Kate's Secret is a 1986 television movie

Television movie

A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...

 starring Meredith Baxter Birney

Meredith Baxter

Meredith Baxter , also known for some years as Meredith Baxter-Birney, is an American actress and producer. She is known for her acting roles including three television series: Family , an ABC television-network drama, Family Ties , an NBC television-network situation comedy, and Dan Vs. , a...

, Ben Masters

Ben Masters

Ben Masters is an American actor who is best known for his portrayal of Julian Crane on daytime drama Passions from July 8, 1999 to the show's final episode on August 7, 2008.-Acting career:...

, Tracy Nelson

Tracy Nelson

Tracy Nelson is the name of:*Tracy Nelson , of Father Dowling Mysteries*Tracy Nelson , active from the 1960s to the present...

, and Edward Asner, about a seemingly "perfect" suburban housewife and mother who is secretly suffering from bulimia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating and purging or consuming a large amount of food in a short amount of time, followed by an attempt to rid oneself of the food consumed, usually by purging and/or by laxative, diuretics or excessive exercise. Bulimia nervosa is...

. It was not based upon an actual person, but rather an attempt to realistically portray the eating disorder

Eating disorder

Eating disorders refer to a group of conditions defined by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual's physical and mental health. Bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating disorder are the most common specific...

.

Synopsis

To those on the outside, Kate Stark (Meredith Baxter Birney

Meredith Baxter

Meredith Baxter , also known for some years as Meredith Baxter-Birney, is an American actress and producer. She is known for her acting roles including three television series: Family , an ABC television-network drama, Family Ties , an NBC television-network situation comedy, and Dan Vs. , a...

) leads an idyllic life; a successful husband (Ben Masters

Ben Masters

Ben Masters is an American actor who is best known for his portrayal of Julian Crane on daytime drama Passions from July 8, 1999 to the show's final episode on August 7, 2008.-Acting career:...

), an adoring young daughter (Summer Phoenix

Summer Phoenix

Summer Joy Phoenix is an American actress and model. She is the youngest sibling of the late River Phoenix, Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, and Liberty Phoenix, and is married to actor Casey Affleck.-Early life:...

), and a beautiful home. But beneath the surface, her life is less than ideal; a husband preoccupied with his career, a domineering mother (Georgann Johnson), and a dark secret that not even her closest friends know: Kate is bulimic. As the pressures in her life begin to mount, Kate obsessively diets and exercises, and habitually binges and purges

Binge eating

Binge eating is a pattern of disordered eating which consists of episodes of uncontrollable eating. It is sometimes as a symptom of binge eating disorder. During such binges, a person rapidly consumes an excessive amount of food...

 while adroitly hiding her eating disorder

Eating disorder

Eating disorders refer to a group of conditions defined by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual's physical and mental health. Bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating disorder are the most common specific...

 from those closest to her. When Kate's bulimia finally leads to a frightening accident that makes it clear to everyone that her illness is not only dangerous to herself, but to those around her, she's committed to rehabilitation

Psychiatric rehabilitation

Psychiatric rehabilitation, also known as psychosocial rehabilitation, and usually simplified to psych rehab, is the process of restoration of community functioning and well-being of an individual who has a psychiatric disability...

 where she must learn to face the inner turmoil at the root of her disorder before it's too late.

Cast

Actor	Role
Meredith Baxter Birney Meredith Baxter Meredith Baxter , also known for some years as Meredith Baxter-Birney, is an American actress and producer. She is known for her acting roles including three television series: Family , an ABC television-network drama, Family Ties , an NBC television-network situation comedy, and Dan Vs. , a...	Kate Stark
Ben Masters Ben Masters Ben Masters is an American actor who is best known for his portrayal of Julian Crane on daytime drama Passions from July 8, 1999 to the show's final episode on August 7, 2008.-Acting career:...	Jack Stark
Georgann Johnson	Faith
Tracy Nelson Tracy Nelson (actress) Tracy Kristine Nelson is an American actress.-Early life:Tracy Nelson is a third generation performer; her parents were Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ricky Nelson and actress/artist Kristin Nelson . She has three younger siblings: Matthew Nelson, Gunnar Nelson of the '90s rock group Nelson,...	Patch Reed
Shari Belafonte Shari Belafonte Shari Belafonte is an American actress, model, writer and singer. The daughter of singer Harry Belafonte, she is known for her role as Julie Gilette on the 1980s television series Hotel and as a spokesperson for the diet supplement Slim-Fast during the 1990s.-Personal life:Shari Lynn Belafonte was...	Gail
Leslie Bevis Leslie Bevis Leslie Bevis is an American character actress. Bevis worked as a top European model before her work in film and television...	Monica Fields
Edward Asner	Dr. Resnick
Mackenzie Phillips Mackenzie Phillips Mackenzie Phillips is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in American Graffiti and as rebellious teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time...	Deyna
Summer Phoenix Summer Phoenix Summer Joy Phoenix is an American actress and model. She is the youngest sibling of the late River Phoenix, Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, and Liberty Phoenix, and is married to actor Casey Affleck.-Early life:...	Becky Stark
Sharon Spelman	Liz Reed
Mindy Seeger	Markie
Isabel Grandin	Dot
Liz Torres Liz Torres Elizabeth "Liz" Torres is an actress, singer, and comedienne of Puerto Rican descent.-Early years:Torres was born in the Bronx borough of New York City where her parents had settled after moving from Puerto Rico. There she received her primary and secondary education...	Laura
Gwynne Gilford Gwynne Gilford Gloria Gwynne Gilford is an American actress. She appeared in several television series in the 1970s and 1980s, including A New Kind of Family, The Young Lawyers and The Waverly Wonders, and had a role in the 1987 film version of Masters of the Universe.Gilford was born in Los Angeles, California,...	Lorna
Rosanna Huffman	Megan
Ron Asher	Teen at Pizza Parlor
Liberty Phoenix	Brownie Scout

External links

• Secret at MyLifetime.com