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Early life

Capshaw was born Kathleen Sue Nail, the daughter of Edwin L. Nail (1933–1998), an airline employee and Beverly (née Simon; 1933–2013).⁵⁶

She married marketing manager Robert Capshaw in January 1976 and they had one child, Jessica Capshaw, before divorcing in 1980.⁷ She kept the surname Capshaw, which she used for her professional name upon becoming an actress.

Career

Capshaw moved to New York City to pursue her dream of acting, landing her first role on the soap opera The Edge of Night. After auditioning for a small role in A Little Sex, she was offered the role of the leading lady, which is when she asked for a dismissal from The Edge of Night. She starred in Dreamscape in 1984, and afterwards was directed by her then-boyfriend Armyan Bernstein in Windy City.⁸

She met film director and future husband Steven Spielberg upon winning the female lead as Willie Scott in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), a prequel to Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Capshaw starred opposite Harrison Ford, who played Indiana Jones. In addition, she appeared as Andie Bergstrom, an appealing and stern yet frustrated camp instructor in the 1986 film SpaceCamp, opposite Richard Gere and Gene Hackman in Power (1986), and starred as Susanna McKaskel in The Quick and The Dead (1987) with Sam Elliott. Capshaw also starred in the spy film/romance Her Secret Life.⁹

Capshaw had roles in several films throughout the late 1980s into the 1990s. She starred alongside Michael Douglas and Andy García in Black Rain (1989), Sean Connery and Laurence Fishburne in Just Cause (1995), and Warren Beatty and Annette Bening in Love Affair (1994). She was also featured in the 1997 film The Alarmist with David Arquette and Stanley Tucci. In 1999, she starred in and produced The Love Letter.

In 2001, she starred in the made-for-cable film A Girl Thing,¹⁰ with Stockard Channing, Rebecca De Mornay and Elle Macpherson.¹¹ It is her last acting role to date.

Painting practice

In 2009, Capshaw began her art studies—drawing, painting, and portraiture. She turned her interest to portraits of young people experiencing homelessness. In March 2019, three of these portraits were selected as finalists in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery's prestigious juried triennial: the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Following their selection, the portraits debuted in the exhibition The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today.¹²¹³

Her solo presentation Kate Capshaw: Exclusive Tonsorial Services at the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Florida, in 2024, derives from conversations with Miami Dade community leader Sergei (Sirj) Grant, a barber and entrepreneur, working towards financial education and justice for the local youth.¹⁴

Personal life

During the production of the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Capshaw became close to director Steven Spielberg, whom she later married. Originally an Episcopalian, she converted to Judaism before marrying Spielberg on October 12, 1991.¹⁵¹⁶ They were married in both a civil ceremony and an Orthodox ceremony.¹⁷

There are seven children in the Spielberg–Capshaw family.

• Jessica Capshaw – daughter from Capshaw's previous marriage to Robert Capshaw
• Max Samuel Spielberg – son from Spielberg's previous marriage to actress Amy Irving
• Theo Spielberg – son adopted by Capshaw before her marriage to Spielberg, who later also adopted him¹⁸
• Sasha Rebecca Spielberg
• Sawyer Spielberg
• Mikaela George Spielberg – adopted with Steven Spielberg¹⁹
• Destry Spielberg²⁰

On April 28, 2023, Capshaw along with Michelle Obama made a surprise appearance on stage during Bruce Springsteen's show in Barcelona where they provided backing vocals and tambourine on the song "Glory Days".²¹

Filmography

Film

Television

External links

• Kate Capshaw at IMDb

References

1. Pohlen, Jerome (February 2006). Oddball Texas. Chicago Review Press. p. 89. ISBN 9781569764725. 9781569764725 ↩

2. "UNACCOMPANIED, Kate Capshaw | 2019 | The Outwin: American Portraiture Today | Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery". The Outwin: American Portraiture Today | Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. https://portraitcompetition.si.edu/exhibition/2019-outwin-boochever-portrait-competition/unaccompanied?lang=eng ↩

3. "Art review: At the National Portrait Gallery, the finalists in the 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition redefine the idea of portraiture. - The Washington Post". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/museums/portraits-that-bend-the-rules-of-portraiture-in-the-outwin-2019/2019/12/11/db924a86-1619-11ea-9110-3b34ce1d92b1_story.html ↩

4. "Kate Capshaw: Exclusive Tonsorial Services • Pérez Art Museum Miami". Pérez Art Museum Miami. Retrieved 2024-11-19. https://www.pamm.org/en/exhibition/kate-capshaw-exclusive-tonsorial-services/ ↩

5. Dickson, Gordon (December 30, 1998). "Edwin Nail, Kate Capshaw's dad, dies at 65". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. Section B, Page 4. Retrieved July 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram-edwin-nail/127694653/ ↩

6. "Meet Steven Spielberg's wife of 30-plus years, Kate Capshaw: she's been an actress, producer, painter, model and teacher – and is the matriarch of the acclaimed director's extended, blended family". www.scmp.com. https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3306757/meet-steven-spielbergs-wife-30-plus-years-kate-capshaw-shes-been-actress-producer-painter-model-and ↩

7. "Pushing Limits Actress Kate Capshaw Finely Balances Work And Home Goals, Both Set High". Spokesman.com. 1995-02-27. Retrieved 2025-03-05. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/feb/27/pushing-limits-actress-kate-capshaw-finely/ ↩

8. Spielberg: The Man, the Movies, the Mythology https://books.google.com/books?id=TFpvAH09IT8C&pg=PA142 ↩

9. Code Name Dancer (1987) at Rotten Tomatoes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/code_name_dancer/ ↩

10. "The DVD of A Girl Thing" reviewed at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Thing-Kate-Capshaw/dp/B00005NRNS/ ↩

11. "Elle's Sexy Lesbian Romp." at Cinema.com http://www.cinema.com/news/item/318/elles-sexy-lesbian-romp.phtml ↩

12. "Unaccompanied: The Outwin". Smithsonian. Retrieved 6 November 2023. https://portraitcompetition.si.edu/exhibition/2019-outwin-boochever-portrait-competition/unaccompanied/ ↩

13. Cassaday, Daniel (12 May 2023). "Kate Capshaw's Portraits Bring Homeless Youth Out of Dark and Into View". ArtNews. Retrieved 6 November 2023. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/kate-capshaw-homeless-youth-portraits-paintings-1234667547/ ↩

14. "Kate Capshaw: Exclusive Tonsorial Services • Pérez Art Museum Miami". Pérez Art Museum Miami. Retrieved 2024-11-19. https://www.pamm.org/en/exhibition/kate-capshaw-exclusive-tonsorial-services/ ↩

15. Arenson, Karen W. (September 24, 1995). "From 'Schindler's List,' a Jewish Mission". New York Times. p. 1001030. Retrieved 17 December 2018. /wiki/Karen_W._Arenson ↩

16. Weinraub, Bernard (12 December 1993). "Film: Steven Spielberg Faces the Holocaust". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 February 2001. Retrieved 17 December 2018. /wiki/Bernard_Weinraub ↩

17. Sanello, Frank (1996). Spielberg: The Man, the Movies, the Mythology. Taylor Publishing Co. p. 274. ISBN 9780878339112. 9780878339112 ↩

18. "Spielberg, Steven – Fun Facts, Answers, Factoids, Info, Information". Funtrivia.com. Archived from the original on 9 March 2010. Retrieved March 2, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100309223135/http://www.funtrivia.com/en/Celebrities/Spielberg-Steven-14300.html ↩

19. Greissinger, Lisa Kay (15 April 1996). "Passages". People.com. Time Inc. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071940/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20103281,00.html ↩

20. "Steven Spielberg Fast Facts". Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. 11 April 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2013. http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/21/us/steven-spielberg-fast-facts ↩

21. Blanchett, Ben (2023-04-29). "Michelle Obama Joins Bruce Springsteen Onstage During Barcelona Concert". MSN.com. Retrieved 2023-04-29. https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/michelle-obama-joins-bruce-springsteen-onstage-during-barcelona-concert/ar-AA1avzvt ↩