Kate Walsh plays Addison Shepherd

Kate Walsh was born on October 13, 1967 in San Jose, California. Her given name is Kathleen. She is a 5′10″ blue-eyed blonde that often dyes her hair red for roles, including her portrayal of Addison Shepherd. She has been often been compared to French actress Catherine Deneuve (a patient on Grey’s Anatomy recently made the same remark). Quirky and humorous, Walsh has been most prominently featured in comedic roles, but has recently assumed more serious parts.

She grew up in San Jose and Tucson, Arizona, and later attended the University of Arizona, where she got involved in regional theater. After college, Kate moved to Chicago and joined the Piven Theatre Workshop, as well as the Chicago Shakespeare Repertory. She performed on National Public Radio in the production of the radio play Born Guilty. Walsh later moved to New York City and joined the comedy group Burn Manhattan for several off-Broadway plays.

Her first major TV part came on The Drew Carey Show as Niki Fifer, Drew’s heavyset girlfriend. She wore a fat suit for the part. She went on to portray Carol Nelson in HBO’s The Mind of the Married Man, then MacDonald’s romantic interest in the short-lived sitcom The Norm Show. Walsh has taken her talents to the big screen as well, with credits including Normal Life (1996), Peppermills (1997), Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Part 2 (1998).

More recently, she appeared with Diane Lane and Grey’s co-star Sandra Oh in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), and Kicking & Screaming (2005), alongside Well Ferrell and Robert Duvall.