Kathleen Quinlan was born in Pasadena, California, the only child of Josephine (Zachry), a military-supply supervisor, and Robert Quinlan, a television sports director. She grew up in Mill
Valley, Ca, and got her break in acting when
George Lucas came to her high
school to cast for his movie
American Graffiti (1973). She
followed up her one-line role four years later with
Lifeguard (1976), and then several
roles in the late 1970s and 1980s. Her breakthrough performance came in
1977, as Deborah in Ich hab' dir nie einen Rosengarten versprochen (1977). She was nominated for
an Academy Award in 1995 for Apollo 13 (1995). She starred in the TV series
Frauenpower (1999), but her
contract stipulated that she could not work later than 6 pm, so she could be
home with her husband
Bruce Abbott, son [error] (b. October 17, 1990), and stepson
Dalton Abbott (b. October 4, 1989). She currently works in television and film.
