Kitty Winn
| Kitty Winn | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 21, 1943 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1969–1984, 2011 |
Katherine Tupper "Kitty" Winn (born February 21, 1943) is an award-winning American theatre and film actress. She is best known for her roles as the heroin addict Helen in the romantic drama The Panic in Needle Park and her recurring role of Sharon Spencer in the horror film franchise The Exorcist.
Early Life and Career
Kitty Winn was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of an army officer James J. Winn and Molly Brown Winn. Winn traveled widely during much of her childhood, including, time spent in United States, England, Germany, China, India and Japan. Her mother is the step-daughter of U.S. Army General George Marshall.
Her career has spanned a wide range of drama productions on stage, in motion pictures and on television. She studied acting at Centenary Junior College and Boston University, graduating from the latter in 1966. During her college years Winn acted in student productions at Centenary Junior College, Boston University, and Harvard College and summer stock for two summers at The Priscilla Beach Theatre south of Boston. Shortly after college she joined the company at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco where she remained for four years under the artistic direction of William Ball.
In the fall of 1970 Winn left American Conservatory Theater to star opposite Al Pacino in the film Panic in Needle Park, for which she won the Best Actress award at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival. Although she went on to do several more films, such as The Exorcist, she spent most of her career in theater.
She retired from acting in 1978, but returned to play Cordelia in The Tragedy of King Lear for KCET in 1983. She did not return to the stage again until 2011, when she played the lead in The Last Romance at the San Jose Repertory Theatre. For this performance, she was nominated for a best actress award by the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.
Body of Work
Theatre
| Year | Production Location | Play | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Centenary Junior College | Antigone | Antigone |
| 1963 | Priscilla Beach Theatre | Curious Savage | Florence |
| 1963 | Priscilla Beach Theatre | Song of Bernadette | Bernadette |
| 1964 | Priscilla Beach Theatre | Night of the Iguana | Miss Jenks |
| 1964 | Priscilla Beach Theatre | Gigi | Gigi |
| 1964 | Priscilla Beach Theatre | Shot in the Dark | Josefa Lantenay |
| 1964 | Boston University | Measure for Measure | Mistress Overdon's girl |
| 1964 | Boston University | Toys in the Attic | Lily |
| 1965 | Boston University | The Rose Tattoo | Rosa |
| 1965 | Harvard College | The Beggars' Opera | Polly Peachum |
| 1966 | Boston University | The Playboy of the Western World | Pegeen Mike |
| 1967 | American Conservatory Theater | The Crucible | Mary Warren |
| 1967 | American Conservatory Theater | Thieves' Carnival | Juliette |
| 1967 | American Conservatory Theatre | Charley's Aunt | Kitty |
| 1968 | American Conservatory Theater | Long Day's Journey into Night | Cathleen |
| 1968 | American Conservatory Theater | Le Misanthrope | Celemene |
| 1968 | American Conservatory Theater | Under Milkwood | Lily Smalls |
| 1969 | American Conservatory Theater | Rosencrantz and Guilderstern Are Dead | Ophelia |
| 1969 | American Conservatory Theater | Charley's Aunt | Kitty |
| 1969 | ANTE Theatre and American Conservatory Theater | The Three Sisters | Irina |
| 1969 | The Mineola Playhouse | Our Town | Emily (also with Henry Fonda) Michael York (actor) |
| 1970 | American Conservatory Theater | Glory Hallelujah | Nantelle Bowden |
| 1970 | American Conservatory Theater | The Rose Tattoo | Rosa |
| 1970 | American Conservatory Theater | The Tempest | Miranda |
| 1972 | Long Wharf Theatre, New York Shakesphere in the Park, and Mark Taper Forum | Hamlet | Ophelia (also with Stacy Keach, James Earl Jones and Colleen Dewhurst) |
| 1975 | The Phoenix Theatre | Knuckle (off Broadway premier) | Jenny Wilbur (opposite Perry King) |
| 1975 | Ahmanson Theatre | Ring Around the Moon | Isabelle (opposite Michael York) |
| 1977 | Long Wharf Theatre | St. Joan | Joan |
| 1978 | Coconut Grove Playhouse | Othello | Desdemona |
| 1982 | Repertory Theatre of Saint Louis | Romeo and Juliet | Juliet |
| 2011 | San Jose Repertory Theatre | The Last Romance | Carol |
Motion Pictures
| Year | Name of Film | Role | Other Actors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | They Might be Giants | Grace | Joanne Woodward, George C. Scott |
| 1971 | The Panic in Needle Park | Helen | Al Pacino |
| 1973 | The Exorcist | Sharon Spencer | Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair |
| 1976 | Peeper | Mianne Prendergast | Michael Caine, Natalie Wood |
| 1977 | Exorcist II: The Heretic | Sharon Spencer | Linda Blair, Richard Burton |
| 1978 | Mirrors | Marianne | Peter Donat |
Movies for Television
| Year | Name of Film | Role | Other Actors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | The House That Would Not Die for ABC | Barbara Stanwyck | |
| 1972 | The Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe for NET | Harriet | |
| 1973 | Message to My Daughter | Miranda Thatcher | Martin Sheen |
| 1974 | The Carpenters for KCET | Sissy | Vincent Gardenia |
| 1975 | Miles to Go Before I Sleep | ||
| 1977 | The Last Hurrah for Hallmark Hall of Fame | Maeve Skeffington | Carroll O'Connor |
| 1983 | The Tragedy of King Lear for KCET | Cordelia |
Series for Television
| Year | Name of Series | Role | Other Actors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | The Streets of San Francisco for ABC | Barbara Talmadge | Michael Douglas, Karl Malden |
| 1975 | Beacon Hill for CBS | Rosamond Lassiter | Nancy Marchand, Beatrice Straight |
| 1977 | Kojak - "Kojak Days: Part 1" | Carla Magid | Telly Savalas, Kevin Dobson, Dan Frazer, George Savalas |
| 1977 | Kojak - "Kojak Days: Part 2" | Carla Magid | Telly Savalas, Kevin Dobson, Dan Frazer, George Savalas |
Awards
Cannes Film Festival
| Year | Performance | Award |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Helen in The Panic in Needle Park | Best Actress Award |
Trivia
- Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1971" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 33.
- Her performance as Helen in The Panic in Needle Park (1971) is ranked #76 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Film Performances of All Time (2006).
- The cast for Joe Papp's New York Shakesphere in the Park production of Hamlet included Stacy Keach (Hamlet), James Earl Jones (Claudius), Colleen Dewhurst (Gertrude), and Kitty Winn (Ophelia).
- After a stage absence of 29 years, Winn was nominated for a best actress award by the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle for her performance at San Jose Repertory Theatre in 2011.
- Step-granddaughter of General of the Army and Secretary of State George C. Marshall.