Early life

Hicks was born in New York City, the daughter of Jackie, a homemaker, and Walter Hicks, an electronics salesman. She is of Irish and English ancestry. Her family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona during her childhood. She was a cheerleader at Gerard Catholic High School in Phoenix, Arizona and a member of The National Honor Society (NHS). She graduated in 1969. After attending Saint Mary's College (Indiana), where she studied English Literature and Theology, Hicks won a prestigious acting fellowship to Cornell University. While at Cornell, she was a member of the Ithaca Repertory Theater Company.

Career

After graduating from Cornell University with a Masters of Fine Arts degree, Hicks headed to New York in August 1976, where she immediately got work in television commercials. Two weeks after arriving in New York, she landed her first major TV role as the newly recovered pediatrician Dr. Faith Coleridge on the ABC soap opera Ryan's Hope. A year and half later, she left her role on Ryan's Hope when she was cast to star alongside Jack Lemmon (as Scottie) in Bernard Slade's 1978 Broadway play Tribute, in which she played the young model Sally Haines, who Scottie sets up with his estranged son (Robert Picardo). That same year, she starred as Valerie in the CBS TV movie and TV series pilot called Sparrow.

When Tribute ended, Hicks moved to California and co-starred on the 1979-80 CBS sitcom, The Bad News Bears as junior high school principal and psychologist, Dr. Emily Rappant. She had roles in a few TV movies, playing an escort, Annie, in ABC's Love For Rent (1979), and as Beth, a camp counselor in CBS's 1980 film To Race the Wind, based on the Harold Krents' autobiography. In 1980, Hicks beat out hundreds of actresses for the lead role of Marilyn Monroe in ABC's $3.5 million production, Marilyn: The Untold Story, based on the Norman Mailer best seller. She earned an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Mini-series or Movie for her portrayal of the legendary star.

In 1981, Hicks starred in CBS's remake of Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls, as Anne Wells, an entertainment lawyer, and James Corburn's protege. She made her feature film debut in the thriller Death Valley (1982) as Peter Billingsley's mother, Sally. That same year, she starred as Sable in the motion picture Better Late Than Never.

After passing on TV series Private Benjamin, Foul Play and Cagney and Lacey, Hicks took the lead role as Amanda Tucker in the 12-episode detective series Tucker's Witch opposite Tim Matheson as Rick Tucker. The program aired on CBS from October 6, 1982, sporadically into August, 1983. In 1983, she played Lisa Sage and co-starred with John Schneider in CBS's romantic comedy movie Happy Endings.

In Sidney Lumet's film Garbo Talks (1984), Hicks was aspiring-actress Jane Mortimer. Hicks also played Bill Murray's socialite finacee, Isabel, in the remake The Razor's Edge (1984). For her work in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Hicks received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. That same year, she played Carol Heath in Francis Ford Coppola's Peggy Sue Got Married. In Like Father Like Son (1987), Hicks played Dr. Amy Larkin. In March 1987, Hicks hosted the 59th Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Scientific and Technical Awards ceremony.

In 1988, she played businesswoman Ella Frazier in the Yugoslavian comedy Tajna manastirske rakije (also released under the titles Cognac and Secret Ingredient). Hicks co-starred with Christopher Plummer, as his estranged daughter, Tina Boyer, in the Showtime movie channel's film Souvenir (1988). She played Karen Barclay in the horror film Child's Play (1988). Her performance won her a 1988 Best Actress Saturn Award. In 1989, she starred opposite Tony Danza in She's Out of Control as his girlfriend, Janet Pearson.

In 1991, she co-starred in the Fox-TV comedy-fantasy movie Hi Honey - I'm Dead as Carol Stadler. She played Allison Ploutzer in the Jeff Franklin ABC comedy pilot Up to No Good (1992). She starred with John Bedford Lloyd in the ABC comedy pilot The Circle Game (1993) as the mother, and schoolteacher, Nancy. She played Jeannie Barker in the Aaron Spelling primetime soap opera Winnetka Road, which had a six-episode tryout on NBC in 1994. Also that same year, Hicks played the wife in the pilot for The Martin Short Show. Going into production, after the concept of the character was changed, she was replaced by Jan Hooks. She played Julia Riordan, opposite John Lithgow and Lea Salonga, in the ABC Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Redwood Curtain (1995).

In 1996, she was cast as Annie Camden on The WB's family drama 7th Heaven, and she portrayed the role until the series ended, after 11 seasons, in 2007. In 1997, Hicks played flight attendant, Maggie, one of Ray Liotta's victims in Turbulence. The same year, Hicks played next door neighbor, Ms. Lewis, in Michael Davis' coming-of-age film, Eight Days a Week.

In 2008, Hicks also starred in Lifetime Movie Network's Poison Ivy: The Secret Society as Dean Elisabeth Graves. In the Lifetime Movie Network film Stranger with My Face (2009), she played the widowed mother Shelley Stratton. She plays Mom in the independent short film You're a Wolf (2009), co-starring with Michael Gross and Jesse Bradford. Again in 2009, she played therapist, Dr. Rosen, in the WB's online series, Pushed. Hicks is featured in My Name Is Jerry, an independent film shot mostly in Muncie, Indiana. Hicks won the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role from the 2009 International Filmmakers Festival for her portrayal as Dana.

In 2010, Hicks received positive reviews for her role as Hildegarde, in playwright Christopher Durang's Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them at the Stella Adler Theater in Hollywood. She was Texas family court Judge Harriet Krammer in the Hallmark Channel movie A Valentine's Date (2011), (which was also released under the video title Your Love Never Fails). She played Jean in the Lifetime Movie Network movie Borderline Murder (2011). Hicks played bartender, Rose, who attracted the attention of Elliott Gould in the film Dorfman in Love (2011). Hicks co-starred as Anna Walker in the 2011 Walmart and Procter & Gamble Family Movie Night drama on NBC called Game Time: Tackling the Past with Beau Bridges and Ryan McPartlin. She joined actors Noah Wyle, Virginia Madsen, Mike Farrell, and others in a September 2011 reading of Windows on the World, by Colette Keen, at Hollywood's Stella Adler Theatre, commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11. In November 2011, she starred as Irene Livingston in the Jewish Repertory Theatre of Nevada's Las Vegas production of the Moss Hart play Light Up the Sky. Hicks played Ellen in the 2011 Hallmark Channel movie A Christmas Wedding Tail.

In May 2012, Hicks played Annette Bramble in the Lifetime Network movie Shadow of Fear. Also in May 2012, and into June, she performed in the play Princess, in The Blank Theatre Company's 20th Annual Young Playwrights Festival at The Stella Adler Theatre. In December, 2012, she played Marla Sokoloff's mother, Shirley, in the ION Television original movie, A Christmas Wedding Date. She played Linda, a mother whose young adult son has terminal cancer, in the 2013 film, Reach. Hicks was one of the eight actresses in the Showtime documentary, That Gal... Who Was in That Thing (2015), as she shared her experiences and challenges of being a female actor.

Personal life

Hicks was engaged to journalist Jeff Silverman in the mid-1980s, but the engagement ended. She met her future husband, special effects make up artist (and the designer and executor of the "Chucky" doll) Kevin Yagher, on the set of the film Child's Play. Hicks and Yagher were married on May 19, 1990. The two have a daughter named Caitlin, who was born in 1992. Hicks is a devout Roman Catholic.

Since the 1987/88 academic school year, the University of Notre Dame has given the Catherine Hicks Award to a graduating senior for outstanding work in theatre arts.

Catherine is an alumna of The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.

In 2005, Hicks appeared in a national public service announcement for Catholic Relief Services. She received the 2006 Padre Pio Award from the Capuchin Franciscan Friars for her efforts as Catholic Relief Services spokesperson and Darfur relief.

In 2010, she made appearances in several public service announcements for the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU). She continued her commitment as a parent advocate by teaming with the National Community Pharmacists Association and Purdue Pharma for the 2010 Safeguard My Meds campaign to help prevent the abuse and misuse of prescription medication. Catherine is a trustee on the Hollywood Arts Council.

Hicks appeared in another public service announcement for Catholic Relief Services in 2015.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976-1978	Ryan's Hope	Dr. Faith Coleridge	Contract role (210 episodes)
1978	Sparrow	Valerie	Movie
1979	Love for Rent	Annie	Movie
1979-1980	Bad News Bears, TheThe Bad News Bears	Dr. Emily Rappant	Main role (26 episodes)
1980	To Race the Wind	Beth	Movie
1980	Marilyn: The Untold Story	Marilyn Monroe	Movie
1981	The Merv Griffin Show	Herself	Guest - Gifted Women
1981	Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls	Ann Welles	Movie
1982-1983	Tucker's Witch	Amanda Tucker	Main role (12 episodes)
1983	Happy Endings	Lisa Sage	Movie
1986	Good Morning, America	Herself	Guest
1986	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home	Doctor Gillian Taylor	Movie
1987	Laguna Heat	Jane Algernon	Movie
1988	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	Herself	Guest
1989	Spy	Angela Berk	Movie
1990	Running Against Time	Laura Whittaker	Movie
1991	Hi Honey - I'm Dead	Carol Stadler	Movie
1992	Up to No Good	Allison Ploutzer	TV Sitcom Pilot
1994	Diagnosis: Murder	Lauren Ridgeway	Episode: "Guardian Angel"
1994	Winnetka Road	Jeannie Barker	Main role (6 episodes)
1994	The Martin Short Show	Wife	TV Sitcom Pilot #1
1995	Redwood Curtain	Julia Riordan	Movie
1995	Burke's Law	Pamela Crawford	Episode: "Who Killed the Lifeguard?"
1996-2007	7th Heaven	Annie Camden	Main role (239 episodes)
1997	The Rosie O'Donnell Show	Herself	Guest
1998	The Howie Mandel Show	Herself	Guest
1998	Donny & Marie	Herself	Guest
2000	TV Guide Celebrity Dish	Herself	Guest
2000	For All Time	Kristen	Movie
2002	Lifetime Now	Herself	Guest
2004	The Wayne Brady Show	Herself	Guest
2005	Soap Talk	Herself	Guest
2006	The Tony Danza Show	Herself	Guest
2008	Poison Ivy: The Secret Society	Elisabeth	Movie
2009	Pushed	Dr. Rosen	Series
2009	Stranger with My Face	Shelley Stratton	Movie
2010	Elf Sparkle and the Special Red Dress	Snowdorable (voice)	Movie
2011	Boderline Murder	Jean	Movie
2011	Game Time: Tackling the Past	Anna Walker	Movie
2011	Christmas Wedding Tail, AA Christmas Wedding Tail	Ellen	Movie
2012	Shadow of Fear	Annette Bramble	Movie
2012	Christmas Wedding Date, AA Christmas Wedding Date	Shirley	Movie
2015	Win, Lose, or Love	Dot	Movie
2015	A Christmas Reunion	Linda	Movie

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1982	Death Valley	Sally
1983	Better Late Than Never	Sable
1984	Garbo Talks	Jane Mortimer
1984	Razor's Edge, TheThe Razor's Edge	Isabel Bradley
1985	Fever Pitch	Flo
1986	Peggy Sue Got Married	Carol Heath
1986	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home	Dr. Gillian Taylor
1987	Like Father Like Son	Dr. Amy Larkin
1988	Cognac	Ella Frazier
1988	Child's Play	Karen Barclay
1989	Souvenir	Tina Boyer
1989	She's Out of Control	Janet Pearson
1991	Child's Play 3	Karen Barclay
1991	Liebestraum	Mary Parker
1995	Dillinger and Capone	Abigail
1995	Animal Room	Mrs. Mosk
1997	Turbulence	Maggie
1997	Eight Days a Week	Ms. Lewis
2009	My Name Is Jerry	Dana Holderman
2009	Truth About Layla, TheThe Truth About Layla	Eleanor
2010	Genesis Code, TheThe Genesis Code	Myra Allitt
2011	Your Love Never Fails	Judge Cramer	Video
2011	Ghost Phone: Phone Calls from the Dead	Gertrude
2011	Dorfman in Love	Rose
2011	You're a Wolf	Mom	Short film
2013	Reach	Linda
2014	Dog Who Saved Easter, TheThe Dog Who Saved Easter	Cressida
2015	That Gal...Who Was In That Thing	Herself	Documentary

[ Source: Wikipedia ]