American actress (1047-2017). She was born in
Borger, Texas and grew up in
Dumas, Texas. She's really a fairly
minor actress -- she's had only only a few
film credits, with a couple of
guest appearances on
television -- but she's
interesting in a bunch of other ways.
First, she weighed over
500 pounds. As far as I know, she was the heaviest dramatic actor, male or female, in film history. Second, she wasn't a
professional actor. In fact, she was
discovered after appearing on
Sally Jessy Raphael's
talk show in 1992 -- the topic was "Too Heavy to Leave their House." Cates had refused to leave her home for years because of
depression and
embarrassment about her
weight. After much
encouragement from her weight-loss group, Cates had agreed to
travel from her home near
Dallas all the way to
New York for the show. Author
Peter Hedges, who wrote the novel "
What's Eating Gilbert Grape," as well as the
film's
screenplay, saw the talk show and asked Cates to play the role of Momma in the movie.
Despite
misgivings and
nervousness about her ability to act with
professionals, Cates delivered a
powerhouse performance as a woman who felt
humiliated by her own weight but who was also
fiercely dedicated to her family. After the film's release, Cates also appeared in guest roles on "
Touched by an Angel" and "
Picket Fences."
Since "Gilbert Grape", Cates has appeared in two films -- a TV movie called "
Wolf Girl" in 2001, a film short called "
Mother" in 2014, and a film called "
Billboard" in 2017. A
stomach-stapling operation didn't help her take off any weight permanently; however, she
recovered very nicely from her depression and did part-time
volunteer work trying to promote
positive self-image and
healthy attitudes about weight among
teenagers.
Most research from the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) and from an interview with Cates by Lynne Murray (http://members.aol.com/murraymade/essays/darlenecates.html)