Kathy Bates won an Oscar in 1991 for her magnificent performance in the Stephen King thriller “Misery” – but it wasn’t until recently that she realized she’d thanked her mother in her acceptance speech.
In an interview with “CBS Sunday Morning,” Bates told Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz that her parents had sacrificed a lot for her to study to become an actress. But she also noted that – despite receiving a Tony Award nomination for “‘Night, Mother,” and then an Academy Award – her mother’s reaction to her success was less than charitable.
“When I won the Oscar for ‘Misery,’ she said, ‘I don’t know what all the excitement about. You didn’t discover the cure for cancer,'” she told “Sunday Morning.”
Bates said that she had neglected to mention her mother in her acceptance speech, suggesting that was possibly the reason for the slight. “I forgot to thank her that night,” Bates said.
“You know, you did thank her at the end of your speech,” Mankiewicz said. “You thanked her.”
“No, I did not. I did not,” Bates replied. “You go back and look at it. I didn’t.”
It was then that Mankiewicz played back for Bates a recording of her acceptance speech, at the 63rd Academy Awards ceremony from March 25, 1991.
Watching the recording, Bates froze, then stared at Mankiewicz in disbelief. Her hands came up to her mouth as she heard herself say: “I would like to thank my family, my friends, my mom at home, and my dad, who I hope is watching somewhere.”
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“Thank you! Why did I think I didn’t thank her?” said Bates after watching the video.
“Why does that mean so much to you?” asked Mankiewicz.
“‘Cause she should have had my life,” Bates said. “When she died, I remember I said, ‘Come into me.’ I wanted her spirit to come into me, even though we had so many difficulties. I wanted her spirit to come into me and enjoy everything I was enjoying, because of what she’d given up.
“Wow! Thank you so much for that,” she added.
In addition to winning an Oscar for “Misery,” Bates has appeared in such films as “Straight Time,” “Dolores Claiborne,” “Titanic,” “Primary Colors,” “About Schmidt” “The Waterboy,” “Midnight in Paris,” “Richard Jewell,” “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret,” and the TV series “American Horror Story.” Now 76 and a two-time cancer survivor, Bates had recently suggested she would retire from acting, and in the interview talked about how women of a certain age are in a sense invisible in society, and on screen. But now, she is starring in the new CBS series “Matlock,” in a role that plays off that notion of invisibility.
“It’s fantastic. I think it’s one of the most wonderful roles I’ve ever had to play,” she said.
Asked if she had given up the plans on retiring, she affirmed: “Not retiring. I want to stay for this show for as long as it runs, and I hope it runs for a very long time.”