Kate Collins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kate Collins (b. May 6, 1958, Boston, Massachusetts) is an American actress.
She is probably best known for playing the character of Natalie Marlowe on the soap opera All My Children - a role she originated in 1985.
During her time on the show the character married five times, was raped, became shipwrecked on a deserted island, and was stalked, kept in a well, and shot by her psychologically troubled sister Janet Green, who was also played by Collins. The character also went blind after a fire was purposely set at her house by the psychotic Carter Jones (John Wesley Shipp), who became obsessed with Natalie and later kidnapped her. Both characters (Natalie and Janet) were popular with the audience, but Collins ended up leaving the show -- airing for the last time in 1992. The role of Natalie was recast with Melody Anderson, but the new actress proved to be unpopular, so the character was killed off during the summer of 1993. The Janet character was brought back in 1994 and gradually rehabilitated, but with soap veteran Robin Mattson in the role. Collins returned to the show in 1997, 1998 and 2001, where she made brief appearances as Natalie's "angel".
In addition to her All My Children work, Collins had a small role in the film Riot On 42nd St., guest starred on the series L.A. Law, and co-hosted Good Morning America in 1989, where she substituted for regular host Joan Lunden.
Her father is astronaut Michael Collins, who served as Command Module Pilot on the historic Apollo 11 mission (the first moon landing) in 1969.
She married husband Charles Newell, who is the Artistic Director of the Court Theater in Chicago, in October 1992. They have two children -- Jake and Luke.
Collins continues to act, but mostly in theater work. Collins returned to All My Children for four episodes as Janet from November 15 to November 18, 2005, but a positive response from viewers led to more appearances on the show and a storyline. Janet's regression back to mental imbalance proved controversial with longtime fans of the character, but viewers were happy to see Collins back on the screen.