# Kate Capshaw

Kathleen Sue Spielberg (née Nail; born November 3, 1953), known professionally as Kate Capshaw, is an American former actress and painter. She is best known for her portrayal of Willie Scott, an American nightclub singer and performer in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), directed by her eventual husband Steven Spielberg. Since then, she starred in Dreamscape (1984), Power (1986), SpaceCamp (1986), Black Rain (1989), Love Affair (1994), Just Cause (1995), The Locusts (1997), and The Love Letter (1999). Her portraiture work has been shown in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and the Pérez Art Museum Miami.

## Early life

Capshaw was born Kathleen Sue Nail, the daughter of Edwin L. Nail, an airline employee.
She married marketing manager Robert Capshaw in January 1976 and they had one child, Jessica Capshaw, before divorcing in 1980. 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.
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.
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, with Stockard Channing, Rebecca De Mornay and Elle Macpherson. 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.
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.

## 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. They were married in both a civil ceremony and an Orthodox ceremony.
There are 7 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 him
* Sasha Rebecca Spielberg
* Sawyer Spielberg
* Mikaela George Spielberg – adopted with Steven Spielberg
* Destry Spielberg
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".

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Note |
| 1982 | A Little Sex | Katherine Harrison | |
| 1984 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | Willie Scott | |
| 1984 | Best Defense | Laura Cooper | |
| 1984 | Dreamscape | Jane DeVries | |
| 1984 | Windy City | Emily Reubens | |
| 1986 | Power | Sydney Betterman | |
| 1986 | SpaceCamp | Andie Bergstrom | |
| 1987 | The Quick and the Dead | Susanna McKaskel | |
| 1988 | Private Affairs | Brunetta | |
| 1989 | Black Rain | Joyce | |
| 1990 | Love at Large | Mrs. Ellen McGraw | |
| 1991 | My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys | Jolie Meadows | |
| 1994 | Love Affair | Lynn Weaver | |
| 1995 | Just Cause | Laurie Prentiss Armstrong | |
| 1995 | How to Make an American Quilt | Sally Dodd | |
| 1997 | The Locusts | Delilah Ashford Potts | |
| 1997 | The Alarmist | Gale Ancona | |
| 1999 | The Love Letter | Helen MacFarquhar | Also producer |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1981 | The Edge of Night | Jinx Avery Mallory #1 | TV series |
| 1982 | Missing Children: A Mother's Story | Elaine Rogers | TV film |
| 1987 | The Quick and the Dead | Susanna McKaskel | TV film |
| 1987 | Her Secret Life | Annie | TV film |
| 1988 | Internal Affairs | Joanna Gates | TV film |
| 1993 | Black Tie Affair | Margo Cody | TV series; 13 episodes |
| 1994 | Next Door | Karen Coler | TV film |
| 1996 | Duke of Groove | Rebecka | Short film |
| 2001 | A Girl Thing | Casey Montgomery | TV film |
| 2001 | Due East | Becky Purdue | TV film |