Darlene Cates

Darlene Cates
Born	Rita Darlene Guthrie December 13, 1947 (1947-12-13) (age 63) Borger, Texas

Darlene Cates (born December 13, 1947) is an American actress.

Background

Rita Darlene Guthrie was born in Borger, Texas to Dorothy Ann (née Pfrimmer) and Truman Madison Guthrie. She made her feature film debut in Lasse Hallström's What's Eating Gilbert Grape, alongside Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio, in which she played the title character's housebound mother. Cates was chosen for the part of Bonnie Grape after a casting director saw her on an episode of the Sally Jessy Raphael show in which she discussed her weight. She described her weight as around 550 pounds.^[1]

Television roles followed on the hit shows Picket Fences and Touched by an Angel, and a cameo in Wolf Girl, a Halloween Special for USA Network. Producer J. Miles Dale flew a small crew and the film's two young stars Dov Tiefenbach and Victoria Sanchez from Romania to Texas to shoot their scenes with Cates.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1993	What's Eating Gilbert Grape	Bonnie Grape
1994	Picket Fences	Sophie Wallace	"Squatter's Rights"
1996	Touched by an Angel	Claudia Bell	"Statute of Limitations"
2001	Wolf Girl	Athena	TV film

References

1. ^ Lynne Murray: Darlene Cates Interview

External links

• Darlene Cates at the Internet Movie Database
• Official site at the Wayback Machine (archived October 23, 2007)

Persondata
Name	Cates, Darlene
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 13, 1947
Place of birth	Borger, Texas
Date of death
Place of death