Kate Reid

Daphne Katherine Reid was born on 4 November 1930 in London, England, to Canadian parents Walter Clarke Reid, a retired colonel of the Bengal Lancers in the Indian Army, and Helen Isabel, née Moore. While still a toddler, she relocated with her family to Oakville, Ontario, where she was raised. She attended Havergal College in Toronto and the University of Toronto, then trained as an actor at the Royal Conservatory of Music. Her earliest stage appearances were at the Hart House Theatre, and her professional debut came with the Straw Hat Players in Muskoka.

Reid built her early career at the Crest Theatre in Toronto and appeared in The Stepmother on London's West End before joining the Stratford Festival in 1959. Over the course of her long association with the Festival, she took on roles including Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Katharina in The Taming of the Shrew, Celia in As You Like It, Emilia in Othello, the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, and Mistress Overdone in Measure for Measure. At the Shaw Festival, she played the title role in both Mrs. Warren's Profession and The Apple Cart. In the early 1960s, she moved to New York City to study with Uta Hagen.

Her Broadway career spanned from 1962 to 1984. She made her Broadway debut as Martha in the alternate matinee cast of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, a role that established her New York presence. She received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 1964 for Dylan, and a second nomination for Best Actress in a Play in 1966 for Slapstick Tragedy. Her Broadway credits also included Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Price, Bosoms and Neglect, Morning's at Seven, and The Freedom of the City. In 1984, she starred as Linda Loman in the critically acclaimed Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman, appearing opposite Dustin Hoffman, John Malkovich, and Stephen Lang.

On screen, Reid's film career began with the NFB short Farewell Oak Street, followed by Sidney J. Furie's A Dangerous Age. She appeared as the mother of Natalie Wood's character in Sydney Pollack's 1966 film This Property is Condemned, and played acerbic scientist Dr. Ruth Leavitt in The Andromeda Strain in 1971. Her portrayal of the alcoholic sister of Katharine Hepburn's character in A Delicate Balance in 1973 earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. She played Margaret Dysart in the 1977 film adaptation of Equus, and her performance as aging beauty Grace in Louis Malle's Atlantic City in 1980 won her the Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 2nd Genie Awards.

Reid's television work was equally extensive. She received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her portrayal of Queen Victoria in the 1963 drama Invincible Mr. Disraeli. In 1971, she co-starred with Eddie Albert and Suzanne Pleshette in the Columbo episode "Dead Weight," and she appeared as Lil Trotter on Dallas across seasons 6 through 9. In 1985, she reprised the role of Linda Loman in the CBS television adaptation of Death of a Salesman alongside the cast of the Broadway revival. The film won three Emmy Awards, and Reid earned her second Golden Globe nomination, this time for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film.

Among her honors, Reid was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1974. She received honorary degrees from York University in 1970 and the University of Toronto in 1989, and was recognized with lifetime achievement awards from ACTRA and the Dora Mavor Moore Awards. In 1988, she received the Earle Grey Award from the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. Reid was married twice, to Michael Sadlier and to Austin Willis, and had two children with Willis. She died of brain cancer in Stratford, Ontario, on 27 March 1993, at the age of 62. Her memorial service was held at St. Clement's Episcopal Church in New York, attended by Edward Albee, John Guare, Marian Seldes, Elizabeth Wilson, Rosemary Murphy, and Carrie Nye.