K Callan
{{short description|American actress}}
{{Infobox person
| name = K Callan
| image = K Callan on Gadi Elkon.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Callan in 2024
| birth_name = Katherine Elizabeth Borman
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1936|1|9}}
| birth_place = Dallas, Texas, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = North Texas State University
| known_for = Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
| occupation = Actress, author
| years_active = 1956–present
| spouse = James Ruskin Callan
| children = 3
| website = {{Official URL}}
}}
Katherine Elizabeth Callan (née Borman; born January 9) is an American actress and writer, known for playing Clark Kent's mother Martha in the ABC television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. She has most recently appeared as Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, in the Christian historical drama The Chosen.{{cite news|title=K Callan|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/person/10296/K-Callan|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130802171622/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/10296/K-Callan|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 2, 2013|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 5, 2018}}
Early years
Callan was born on January 9 {{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2025/01/09/UPI-Almanac-for-Thursday-Jan-9-2025/7541736388517/|title=UPI Almanac for Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025|website=UPI|date=2025-01-09|quote=actor K Callan wanted to act}} in Dallas, Texas.{{Citation needed |date=October 2021}} When she was 5 years old, she felt that she wanted to act. She did so in school, and as a student at North Texas State University at Denton, she studied drama. She went on to teach drama at a Catholic girls' school, and she began a children's theatre.{{cite news |last1=Mendoza |first1=N. F. |title=Superman's Mom: It's a Natural |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87205255/k-callan/ |access-date=October 16, 2021 |work=The Herald-News |agency=Los Angeles Times |date=December 29, 1995 |location=New Jersey, Passaic |page=22|via = Newspapers.com}}
Career
Callan first appeared on television in an episode of Route 66 that happened to be shooting in Dallas. She resumed her on-camera career in 1970, guest-starring in roles on One Day at a Time, St. Elsewhere, Carnivàle, JAG, Coach and King of the Hill. She played a key role in the Emmy Award-winning episode "Cousin Liz" of All in the Family and portrayed the mother of April Stevens Ewing in several episodes of the penultimate season of Dallas. She played Daisy LaRue in the TV show Meet the Browns and appeared as Mrs. Monroe, Gabe Duncan's teacher, in Good Luck Charlie. She also appeared in the third-season finale of Desperate Housewives as Ilene Britt, the mother of Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan), and has portrayed Lily's maternal grandmother on several episodes of How I Met Your Mother. She played the part of Charlie (as an elderly woman) in Heroes for one episode.
She appeared in the films Joe (1970), A Touch of Class (1973), The Onion Field (1979), American Gigolo (1980), A Change of Seasons (1980), Fast-Walking (1982), and Knives Out (2019), as well as the 1972 television adaptation of the 1966 Lanford Wilson play The Rimers of Eldritch.
She has written several books, including The Los Angeles Agent, The Script Is Finished, Now What Do I Do?, Directing Your Directing Career, and How to Sell Yourself as an Actor. She received her acting training at HB Studio[https://hbstudio.org/about-hb-studio/alumni/ HB Studio Alumni] in New York City.
Callan made TV commercials for products, including Anacin, Endust, Geritol, and Sanka.{{cite news |last1=Fallon |first1=Beth |title=The girl next door cleans up on commercials |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87206258/daily-news/ |access-date=October 16, 2021 |work=Daily News |date=March 28, 1972 |location=New York, New York City |page=28|via = Newspapers.com}}
Personal life
Callan was married to and divorced from author James Ruskin Callan. The couple have three children, Jamie Callan, Kelly Callan, and Kristi Callan.
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1970
|Joe |Mary Lou Curran | as K. Callan |
| 1971
|Subway Lady |Uncredited |
| 1972
|Hail |Mrs. Burd | |
| 1973
|Patty Menkes | as K Callan |
| 1979
|Ms. Tidwell | |
| 1979
|Mrs. Powell | |
| 1980
|Lisa Williams | |
| 1980
|Alice Bingham | |
| 1982
|Motel Manager | |
| 1991
|Martha Wellington | |
| 1991
|Frankie's Mother | |
| 1998
|Border to Border |Mrs. Piston | |
| 1999
|A Fare to Remember |Ginny | |
| 2002
|Devious Beings |Lady Jane | |
| 2005
|Marisa | |
| 2005
|Crazylove |Mrs. Hallstrom | |
| 2006
|Midnight Clear |Eva | |
| 2007
|Coyote County Loser |Maggie Hopps | |
| 2010
|Ms. Tannenbaum | |
| 2012
|Not That Funny |Toogey Richmonde | |
| 2013
|Samuel Bleak |Elaine | |
| 2019
|Wanetta "Great Nana" Thrombey | |
| 2023
|Pie in the Sky |Mama | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1962
|Western Union Operator |Episode: "Aren't You Surprised to See Me?" |
| 1972
|Evelyn Jackson |Episode: "The Rimers of Eldritch" |
| 1976–1977
|Alice Butterfield |4 episodes |
| 1977
|Gwen Baxter |Episode: "Fire '77" |
| 1977
|The Four of Us |Marie |unsold pilot |
| 1977
|Fish |Mrs. Lester |2 episodes |
| 1977
|Veronica Cartwright |Episode: "Cousin Liz" |
| 1977
|Mrs. Stevens |Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1977
|Dr. Sanders |Episode: "Who's Why" |
| 1978
|Sophie Sullivan |Episode: "Starting Over" |
| 1979
|Mrs. Westerfield |Two-part TV movie |
| 1979
|Mrs. Kleindienst |TV miniseries |
| 1979–1980
|Katie Wabash |Regular role |
| 1982
|Charlotte Burton |Episode: "The Butler Did It (A Bird in the Hand)" |
| 1983
|Connie Buford |Regular role |
| 1983
|Mrs. Dunne |Episode: "The Fatal Blow" |
| 1983
|Janet Ebersol |Episode: "The Visitors" |
| 1985
|Catherine |TV miniseries |
| 1985
|Patty Galecki |2 episodes |
| 1986
|Carolyn Kandinsky |Episode: "In God We Strongly Suspect" |
| 1986
|Dot's Mom |Episode: "Oddest Couple" |
| 1987
|Mrs. Lowell |Episode: "Normal People" |
| 1989
|Lenore Mackenzie |Episode: "The Americanization of Machiko – August 4, 1953" |
| 1990
|Amy Stevens |4 episodes |
| 1993–1997
|Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman |Regular role |
| 1993
|Alsia |Episode: "Rivals" |
| 2000
|Various roles |One episode |
| 2000–2003
|Tilly Hill (voice) |3 episodes |
| 2003–2005
|Eleanor McGill |Recurring role, 8 episodes |
| 2006
|Helen Russell |Episode: "The Hen House" |
| 2007
|Ilene Britt |Episode: "Getting Married Today" |
| 2007–2012
|Grandma Lois |3 episodes |
| 2009–2010
|Miss Daisy/Daisy LaRue |20 episodes |
| 2011, 2020
|NCIS |various roles |2 episodes |
| 2013
|Susan Dayward |3 episodes |
| 2016
|Veep |Judy Sherman |Recurring role |
| 2017
|Janis |One episode |
| 2021
|Carol |1 episode |
| 2023
|Betty |Episode: "Time of the Monkey" |
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book|title=The New York Agent Book|year=1987|isbn=978-0-961733-61-2|last1=Callan |first1=K. |publisher=Sweden Press }}
- {{cite book|title=The Los Angeles Agent Book|year=1992|isbn=978-0-961733-68-1|publisher=Sweden Press|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/laagentbook00call}}
- {{cite book|title=How to Sell Yourself As an Actor: From New York to Los Angeles and Everywhere in Between|year=1992|isbn=978-0-961733-67-4|publisher=Sweden Press|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/howtosellyoursel00kcal}}
- {{cite book|title=Script Is Finished, Now What Do I Do? |isbn=978-1-878355-00-3|date=1993|publisher=Sweden Press|url=https://archive.org/details/scriptisfinished00kcal}}
- {{cite book|title=The Life of the Party|year=1993|isbn=1-878355-23-6|last1=Callan |first1=K. |publisher=Sweden Press }}
- {{cite book|title=Directing your directing career|year=1994|isbn=978-1-878355-11-9|last1=Callan |first1=K. |publisher=Sweden Press }}
- {{cite book|title=The Life of the Party 2|year=1997|isbn=978-1-878355-06-5}}
External links
- {{Official website}}
- {{IMDb name}}
- {{IBDB name}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callan, K}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers
Category:20th-century American women writers
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:Actresses from Dallas
Category:American film actresses
Category:American television actresses