Catherine Mary Stewart (; born 22 April 1959) is a Canadian actress. Her film roles include The Apple, Night of the Comet, The Last Starfighter and Weekend at Bernie's. She was also the original Kayla Brady in Days of Our Lives.

Early life Stewart was born on 22 April 1959, in Edmonton, Alberta, the daughter of Mary (Stewart) and John Ralph Nursall. Her parents taught at the University of Alberta, her mother a physiology teaching assistant and her father a biology professor. Stewart attended Strathcona Composite High School. She first took jazz dance lessons, and moved to London after high school to study dance and general performing arts, and where she passed the audition for her first movie, The Apple.

Career

In 1980, Stewart landed a role in The Apple, a musical science fiction cult film. During the production of The Apple, the director Menahem Golan took issue with her original name Mary Nursall and insisted she change it, which she did using her mother's maiden name.

After moving to Los Angeles, she obtained a role on the soap opera Days of Our Lives, playing the original Kayla Brady from January 1982 to December 1983. She also auditioned for projects like Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story, against Jamie Lee Curtis. In 1984, she starred in two science fiction feature films, The Last Starfighter as Maggie Gordon and Night of the Comet as Regina Belmont. She later played a leading role in the teen comedy Mischief.

In the mid-1980s, Stewart appeared in two miniseries: Hollywood Wives (1985) and Sins (1986), where she played the younger version of Joan Collins's character. She made guest appearances on television series such as Knight Rider, Hotel, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Outer Limits. She starred in several made-for-TV movies such as Murder by the Book (1987), Passion and Paradise (1989), Perfect Harmony (1991) and Ordeal in the Arctic (1993). In 1989, she appeared as Gwen Saunders in the comedy film Weekend at Bernie's. She, too, had a small role on The A-Team, season 2 episode titled Steel.

Beginning in the mid-1990s, she scaled back her appearances while raising her family. After her children had grown, she again started appearing in television and film roles, and expressed an interest in directing. In 2010, she appeared in the film A Christmas Snow. In 2016, she directed the short movie A Walk to Remember. She starred in the Hallmark holidays movies Rock N' Roll Christmas in 2019 and A Christmas Comeback in 2020.

Personal life Stewart is the sister of Alan Nursall, a scientist and media personality who reports on science news for the Canadian TV series Daily Planet and the Discovery Channel. Another brother, John Nursall, is a freelance writer and TV/film documentary director and producer.

Stewart was married to actor John Findlater in 1983 and divorced in 1985. She married Richard Allerton in 1992, with whom she has a daughter and a son. The family lived in Brooklyn, New York, as of 2013.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes1980 Powderheads Belinda The Apple Bibi 1981 Nighthawks Sales Girl in London 1982 The Beach Girls The Surfer Girl1984 The Last Starfighter Maggie Gordon Night of the Comet Regina Belmont Terror in the Aisles Herself Documentary film 1985 Mischief Bunny Miller1987 Scenes from the Goldmine Debi DiAngelo Dudes Jessie Nightflyers Miranda Dorlac 1988 World Gone Wild Angie1989 Riding the Edge Maggie Cole Weekend at Bernie's Gwen Saunders1991 The Psychic Laurel Cafe Romeo Lia 1994 Samurai Cowboy Jessie Collins1995 Number One Fan Holly Newman Out of Annie's Past Annie Carver Direct-to-video 1999 Dead Silent Julia Kerbridge 2000 Reaper Sonya Lehrman2007 The Girl Next Door Mrs. Moran The Attic Kim Callan Direct-to-video2010 Perry St Elaine Short film Rising Stars Ms. Cage A Christmas Snow Kathleen Direct-to-video 2013 AmeriQua Mrs. Edwards 2017 Imitation Girl Mrs. Phan

Television Year Title Role Notes 1982 Mr. Merlin Daisy Willis Episode: "Everything's Coming Up Daisies" 1982–1983 Days of Our Lives Kayla Brady 150 episodes1983 Knight Rider Lisa Martinson Episode: "Brother's Keeper" A Killer in the Family CarolTV movie 1984 With Intent to Kill Lisa Nolen1985 Hotel Lynn Valli Episode: "Promises" Hollywood Wives Angel Hudson Miniseries, 3 episodes Midas Valley Betsy TV movie1986 Sins Young Helene Junot Miniseries, 3 episodes Annihilator Angela TaylorTV movie1987 Murder by the Book Marissa Alfred Hitchcock Presents Rachel Jenkins Episode: "Tragedy Tonight" 1989 Passion and Paradise Nancy Oakes TV movie1990 Project: Tinman Naomi TV pilot Follow Your Heart KatyTV movie 1991 Perfect Harmony Miss Hobbs1992 Hearts Are Wild Kyle Hubbard 7 episodes The Witches of Eastwick Sukie RidgemontTV movie1993 Ordeal in the Arctic Captain Wilma De Groot The Sea Wolf Flaxen Brewster 1996 The Outer Limits Joanne Sharp Episode: "Unnatural Selection" 2001 Brooke Miller Episode: "Family Values" 2002 Guiding Light Naomi 2 episodes2007 My Daughter's Secret Detective MarrinTV movie Sharpshooter Amy2008 Dead at 17 Holly Generation Gap Veronica Statlan 2009 My Neighbor's Secret Detective Neal 2010 Class Julia Sheffield 2012 Ghoul Mrs. Elizabeth Graco 2013 The Husband She Met Online Detective Eve Millstrom 2019 Rock N' Roll Christmas Bonnie Rose 2021 Deck the Heart Felicia Johnson 2023 Law & Order Victoria Chandler Episode: "Open Wounds"

References

External links

Interview with Catherine Mary Stewart at Classic Film & TV Cafe, 27 January 2014