Detailed Biography

Kate Capshaw is an American actress. She is known for her role as Willie Scott in the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and for her marriage to director Steven Spielberg .

Biography

Early life

Capshaw was born in Fort Worth, Texas, the daughter of Beverley Sue , 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 Love of Life. She starred in Dreamscape in 1983. She met film director Steven Spielberg upon winning the female lead for the Raiders of the Lost Ark sequel, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom . Capshaw also starred as Andie Bergstrom, a camp instructor in the 1986 film SpaceCamp. She appeared in the Showtime Cable Network miniseries A Girl Thing, with Elle Macpherson as her lover.

Capshaw also starred in the spy film/romance, Code Name Dancer. A female former CIA agent now leading a placid life as a suburban housewife, she is asked to undertake one last mission for the CIA. She must choose between remaining in her current life or returning to her former life of reckless adventure. Capshaw was featured in films throughout the late 80's into the 90's including Black Rain, Just Cause & The Love Letter, and was also featured in the 1997 film The Alarmist with David Arquette and Stanley Tucci.

Personal life

Capshaw, originally an Episcopalian, converted to Judaism before marrying director Steven Spielberg on October 12, 1991. She has seven children altogether with Robert Capshaw and Spielberg including her daughter Jessica Capshaw an actress who is best know for her work on legal drama The Practice and her character Arizona Robbins on Grey's Anatomy.

In popular culture

A character in the video game Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, Kate Capsize, is named after Kate Capshaw. Steven Spielberg is a friend of George Lucas, whose film company, LucasFilm, founded LucasArts, the game's creator.