Kate McNeil (born August 7, 1959) is an American actress.Lavin, Cheryl. "Celebrity fastrack." Carlisle, Pennsylvania: The Sentinel, February 1, 1991, p. D3 (subscription required). She starred in the CBS daytime soap opera As the World Turns from 1981 to 1984, and in 1983 had the leading role in the slasher film The House on Sorority Row. McNeil was also the female lead in the 1988 horror film Monkey Shines.

Early years The daughter of the president of the U.S. Cocoa Corporation, McNeil grew up in Gladwyne, a suburb in Lower Merion Township, of Montgomery County, west of Philadelphia, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.Walstad, David. "From Gladwyne to prime time." Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 28, 1992, TV Week section, p. 4 (subscription required). In high school, she said, "I was in a lot of plays, and I was a bit wild." She went on to study theater further at Ithaca College, in Ithaca, New York.

Career McNeil began her acting career on the daytime soap opera As the World Turns in 1981. The following year of 1982, she appeared in the low-budget comedy Beach House. The next year, she starred in the slasher / horror film The House on Sorority Row. 1985, saw Kate McNeil appearing in the TV miniseries Kane & Abel and afterwards in 1986 she was featured in another miniseries, the historical epic about the American Civil War (1861–1865), the sequel / second of three in the series, North and South Book II, based on the thick three-volumes set of historical fiction books North and South by acclaimed author John Jakes (1932–2023). She later co-starred in director George A. Romero's horror film Monkey Shines two years afterwards in 1988. In the 1990s, Kate McNeil appeared as Janet Gilchrist, fiancé and then wedded wife of famous TV teen-ager character of the 1970s, now older and more mature main character "John Boy" Walton (Richard Thomas, born 1951), in the final three of subsequent six sequel / reunion made-for-TV films aired in the 1990s (1993, 1995 and 1997), following the long-running The Waltons TV series of 1971/1972 to 1981.

Also in the early 1990s, McNeil was a cast member of two television shows, WIOU and Bodies of Evidence. McNeil has also made numerous individual television episodes with guest appearances. She has appeared on Amazing Stories (1987), Simon & Simon, Designing Women, Midnight Caller, Quantum Leap (1989), The X-Files, Murder, She Wrote, Touched by an Angel (S8, Ep21), Babylon 5, Diagnosis Murder, Veronica Mars, Bones, The Mentalist, and Mad Men.

Personal life McNeil has been married to Roy Friedland, a director and script writer, since 1987. They have two children.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes1982Beach HouseCindy1983Katherine 'Katey' Rose1988Monkey ShinesMelanie Parker1994I'll Do AnythingStacy1995Sudden DeathKathi1997Shadow DancerDet. Frances Hayes2000Space CowboysFemale Astronaut No. 12001Betty2001GlitterKaren Diana2002Until MorningGillian Scott

Television Year Title Role Notes1981–1984As the World TurnsKaren Haines Stenbeck DixonTV series1985Kane and AbelFlorentyna RosnovskiTV miniseries1986Vital SignsKristiTV film1986North and SouthAugusta BarclayTV miniseries1987Amazing StoriesPatty O'NeilEpisode: "Blue Man Down"1988Simon & SimonTrish Van AlderEpisode: "The Richer They Are the Harder They Fall"1988, 1993Murder, She WroteCarrie Palmer, Kate WaldenEpisodes: "Harbinger of Death", "A Virtual Murder"1989Designing WomenLibby CokerEpisode: "The Junies"1989–90Anything but LoveGailEpisodes: "Hearts and Bones", "Partying Is Such Sweet Sorrow"1990Midnight CallerRev. SummerEpisode: "Planes"1990Dana BuchananTV film1990–91WIOUTaylor YoungMain role1991Dear JohnCarolEpisode: "Kirk's Ex-Wife"1992–93Bodies of EvidenceDet. Nora HoughtonMain role1993Quantum LeapOlivia Barrett CovingtonEpisode: "The Leap Between States"1993A Walton Thanksgiving ReunionJanet GilchristTV film1994Babylon 5Janice RosenEpisode: "The Quality of Mercy"1995A Walton WeddingJanet GilchristTV film1995Best DefenseMichelle BestTV film1996Diagnosis: MurderJennifer Stratton / JoanEpisode: "Murder Murder"1996Escape ClauseSarah RamsayTV film1997A Walton EasterJanet Gilchrist WaltonTV film1997Sleeping with the DevilLizTV film1997Promised LandLaura DunbarEpisode: "To Everything a Season"1998–99Love Boat: The Next WavePat KennedyEpisodes: "Smooth Sailing", "Getting to Know You", "Love Floats: The St. Valentine's Day Massacre"1999ProvidenceRandiEpisode: "Pig in Providence"1999Ally McBealMarianne HarperEpisode: "Let's Dance"1999Half a Dozen BabiesLynda SmirzTV film2000Nan WiederEpisode: "Theef"2000Nash BridgesRose TorryEpisode: "Hard Cell"2000One KillMaj. Leslie NesbittTV film2000American TragedyDr. ClarksonTV film2001Family LawJennyTV series2001CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationSharon WoodburyEpisode: "Chaos Theory"2001ERMrs. PendryEpisode: "Partly Cloudy, Chance of Rain"2002Touched by an AngelSarah BerringtonEpisode: "For All the Tea in China"2003–04American DreamsDoris MasonEpisodes: "The Long Goodbye", "Chasing the Past", "No Way Out"2004NCISComm. Margaret GreenEpisode: "The Good Samaritan"2004Without a TraceAtty. Marian CostelloEpisode: "Two Families"2005Cold CaseBeth AdamsEpisode: "Blank Generation"2005Star Trek: EnterpriseCmdr. CollinsEpisode: "Affliction"2005Veronica MarsBetina CasablancasEpisode: "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner"2005BonesAudrey SchillingEpisode: "The Girl in the Fridge"2008Katherine BlakelyEpisode: "The Thin Red Line"2010Proposition 8 Trial Re-EnactmentChristine Van AkenTV documentary2010Law & Order: LAPatricia NelsonEpisode: "Pasadena"2011Big LoveSister MaryEpisodes: "A Seat at the Table", "Certain Poor Shepherds"2012Mad MenEdith HuffEpisode: "Dark Shadows"2012LongmireMaureen MaceEpisode: "An Incredibly Beautiful Thing"2012NCIS: Los AngelesCarol AdamsEpisode: "Recruit"2016Code BlackAnne StringerEpisode: "Blood Sport"2016Grey's AnatomyTess' MomEpisode: "I Am Not Waiting Anymore"2021ThemDr. Frances MoynihanEpisodes: "Day 9", "Day 10"

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