Kate Mulgrew

In her new memoir, BORN WITH TEETH, Kate Mulgrew explores family ties, her long and varied career, living in Seattle and the mysteries of love

Kate Mulgrew is known for the strong women she’s played on television— Captain Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager, the tough-as-nails “Red” on Orange is the New Black and her breakout role as Mary Ryan on Ryan’s Hope—but her first love is theater.

Kate Mulgrew lived in Seattle for a time and often appeared at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. Pictured here is the cast of Seattle Rep’s “Another Part of the Forest” (1981), with Kate second from right

Theater, and the need for a quick escape from an ardent Italian suitor, brought Kate Mulgrew to Seattle and the first of many roles at Seattle Repertory Theatre. By the time she arrived in Seattle, Kate was already a recognized star of stage and screen.

Kate Mulgrew was in Seattle in April to discuss her new book, Born With Teeth

In her book, Kate writes of beginning her relationship with Seattle’s venerable theater: “The Seattle Repertory Theatre gave the impression of intimacy but boasted a capacity of eight hundred seats. The stage was wide and deep, the space was dark and muted, and I was home.”

At that production she met her first husband, Robert Egan. “Black Irish looks of the most dangerous, and therefore, the most appealing, kind,” she wrote of the meeting. The two lived in a series of Seattle houses, starting with a small blue house on Queen Anne. It was there she brought home from the hospital her first son, Ian. The family moved to Los Angeles shortly before her second son, Alexander, was born

Kate Mulgrew was born April 29, 1955 in Dubuque, Iowa. She was raised in a large family of unconventional Irish Catholics who knew “how to drink, how to dance, how to talk, and how to stir up the devil.” She grew up with poetry and drama in her bones. But her mother, a would-be artist who came from a world where she danced with Jack Kennedy at the Inaugural Ball, was burdened by the endless arrival of new babies. Young Kate saw the consequences of a dream deferred. Determined to pursue her own dreams no matter the cost, at age18 Kate left her small Midwestern town for New York, where, studying with the legendary Stella Adler, she learned the lesson that would define her as an actress: “Use it,” Adler told her. “Whatever disappointment, pain or anger life throws in your path, channel it into the work.” It was a lesson she would soon need.

In a recent interview with Anthony Mason on CBS Sunday Morning, Kate discussed a painful chapter of her life that happened at the beginning of her career.

“By age 20 she landed a starring role in a new soap opera about an Irish family bar in the city, called Ryan’s Hope,” reported Mason. “She was catapulted overnight to stardom.” In the interview, Kate recalls, “Whole gaggles of girls would stop me on the streets of New York, ‘Mary Ryan! Mary Ryan!’ I remember that. It was big.”

Mason continues: “That first season she was on top of the world. And then, she got pregnant. The father was an assistant director. Marriage was out of the question.”

“He’s a good, good guy. We were just too young,” Kate told Mason. Her mother advised putting up the baby for adoption through Catholic Charities. At the same time, the producers of Ryan’s Hope wrote her pregnancy into the plot line.

“Six million people watched me have this baby,” said Mulgrew in the interview. “And I had the baby. And I gave the baby up and went back to work two days later.”

It was a decision she regretted almost immediately, but it was too late. She begged Catholic Charities to return her baby. The answer was no.

Kate describes going back to work, where her first scene was giving birth.

“That was the hardest moment of my life—walking onto that set with that stunt baby and delivering a monologue about love, fidelity, endurance, and ‘I will never leave you,’ without falling apart,” Kate revealed to Mason.

She left Ryan’s Hope, but Kate’s star continued to rise. Her life became increasingly demanding and fulfilling: a whirlwind of passionate love affairs, life-saving friendships, bone-crunching work and a warm family life with two sons. Through it all, Kate remained haunted by the loss of her first child and she never stopped looking for her.

As dramatically recounted in the book, Kate was finally reunited with her daughter but it would take more than 20 years.

By then, Kate was fully immersed in her iconic role on Star Trek.

“It was as if I were shot out of a cannon, life changed so quickly and so dramatically,” writes Kate of playing Captain Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager. “Life was at full gallop. The work did not let me down, and neither did the part. When Mulgrew suffered, Janeway picked her up. And when Janeway felt like giving up, Mulgrew slapped her into shape.” Kate imbued the character with humanity, grace and grit in her own inimitable style.

It was during her time as the first female captain of a Star Trek series that Kate found her daughter. Through the years she had hired private detectives and continued to pressure the church to locate her daughter. “Finally,” reported Mason, “in 1999 she was contacted by an agency that connects adopted children with their birth parents. Mulgrew was in her trailer on the set of Star Trek at 5am.” Kate remembers the moment vividly: “The phone rang. ‘Hello?’ ‘Hi, this is Danielle Gaudette. And I think I am your birth daughter.’ ” Now 37 and working as a yoga instructor, Danielle grew up with her adoptive family in Massachusetts.

“She’s a pretty terrific kid,” Kate proudly told Mason.

Kate Mulgrew was back in Seattle in April to discuss Born With Teeth. Her quirky childhood, career, travels, family life and that emotional reunion are recounted in the book. O, the Oprah Magazine praised it: A “vivaciously lyrical memoir, revealing [Mulgrew] as a character more fascinating than any she’s played.

MORE INFORMATION

• Kate Mulgrew is an award-winning actress with many memorable roles in television, theater and film. In addition to Ryan’s Hope, Star Trek and Orange is the New Black, other TV roles include starring as Mrs. Columbo on the mystery series, playing Sam Malone’s girlfriend on Cheers and Dr. Joanne Springsteen on Heartbeat.

• Kate’s first love is theater. A sampling of favorite roles include Emily in Our Town, Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story, Cleopatra, Hedda Gabler and her award-winning turn as Katharine Hepburn in Tea at Five.

• Kate Mulgrew’s involvement as a champion fighting Alzheimer’s began when her mother, Joan, was diagnosed with the disease. Kate has helped to raise millions of dollars for research and continues to speak passionately and forcefully about the effects of the disease on families, the need for funding and the ongoing search for a cure. She recently explained her commitment: “It’s grown and blossomed into something that feels right. I’ve had a really good life and a wonderful career. I’ve been comfortable and I’ve been healthy. And I adored my mother. So this is my way to give back.”