Who is Katharine Towne?
An actress with over 35 credits to her name, who is perhaps still known best for her role as Cynthia in the Oscar-nominated movie “Mullholland Drive”, Katharine Payne Towne was born under the zodiac sign of Cancer on 17 July 1978, in Hollywood, California USA; she holds American nationality and her ethnicity is Caucasian. Besides the mentioned role, Katharine is known for her television roles in series such as “Tell Me You Love Me”, “CSI: NY”, and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, among others.
Early life, family, and education
Katharine was raised in Hollywood, by her father Robert Towne, a famous actor, writer, producer and director Robert Towne, and her mother, famous late actress Julie Payne.
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After her parents divorced in 1982, in 1984 her father married actress Luisa Gaule, thus Katharine spent most of her childhood with her father and her step-mother, alongside her half-sister Chiara Towne, who is a writer and director.
Being raised in a family of actors, it isn’t surprising that Katharine followed in her parents’ steps and pursued an acting career.
Speaking about her educational background, she attended a local high school, and upon matriculating in 1996, she didn’t enroll at college but focused on auditioning.
Acting career
Katharine made her acting debut as Marjorie in the 1998 movie “Girl”, followed by her roles in “Without Limits”, “She’s All That”, and “Go”, before she was cast to play Sinead in the romantic comedy drama “But I’m a Cheerleader”, in 1999.
In the same year, she made her first television appearance as Sunday in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan and Nicholas Brendon, followed by her role as Monique in the movie “The Bachelor”, before she was cast as Caitlin Spencer in the 2000 horror mystery drama “What Lies Beneath”, alongside Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer.
It seems that 2000 was a good year for Katharine, since she was seen in the series “M.Y.O.B”, and then in movies such as “The in Crowd”, “The Near Future”, and “Town & Country” before she was cast to play her most notable role, as Cynthia in “Mullholland Drive”, also starring Naomi Watts, Justin Theroux and Laura Harring. This mystery thriller drama, written and directed by David Lynch, had 61 award nominations including for Oscar- Best Director, and won 49.
In the following year, Katharine was seen as Nadine in “Evolution”, and then had a guest role as Rebecca in the series “Undeclared”, followed by her role as Jody in “The Anarchist Cookbook” and as Samantha in “Scream at the Sound of Beep” in 2002, while the following year saw her in movies such as “Sol Goode”, “Easy Six” and “LD 50 Lethal Dose” starring Tom Hardy and Mel B.
Katharine portrayed Joana Wojohowsky in the 2005 movie “Barry Dingle”, before her role as Elizabeth in “Looking for Sunday” in 2006, and as Female Sex Addict in “Blades of Glory” in 2007. In the same year, she was cast to play Mason in the series “Tell Me You Love Me”, which won the American Film Institute (AFI) Award TV Program of the Year in 2008.
She was seen as Diane in “To Love” in 2009, and two years later, Katharine was cast to play Tessa James in an episode of the series “CSI: NY”, and then portrayed Sarah in “Blur”, while her most recent roles were in series “The Aquabats! Super Show!”, and the movie “Beauty and the Least: The Misadventures of Ben Banks” in 2012.
Love life and relationships
There have been various rumors concerning Katharine’s love life, however, her marriage with the famous actor, Charlie Hunnam, certainly marked her personal life.
The two met back in 1999 when they both auditioned for the series “Dawson Creek”; Charlie was 18 years old, and Katharine 21, and it seems that it was love at the first sight, since the two married after dating each other for three weeks only. The wedding was held in the Silver Bell Wedding Chapel, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Their marriage lasted for three years, they didn’t have children, and after they divorced in 2002, Charlie said about their marriage: ‘Three terrible, painful, expensive years. I got the cats at the end of it, so that was good. There was a small victory’, while Katharine hasn’t commented about the end of their love story.
Katharine next dated Ethan Embry, and according to some sources, the two became engaged soon after they started dating in 2002; however, they separated in 2003.
Katharine withdrew from public life soon after, thus in the following years, information about her relationships was hidden from the public eye.
As of April 2022, it seems that Katharine is single, was once married, once engaged, and she doesn’t have children.
What happened to her? Where is she now?
After her last appearances on television and the big screen, Katharine held her personal matters a secret, and people were asking what happened to her. We tried to find more information about her life after she stepped out of the limelight, however, since she has no social media accounts (except Twitter) and refuses to give interviews, it’s hard to get to know more about her.
She has a Twitter account, but hasn’t tweeted anything since 2019, and most of her tweets are her thoughts and opinions on topics related to the events of that time – she hasn’t written any information regarding her life or career.
The most recent news about her was back in 2017, when she accused American film director Brett Ratner of sexual harassment.
According to nydailynews.com, ‘he reportedly followed her into a bathroom during a party at a movie star’s home and made “unwanted advances…”‘. Apparently for six months he called her for dates, even though she gave him her number just for business offers. Brett’s lawyer stated: ‘Even if hypothetically this incident occurred exactly as claimed, how is flirting at a party, complimenting a woman on her appearance, and calling her to ask her for a date wrongful conduct?’, however, it seems that all of it stayed with accusations.
In March 2022, news about Katharine’s death flooded the internet, but on 6 April her spokesperson stated: ‘She joins the long list of celebrities who have been victimized by this hoax. She’s still alive and well; stop believing what you see on the Internet.’
Net worth
This 43-year-old actress, known for her natural blonde hair and piercing green eyes, was one of the rising stars of Hollywood in the early 2000s according to critics, thus it isn’t surprising that she earned a hefty sum of money through her acting career. As of early 2022, her net worth has been estimated at over $2 million.
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