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Kathryn Greenwood (or Kathy, as she prefers to be called) was born on March 21, 1962 in the suburb or Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, just outside of Toronto. It was clear that at an early age, Kathy, who grew up watching a lot of Dick Van Dyke, and Carol Burnett, wanted to be in show-business as well; she did, however, get her first taste of the spotlight as a teenager when she attended the Agincourt Collegiate Institute, a high school in Agincourt, Ontario, which is also outside of Toronto. During her high school years, Kathy would show off her talent as star of the school's plays and concerts; though when it came time to graduate in 1980, the aspiring actress completely broke down at the thought of having to attend University in Queens to study Anthropology - that is until a friend gave her a brochure for the American Acadamy of Dramatic Arts; with that said and done, Kathy immediately fled down to Los Angeles, California to study acting for the next two years. When Kathy returned to her Canadian roots in 1987, she managed to find her first professional acting job when she joined A Wedge of Night: a comedic night club act. It was that performance that began to draw attention from the top dogs of Canadian comedy, and that next year, Kathy found herself performing alongside such Canadian comedic geniuses as Mike Myers, Catherine O'Hara, and Colin Mochrie, when she was "promoted" to the Toronto branch of the great Second City comedy group, where she spent the next five years doing what she called the best job of her life. Kathy's talent in performing and writing for Second City garnered her two Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding New Musical or Revue for shows she had both written and performed in in 1988, and later in 1992.
"She was the star of our high school plays, wonderful singing voice, and I swear, parents came to see their own kids, but also because Kathy was in the lead." ~ Sue McBride-Pierce (friend from school)
After her five-year stint with "the first family of comedy", Kathy had slowly grew to become a star, in her own right, in Canada, as she began to branch out into more and more theater work. In fact, after she left Second City, she and her friends and colleagues Jonathon Wilson, and Ed Sahely, developed a "Second City spin-off" they called Not to Be Repeated - in which the three performers would improvise an entire situation comedy in front of a live audience based on lines and suggestions that are given to them by members of the audience. The live sitcom became such a big hit, that later in 2001, CBC adapted it for television, and was renamed This Sitcom is... Not to Be Repeated, though sadly, due to poor network funding, the televised version was canceled after only fifteen "episodes". Despite all that, Kathy, Jonathan, and Ed still do occasionally get to get for more fun that's not to be repeated; in fact, their last known performance at the 2005 Gala of Hope dinner and show in Ontario, Canada.
"Her timing is precise. Her physical work, wild and risky. Greenwood has the confidence of a dancer and flings her Mary Tyler Moore body (circa Dick Van Dyke Show) effortlessly around the stage." ~ Andrew Clark (Eye Weekly - 1993)
Kathy's film work includes This is My Life, Woman on the Run: The Lawrencia Bembenek Story, John Candy's Hostage for a Day, House, Brain Candy, Lucky Peach, The Pooch and the Pauper, Switching Goals, and The Man. Most of Kathy's performances in movies and films are usually small, bit-parts - such as a flight attendant in The Man - but Warner Brother's 1999 made-for-TV Switching Goals is a different story; in the movie, Kathy plays mother, Denise Stanton, to Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen's Sam and Emma Stanton. Sam and Emma are assigned to two different school soccer teams, but feel they things would be better for them and their competitive father, Jerry (Eric Lutes) if they secretly switched places; it isn't long before Denise finds out... and soon gets in on the action as she becomes an assistant soccer coach. Four years later, independant Canadian filmmaker, Daniel Kash, directed the comedic short film, Flip Phone, in which three bridesmaids, running late for their friend's wedding, unwittinly learn the importance of having a flip phone. Kathy, of course, was one of the bridesmaids in the eight-minute short.
Kathy also has made numerous guest-appearances in various television programs across Canada - some of her best known works include: This Hour has 22 Minutes, Royal Canadian Air Farce, Made in Canada, The Broad Side, This Sitcom is... Not to Be Repeated, The High Life, Robocop, Squawk Box, and Maniac Mansion. However, it wasn't until 1996 when Kathy would find star-status on Canadian television, when she played Grace Bailey on the popular family drama series Wind at My Back. The series revolved around two families - the Baileys, and the Suttons - in 1930s New Bedford, Ontario, Canada, during the Great Depression. Young Grace Bailey, the free-spirited, still single, in her mid-30s, child-at-heart is daughter of the wealthiest family of New Bedford, and is the town's "Junior Journalist" and general manager of the local radio station. It was this role that garnered Kathy a Gemini nomination for Best Actress in a Continuing Leading Role in 1999, though sadly, she did not win, though she did have a nice run on the series when in initially aired on CBC from 1996 to 2001, with sixty-five episodes (Kathy appearing in sixty-one). Meanwhile, in late 1999, Kathy crossed the border into the United States, to guest star on such television shows as the updated version of the popular game-show The Hollywood Squares and the hit sitcom The Drew Carey Show, though that same year is when Kathy became the new female regular on the American version of the improvisational game-show, Who's Line Is It Anyway?. Who's Line?, for short, is what most people who are familiar with Kathy know her best for, though sadly, after former female regular, Denny Siegel was fired that same year, not too many people jumped for joy for Kathy appearing on the show; in fact, to this day, most fans of the series regard Kathy as "The Weakest Link", since the producers didn't allow her to participate in as many games and sketches as the other performers got to play, thus leading most people to believe that Kathy "sucks at improv". Either way, Kathy was a part of the "Whose Crew" until the 2001/2002 season, when the series ceased production due to low ratings. Kathy continued commuting back and forth between Toronto and Los Angeles for small portion of the early 2000s, back when Toronto held the first annual Canadian Comedy Awards in 2000, Kathy became the first, ever, to win the Canadian Comedy Award for Best Female Improviser.
"... a sexy amalgam of eloquence and absurdity, fearless about the prospect of looking physically silly, and always energized by the immediacy of live-action, on-the-spot-improv." ~ Daryl Jung (NOW Magazine - 1998)
When Kathy started working regularly in Canada again in the early-to-mid 2000s, she returned to more theater work; in 2003, friend Debra McGrath (wife of friend and colleague, Colin Mochrie) formed the popular, all-female sketch troupe, Women Fully Clothed, featuring "the five funniest women in Canada", as they give hilarious insights into the everyday things that go on in the lives of women, ranging from such topics as relationships to sexuality, from being single to being an exhausted wife and mother. Women Fully Clothed's popularity garnered them a nomination at the 2005 Canadian Comedy Awards when they were nominated for Best Live Sketch Troupe, though sadly, they lost. It wasn't a total loss, as that next year, the Women appeared at the 2006 Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Outside of her professional life, Kathy is married to John Dolan, who writes for television in Canada, and is the proud mother of daughters Josephine and Phoebe; she certainly is one devoted gal!
"There was a moment in my life when I really had to sit down and ask myself what I was in this business for, was it writing? Was it comedy? Or was it going to L.A. to try to get on a sit-com? And I realized it was just acting." ~ Kathy (NOW Magazine Interview - 1998) |
Kathy, with Jonathan Wilson and Ed Sahely from Not to Be Repeated
Kathy as Denise Stanton in Switching Goals, featuring Eric Lutes and Ashley Olsen
Kathy enjoyed five seasons as Grace Bailey on the Canadian family drama Wind at My Back
Kathy winning an episode of Who's Line Is It Anyway?
The Women of Women Fully Clothed
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