The 20 best roles of Kathy Bates’ career

Kathy Bates breakout role came in 1990, when she was cast in the big-screen adaptation of the Stephen King horror novel “Misery.” Bates perfectly plays Annie Wilkes, a nurse who holds author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) captive in her home while proclaiming to be his No. 1 fan. The actress’ eerie portrayal of the deranged character earned Bates best actress wins at both the Academy Awards and Golden Globes. To this day, it's likely her most iconic role.

Reviews for “At Play in the Fields of the Lord,” based on the 1965 novel of the same name by Peter Matthiessen, were mixed, but Kathy Bates was nevertheless praised for her powerful and heart-wrenching role in the adventure drama. Bates plays Hazel Quarrier, a Christian missionary who ventures into the Brazilian jungle with her husband (Aidan Quinn), but begins to unravel after her young son dies of malaria.

Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker) and Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson) steal the story-within-a-story in 1991’s “Fried Green Tomatoes,” but Evelyn (Bates) is still the string that weaves together the dramedy. She's most remembered for the scene in which she finally learns to be assertive after two girls steal her parking spot. Bates earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) but lost to Bette Midler in “For the Boys.”

Kathy Bates’ second turn appearing in a Stephen King adaptation was also a success and happens to be her favorite role to date. In 1995, the actress portrayed the titular character in “Dolores Claiborne,” which centers on a woman who is accused of murdering her wealthy and elderly employer while struggling to repair her relationship with her estranged daughter, who believes Dolores also killed her father. Bates garnered a Saturn Award nod for the film, which co-starred Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Strathairn, Christopher Plummer and Judy Parfitt.

Emilio Estevez was only allowed to star in, co-produce and direct 1996’s “The War at Home” because he agreed to appear in “D3: The Mighty Ducks.” Although the latter made nearly $21 million, the former — a drama about a soldier returning from Vietnam — was a box office failure that only earned $43,000. Still, the film had some bright spots, including Kathy Bates’ role as Estevez’s mother, Maurine Collier, who struggles to understand the traumatic experiences her son was subjected to abroad.

Although the made-for-TV movie “The Late Shift” focuses on the late-night wars between Jay Leno and David Letterman (played by Daniel Roebuck and John Michael Higgins, respectively), Kathy Bates steals the spotlight for her portrayal of real-life agent Helen Kushnick. As the story goes, Kushnick’s shrewd and borderline unethical business practices earned Leno his job hosting “The Tonight Show,” but she was eventually fired by NBC for her strong-armed tactics. Bates was made for this role and she eventually won Golden Globe, SAG and Satellite Award honors, as well as an Emmy nod.

People sometimes forget that Kathy Bates had a small role in the wildly popular 1997 romantic disaster film “Titanic.” Bates portrayed Molly Brown, a real-life socialite and philanthropist who survived the Titanic tragedy and went on to be known as the Unsinkable Molly Brown when stories emerged of Brown helping many other passengers board lifeboats before being forced to do so herself while also personally helping the crew row. Bates ended up winning a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress for the role.

“Primary Colors” is a fictitious account of Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign and eventual victory that starred John Travolta and Emma Thompson. The dramedy was well received by critics, with many praising Kathy Bates’ role as Libby Holden, an unstable friend of the Stantons (Clintons), who is hired to dig up potential dirt on the couple that could be used against them. Bates earned her second Oscar nomination for the role, as well as a Golden Globe nod, a win at the SAG Awards, and numerous accolades from critics’ associations.

Critics weren’t kind to 1998’s “The Waterboy,” but we thought it was one of Adam Sandler’s funnier films. A lot of those laughs came courtesy of Kathy Bates. The actress played Sandler’s mother, Helen “Mama” Boucher, who is adoring, fiercely overprotective and often misguided in her parenting and teachings. She forbade her son from football, repeatedly calling it “foosball,” before eventually realizing the sport is his true calling.

The Wonderful World of Disney made-for-TV movie adaptation of “Annie” (1999) was an enormous success — drawing more than 26 million viewers and winning two Emmys. Kathy Bates, for her role as Miss Agatha Hannigan, the cruel owner of Annie’s orphanage, earned an Emmy nomination herself, as well as nods from the Golden Globe and SAG Awards. Although she didn’t nab any honors for showing off her pipes, Bates still managed an American Comedy Award for the role.

Kathy Bates’ most recent Oscar nod came from her offbeat role in 2002’s “About Schmidt.” We say it’s offbeat because her character is mostly remembered for making a very naked pass at Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) in a hot tub. Her role as Roberta, the free-spirited future mother-in-law of Schmidt’s daughter, also earned Bates nods at the Golden Globe, SAG, and Satellite Awards — and near universal praise from critics.

Kathy Bates’ 10-episode run during seasons three through five of HBO’s “Six Feet Under” was enough to get her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Series. Bates appeared as Bettina, the caretaker of Sarah O’Connor (Patricia Clarkson), but she also directed five episodes. In fact, Bates actually received a Directors Guild of America nomination for the season three episode “Twilight.”

“Alice" — the 2009 "Alice in Wonderland" miniseries — was a huge success for the Syfy network and the Canadian channel Showcase. Kathy Bates starred as the Queen of Hearts in the 180-minute program, which earned generally positive reviews from critics and an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries/Movie Emmy nomination for Bates.

Sandra Bullock deservingly earned most of the attention for the 2009 biographical sports drama “The Blind Side,” but her co-stars Quinton Aaron, Tim McGraw, Jae Head, Lily Collins, and Kathy Bates deserve some credit, too. Bates has a small but significant role as Miss Sue — the kind, strong and supportive private tutor of “Big Mike” Oher (Aaron).

When Steve Carell was preparing to leave “The Office,” a parade of A-listers passed through the show, including Will Ferrell, Jim Carrey and Ray Romano. Two that stayed for longer than a cameo were James Spader and Kathy Bates. Bates played Jo Bennett, the Southern-drawl-sporting CEO of Sabre, a company that purchases Dunder Mifflin. Jo’s no-nonsense leadership style of course clashes with the fun-loving and goofy Michael Scott, providing a great source of comedy throughout eight episodes of seasons six through eight.

Woody Allen’s 2011 fantasy comedy “Midnight in Paris” starred Owen Wilson as Gil Pender, an unfulfilled Hollywood screenwriter who discovers he can travel back in time to Paris in the 1920s. In addition to the setting, Pender gets to rub elbows with big names from the time period including Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein. Stein was played by Kathy Bates. Bates and Wilson appeared alongside an acclaimed cast consisting of Rachel McAdams, Tom Hiddleston, Marion Cotillard and Adrien Brody, among others.

The legal comedy-drama “Harry’s Law” aired on NBC for two seasons. Kathy Bates earned an Emmy nomination each year for her starring role as Harriet “Harry” Korn, a sarcastic and witty criminal defense attorney who starts her own practice after being disillusioned in her previous career as a patent lawyer. “Harry’s Law” regularly drew around 10 million viewers, but the reviews were mixed (even though Bates was generally praised for her role). NBC canceled the show in 2012.

In season nine of “Two and a Half Men,” Alan (Jon Cryer) suffers a heart attack and is visited in the hospital by his closest friends and family members. However, since Charlie Sheen (who played Alan’s brother, Charlie) had been fired from the show and killed off in storyline, Alan is instead visited by the ghost of Charlie, who is in Hell and being forced to live throughout eternity as a large old lady — played perfectly by Kathy Bates, complete with a cigar and bowling shirt. Charlie (Bates) encourages Alan to move out of the beach house, only to later reveal he was just messing with his brother in typical Charlie fashion. Although the cameo was brief and lasted for just a single episode, the role earned Bates an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.

“American Horror Story” has now aired for seven seasons, and Kathy Bates has appeared in four of them: “Coven,” “Freak Show,” “Hotel” and “Roanoke.” Since each season is generally unrelated to the next, she has appeared as numerous different characters, but we decided to group them into one slide as we couldn’t possibly choose a single role. Proving she hasn’t lost her horror chops since “Misery,” Bates has excelled over and over again in “American Horror Story.” She even earned three Emmy nominations, including a win for playing Delphine LaLaurie in “Coven.” Bates is set to return for season eight, which is slated to premiere in the fall of 2018.

Kathy Bates has played a hippie before, so she fits right in on “Disjointed,” a Netflix series about an L.A. marijuana dispensary owned and operated by Ruth Whitefeather Feldman (Bates). The show is silly, corny and has already been canceled by the streaming service, but for two seasons we got to see Bates star as a pot-smoking treehugger in a lighthearted sitcom. It definitely gave us a severe case of the giggles.