resurrecting the Champ Joyce Kernan
2008 Assassination of a High School President Nurse Platt
2011 Cougars, Inc. Alison
2011 Moneyball Billy Beane's Wife Scenes deleted
2012 Sunday's Mother Gillian Short film
2013 The Coin Rachael Short film
2015 The Perfect Guy Karen
2015 Bone Tomahawk Lorna Hunt
2017 You Get Me Mrs. Hewitt
2019 The Dirt Deana Richards
2023 Hayseed Joyce Metts

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1991 Long Road Home Billy Jo Robertson TV movie
1994 Rise and Walk: The Dennis Byrd Story Angela TV movie
1994 Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All Zundro (Sandra) TV movie
1994 Sweet Justice Remy Episode: "Pilot"
1994 A Friend to Die For Monica Whitley TV movie
1995 W.E.I.R.D. World Lucy TV movie
1995 Family Values Borgyork Grumm TV movie
1996 Murder, She Wrote Doreen the Waitress Episode: "What You Don't Know Can Kill You"
1996 L.A. Firefighters Helen Regan 3 episodes
1996 Silk Stalkings Judith Millay Episode: "Compulsion"
1996 Relativity Sylvie Episode: "Pilot"
1996 Ink Woman Episode: "Above the Fold"
1997 Poltergeist: The Legacy Laura Davis Episode: "Silent Partner"
1997–1998 Pensacola: Wings of Gold Stinger Main role (season 1), 22 episodes
1998 Inferno Ryan Ribbet TV movie
1998–1999 Xena: Warrior Princess Najara Episodes: "Crusader", "The Convert"
1999 The Magnificent Seven Charlotte Richmond Episodes: "Wagon Train: Part 1", "Wagon Train: Part 2"
1999 Inherit the Wind Rachel Brown TV movie
1999 Providence Molly Episode: "The Third Thing"
2000 Hell Swarm Allie TV movie
2000 Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For Patricia Williams TV movie
2001 And Never Let Her Go Anne Marie Fahey TV movie
2001 The Mind of the Married Man Sandy 4 episodes
2003–2010 Cold Case Lilly Rush Lead role, 156 episodes
2013 The Sweeter Side of Life Desiree Harper TV movie
2016 Colony Charlotte Burgess 3 episodes
2018 Reverie Monica Shaw Series regular; 10 episodes

References[edit]

  1. ^ Messner, Johnny. "Happy Anniversary bubba , 2 years I know it hasn't been easy hehehe So grateful that you are my wife , and Birdie and Frankie beans momma You have always given me the space to heal and grow with nothing but love and compassion You are one in a billion lady I love you 💛💛💛🌱🌱🌱🎶🎶🌙". Instagram. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  2. ^ Messner, Johnny. "What a beautiful trip to Gods Country ! It was 3 years since my first trip with Avril to meet her whole family on Read Island So grateful for all of my life and my wife ❤️❤️🙏❤️🌱🌱". Instagram. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  3. ^ Messner, Johnny. < "My Queen, The Medicine/God brought us together for the universal set up! I had no idea what love truly felt like until you came into my life✨ Happy birthday Bubba I love you for all eternity ❤️❤️". Instagram. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  4. ^ "Today's Birthdays". The Morristown Daily Record. January 28, 2006. p. 2. ProQuest 2372897833. Actor Alan Alda is 70. [...] Rock singer Sam Phillips is 44. [...] Singer Sarah McLachlan is 38. Actress Kathryn Morris is 37. See also:
    • "Today in History: Today's Birthdays". The Scranton Times-Tribune. January 28, 2023. ProQuest 2770365198. Actor Alan Alda is 87. [...] Rock singer Sam Phillips is 61. [...] Singer Sarah McLachlan is 55. [...] Actor Kathryn Morris is 54.
  5. ^ "Pensacola: Wings of Gold". PENSACOLA: WINGS OF GOLD CAST. CBS Entertainment - TV.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  6. ^ Spielberg: Don't Hate Me, from the June 24, 2002, column by Marc S. Malkin in New York
  7. ^ a b c In Step With... Kathryn Morris, a May 2004 article from Parade magazine[dead link]
  8. ^ "Credits: The Sweeter Side of Life" (PDF). Hallmark Channel. 2012 Cupcake Productions LLC. January 20, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 29, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  9. ^ Sneider, Jeff (March 30, 2012). "Kathryn Morris gets 'Discarded'". Variety Magazine. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  10. ^ "Morris: Cold Case Is Red Hot". CBS News. October 28, 2004. Archived from the original on October 20, 2007. Retrieved June 11, 2007.
  11. ^ a b "Kathryn Morris - Cold Case". People. November 10, 2003. Archived from the original on May 5, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  12. ^ johnny messner [@JMessner] (August 5, 2013). "This is a minute reason but one of many that I love my wife. Kathryn Susan Morris. I love you…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ^ Chen, Joyce (April 8, 2013). "Exclusive: Kathryn Morris Pregnant With Twins! Cold Case Star, Boyfriend Expecting". People. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  14. ^ "'Cold Case' star opens up about life as a mom of twins with autism". TODAY.com. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
  15. ^ "The Savants". www.thesavants.com. Retrieved November 6, 2021.

External links[edit]