Kate Capshaw - Biography

Kate Capshaw (born November 3, 1953) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Willie Scott in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. She is married to Steven Spielberg.

Early life

Capshaw was born Kathleen Sue Nail in Fort Worth, Texas, the daughter of Beverley Sue (née Simon), a travel agent and beautician, and Edwin Leon Nail, an airline employee. She moved to St. Louis, Missouri at the age of five, and graduated from Hazelwood Senior High, now called Hazelwood Central High School in 1972. Capshaw earned a degree in education from the University of Missouri, where she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi. She taught Special Education at Southern Boone County High School in Ashland, Missouri and Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Missouri. She took the surname Capshaw upon her marriage to Robert Capshaw in January 1976; they had one child, actress Jessica Capshaw, and eventually divorced in 1980.

Career

Capshaw moved to New York to pursue her dream of acting, landing her first role on the soap opera The Edge of Night. She starred in Dreamscape in 1984. She met film director Steven Spielberg upon winning the female lead (from a pool of 120 actresses) for the Raiders of the Lost Ark sequel, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). In addition, she appeared as Andie Bergstrom, a camp instructor in the 1986 film SpaceCamp.

Capshaw also starred in the spy film/romance, Code Name Dancer. Capshaw was featured in films throughout the late '80s into the '90s including Black Rain, Just Cause and The Love Letter, and was also featured in the 1997 film The Alarmist with David Arquette and Stanley Tucci. In 2001, she starred in the Showtime Cable Network miniseries A Girl Thing with Elle Macpherson.

Personal life

Capshaw, originally an Episcopalian, converted to Judaism before marrying director Steven Spielberg on October 12, 1991.

There are seven children in the Spielberg-Capshaw family:

• Jessica Capshaw (born August 9, 1976) – daughter from Kate Capshaw's previous marriage to Robert Capshaw
• Max Samuel Spielberg (born June 13, 1985) – son from Spielberg's previous marriage to actress Amy Irving
• Theo Spielberg (born 1988) – son adopted by Capshaw before her marriage to Spielberg, who later also adopted him
• Sasha Rebecca Spielberg (born May 14, 1990, Los Angeles)
• Sawyer Avery Spielberg (born March 10, 1992, Los Angeles)
• Mikaela George (born February 28, 1996) – adopted with Kate Capshaw
• Destry Allyn Spielberg (born December 1, 1996)

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