Widdoes was born in Wilmington, Delaware.^[1] She is the oldest of six siblings, all raised by their mother.^[1] Widdoes moved to Manhattan to pursue stage work and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris under a Fulbright scholarship. She subsequently taught acting at Yale, where she appeared in productions of the Yale Repertory Theater.^{[citation needed]}

Television edit

In Season 1, Episode 2, "A Crying Need", on the television series Here Come the Brides, she appears as Dr. Allyn Wright, Seattle's first doctor who also happens to be female. The series ran from 1968 to 1970.

She was menaced in the Dissolve to Black (1961) episode of Roald Dahl's Way Out (1961) and appeared in The Invaders TV series as Ellen Woods (1967), supposedly deranged after seeing extraterrestrials in a barn near her town in the episode "Nightmare". She had a featured role in the HBO series Oz (1997, 2000).

Although she often appeared on stage New York theatre, Widdoes may be most widely known for her work in soap operas. She was an original cast member of Young Doctor Malone, playing Jill Malone (1958–59). She played lower middle class matriarch Rose Perrini on Another World (1978–80) and appeared for a short time on Ryan's Hope (1983) as the vindictive villainess Una McCurtain, a character seeking revenge on Maeve Ryan as part of an old family feud.

Her best known work was as Emma Snyder on As the World Turns. Emma was the matriarch of the Snyder family, introduced to the show's canvas in 1985. The Snyders were based on the family of then-head writer Douglas Marland. She was prominently featured during the show's 50th anniversary program in April 2006 and continued to make regular appearances until the series finale year (although she was noticeably absent during the last few months).

Films edit

Her film credits include The Group (1966), Petulia (1968), The Sea Gull (1968), The Mephisto Waltz (1971), Savages (1972), I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982) and Courage Under Fire (1996).

Theater edit

Widdoes toured in A View from the Bridge with Luther Adler in 1958, and in 1960, she toured with Katharine Cornell in The Firstborn.^[1]

She received a 1973 Tony Award nomination (Best Actress in a Play) for her performance as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing,^[2] set at the end of the Spanish–American War (1898), for the New York Shakespeare Festival. The production transferred from the open-air Delacorte Theater in Central Park to Broadway and was preserved for television. She played other roles for the Festival, including Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 2002, she received the Lucille Lortel Award (Featured Actress) for her work in the play Franny's Way Off-Broadway.

From 1964 to 1972 Widdoes was married to well-known actor Richard Jordan,^[3] with whom she had her daughter Nina.^[4]

Film edit

Television edit

• Kathleen Widdoes at IMDb  
• Kathleen Widdoes at the Internet Broadway Database  
• Kathleen Widdoes at the Internet Off-Broadway Database