Kathryn Susan Morris (born January 28, 1969) See also: is an American actress, best known for her lead role as Detective Lilly Rush in the CBS series Cold Case.

Early life and education Morris was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She grew up Christian in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, with her parents, Stanley, a Bible scholar, and Joyce, an insurance agent, and five siblings before moving away. From age 6 to 17, Morris and her family traveled the southern 'Bible Belt' as a gospel group called 'The Morris Code'. The group was mainly made up of Morris's father and three (out of five) of her siblings.

She graduated from Enrico Fermi High School and, while there, attended the summer program at Wesleyan University's Center for Creative Youth. After studying theatre in high school, she was involved in a hit-and-run collision while on her way to her first acting gig, a Japanese music video based on the musical Grease. She still made it to the gig and that's when she knew she was going to be an actress. She attended two colleges in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, Northeastern Christian Junior College and Temple University, leaving Temple before graduating and moving to San Francisco.

Career Morris's first role was a minor one in the 1991 TV movie Long Road Home. Several other small parts followed, including a bit part as a psychiatric patient in the Oscar-winning As Good as It Gets. Her breakthrough role came as Lt. Annalisa "Stinger" Lindstrom in the television series Pensacola: Wings of Gold in 1997 for two seasons. Morris continued to work in films (notably ones directed by Rod Lurie) and had a brief stint on the Xena series in 1999 as Najara.

After seeing her in the film The Contender (which DreamWorks distributed), Steven Spielberg cast her in two successive films. Her scenes as a rock star in A.I. Artificial Intelligence required Morris to take intensive singing and guitar lessons, but were cut from the film by the director, which was particularly agonizing for her. In Minority Report, she portrayed the tormented wife of Tom Cruise's character.Spielberg: Don't Hate Me, from the June 24, 2002, column by Marc S. Malkin in New YorkIn Step With... Kathryn Morris, a May 2004 article from Parade magazine

In 2003, Morris won the lead role of detective Lilly Rush in the CBS dramatic series Cold Case. She also appeared in the 2004 films Mindhunters and Paycheck, opposite Ben Affleck, and more recently as the journalist wife of Josh Hartnett in Lurie's drama Resurrecting the Champ (2007). Morris appeared in the film Cougars, Inc. which was distributed in 2011. In 2012, Morris appeared in the Hallmark Channel movie The Sweeter Side of Life, a romantic comedy.

Personal life Morris was in a relationship with actor Johnny Messner. On April 8, 2013, Morris announced they were expecting twins. She gave birth to twin boys, who were diagnosed with autism when they were three years old. Messner and Morris broke up and he subsequently married Avril Grace. In October 2021, Morris launched The Savants, an initiative to "revolutionize how the world lives on and off the spectrum".

With Danny Pino, Morris made a public service announcement regarding postpartum depression as part of the CBS Cares campaign. Also, she was a spokesperson for the Sun Safety Alliance, an organization centered on fostering sun safety initiatives to reduce the risk of skin cancer.

In 2007, she drove in the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, and her hobbies include hiking and yoga.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes1991Cool as IceJen1995SleepstalkerMeganDirect-to-video1996Paper DragonsKate1996Emily1997As Good as It GetsPsychiatric Patient1998Anxious MotherDirect-to-video1999ScreenplayFanny1999DeterrenceLizzie Woods2000Paige Willomina2001A.I. Artificial IntelligenceTeenage Honey2001DOD InvestigatorScenes deleted2002Role of a LifetimeChelsea Cellini2002Minority ReportLara Anderton2002HostageLinda DelacroixSegment for the BMW short film series The Hire2003PaycheckRita Dunne2004MindhuntersSara Moore2007Resurrecting the ChampJoyce Kernan2008Assassination of a High School PresidentNurse Platt2011Cougars, Inc.Alison2011MoneyballBilly Beane's WifeScenes deleted2012Sunday's MotherGillianShort film2013The CoinRachael Short film2015The Perfect GuyKaren2015Bone TomahawkLorna Hunt 2017You Get MeMrs. Hewitt2019The DirtDeana Richards2023HayseedJoyce Metts

Television Year Title Role Notes1991Long Road HomeBilly Jo RobertsonTV movie1994Rise and Walk: The Dennis Byrd StoryAngelaTV movie1994Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells AllZundro (Sandra)TV movie1994Sweet JusticeRemyEpisode: "Pilot"1994Monica WhitleyTV movie1995W.E.I.R.D. WorldLucyTV movie1995Family ValuesBorgyork GrummTV movie1996Murder, She WroteDoreen the WaitressEpisode: "What You Don't Know Can Kill You"1996L.A. FirefightersHelen Regan3 episodes1996Silk StalkingsJudith MillayEpisode: "Compulsion"1996RelativitySylvieEpisode: "Pilot"1996InkWomanEpisode: "Above the Fold"1997Poltergeist: The LegacyLaura DavisEpisode: "Silent Partner"1997–1998Pensacola: Wings of GoldStingerMain role (season 1), 22 episodes1998InfernoRyan RibbetTV movie1998–1999Xena: Warrior PrincessNajaraEpisodes: "Crusader", "The Convert"1999Charlotte RichmondEpisodes: "Wagon Train: Part 1", "Wagon Train: Part 2"1999Inherit the WindRachel BrownTV movie1999ProvidenceMollyEpisode: "The Third Thing"2000Hell SwarmAllieTV movie2000Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die ForPatricia WilliamsTV movie2001And Never Let Her GoAnne Marie FaheyTV movie2001Sandy4 episodes2003–2010Cold CaseLilly RushLead role, 156 episodes2013The Sweeter Side of LifeDesiree HarperTV movie2016ColonyCharlotte Burgess3 episodes2018ReverieMonica ShawSeries regular; 10 episodes

References

External links