Background

Harrold was born in Tazewell

Tazewell, Virginia

Tazewell is a town in Tazewell County, Virginia, USA. The population was 4,206 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA micropolitan area, which has a population of 107,578. It is the county seat of Tazewell County....

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. She attended Mills College

Mills College

Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...

 in Oakland, California

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

, majoring in Drama.

Television

She has appeared in a number of TV series, including The Rockford Files

The Rockford Files

The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah...

, MacGruder and Loud

MacGruder and Loud

MacGruder and Loud is an American crime drama from Aaron Spelling Productions that aired on ABC in 1985.The series starred John Getz and Kathryn Harrold as married police officers Malcolm MacGruder and Jenny Loud in a Los Angeles Police Department-styled police agency...

, The Bronx Zoo

The Bronx Zoo (TV series)

The Bronx Zoo is a 1987 NBC drama series directed by Allan Arkush and Paul Lynch. It lasted two seasons before cancellation.-Plot:Benjamin Harris High School is set in the impoverished, unruly inner-city Bronx. Principal Joe Danzig does his best to maintain optimism, while dealing with the lack of...

, I'll Fly Away

I'll Fly Away (TV series)

I'll Fly Away is a television series set during the late 1950s and early 1960s, in an unspecified Southern U.S. state. It aired on NBC from 1991 to 1993 and starred Regina Taylor as Lilly Harper, a black housekeeper for district attorney Forrest Bedford and his family...

, The Larry Sanders Show

The Larry Sanders Show

The Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the United States. It starred stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders, and centered on the running of his TV show, and the...

, and Mister Sterling

Mister Sterling

Mister Sterling is an American television serial drama created by Lawrence O'Donnell that ran from January to March in 2003. It starred Josh Brolin as an idealistic United States Senator, and featured Audra McDonald, William Russ, David Noroña, and James Whitmore as members of his staff...

'.

Harrold plays Helen Rowland in Desperate Housewives

Desperate Housewives

Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...

.

FIlms

She was Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen

Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...

's leading lady

Leading lady

Leading lady is an informal term for the actress who plays a secondary lead or supporting role, usually a love interest, to the leading actor in a film or play. It is not usually applied to the leading actress in the performance if her character is the protagonist.A leading lady can also be an...

 in the screen legend's final film, The Hunter (1980), and Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....

's leading lady in the action vehicle Raw Deal (1986)

Raw Deal (1986 film)

Raw Deal is 1986 action film directed by John Irvin and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It is the story of an elderly and embittered high-ranking FBI agent who wants to get revenge against a Mafia organization, and sends a former FBI agent played by Schwarzenegger to destroy the organization from...

. She appeared in Nightwing (1979)

Nightwing (film)

Nightwing is a 1979 American horror film directed by Arthur Hiller. The screenplay by Martin Cruz Smith, Steve Shagan, and Bud Shrake is based on the 1977 novel of the same title by Smith...

and co-starred with Luciano Pavarotti

Luciano Pavarotti

right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...

 in Yes, Giorgio (1982).

Harrold starred in Modern Romance

Modern Romance

-Cast:* Albert Brooks .... Robert Cole* Kathryn Harrold .... Mary Harvard* Bruno Kirby .... Jay-Plot:Robert Cole is a Hollywood film editor right in the middle of cutting a new science fiction film with George Kennedy. His relationship with very patient bank executive Mary Harvard is caught...

(1981

1981 in film

-Events:*January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it....

), as the ex-girlfriend of Albert Brooks

Albert Brooks

Albert Lawrence Brooks is an American actor, voice actor, writer, comedian and director. He received an Academy Award nomination in 1987 for his role in Broadcast News...

' character. The film received a limited release and ultimately grossed under US$3 million domestically, but it was well received by critics with one reviewer commenting that the film was "not Brooks at his best, but still amusing". Modern Romance

Modern Romance

-Cast:* Albert Brooks .... Robert Cole* Kathryn Harrold .... Mary Harvard* Bruno Kirby .... Jay-Plot:Robert Cole is a Hollywood film editor right in the middle of cutting a new science fiction film with George Kennedy. His relationship with very patient bank executive Mary Harvard is caught...

also has Harrold performing in a nude scene.

In Into the Night (1985), an action/suspense film directed by John Landis

John Landis

John David Landis is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.-Early life and career:...

, she had a supporting role as Paul Mazursky

Paul Mazursky

Paul Mazursky is an American film director, screenwriter and actor.-Personal life:He was born Irwin Mazursky in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jean , a piano player for dance classes, and David Mazursky, a laborer. Mazursky was born to a Jewish family; his grandfather was an immigrant from...

's girlfriend. When a quartet of Middle Eastern thugs raid the beach house they share, her character is shockingly one of the few fatalities in this violent, yet comedic, film. The character is a trusted friend to the central character, Diana played by Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...

, a courier of stolen gem stones who is pursued with antic zeal throughout the film by the same four thugs in a manner reminiscent of the Keystone Kops

Keystone Kops

The Keystone Kops were incompetent fictional policemen, featured in silent film comedies in the early 20th century. The movies were produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917. The idea came from Hank Mann who also played police chief Tehiezel in the first film...

.

She has also appeared in several TV movies, most notably Bogie (1980) in which she played movie legend Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...

, reportedly against Bacall's wishes, and the HBO film Dead Solid Perfect

Dead Solid Perfect

Dead Solid Perfect is a 1988 American film following the life of a professional golfer on the PGA Tour. It was produced by HBO films and based on the novel of the same name by Dan Jenkins....

(1988) in a leading role opposite Randy Quaid

Randy Quaid

Randall Rudy "Randy" Quaid is an American actor perhaps best known for his role as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon's Vacation movies, as well as his numerous supporting roles in films, including his Oscar nominated performance in The Last Detail, Independence Day, Kingpin and Brokeback Mountain...

.

Personal Life

Since 1994, Harrold has been married to Lawrence O'Donnell, former aide to Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Daniel Patrick "Pat" Moynihan was an American politician and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the United States Senate for New York in 1976, and was re-elected three times . He declined to run for re-election in 2000...

, former staff director for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee

United States Senate Committee on Finance

The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The Committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generally, and those relating to the insular possessions; bonded debt of the United States; customs, collection...

, and executive producer of the TV series The West Wing. He is currently the host of The Last Word on MSNBC, and replaced Keith Olbermann in his time slot in January of 2011.

External links

• http://www.tv.com/kathryn-harrold/person/12156/summary.html