Darlene Cates Video | Celebrity Interview and Paparazzi

Darlene Cates (born December 13, 1947) is an American actress. Rita Darlene Guthrie was born in Borger, Texas to Dorothy Ann (née Pfrimmer) and Truman Madison Guthrie. She made her feature film debut in Lasse Hallström's What's Eating Gilbert Grape, alongside Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio, in which she played the title character's housebound mother. Cates was chosen for the part of Bonnie Grape after a casting director saw her on an episode of the Sally Jessy Raphael show in which she discussed her weight. She described her weight as around 550 pounds. Television... MORE

Darlene Cates (born December 13, 1947) is an American actress. Rita Darlene Guthrie was born in Borger, Texas to Dorothy Ann (née Pfrimmer) and Truman Madison Guthrie. She made her feature film debut in Lasse Hallström's What's Eating Gilbert Grape, alongside Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio, in which she played the title character's housebound mother. Cates was chosen for the part of Bonnie Grape after a casting director saw her on an episode of the Sally Jessy Raphael show in which she discussed her weight. She described her weight as around 550 pounds. Television roles followed on the hit shows Picket Fences and Touched by an Angel, and a cameo in Wolf Girl, a Halloween Special for USA Network. Producer J. Miles Dale flew a small crew and the film's two young stars Dov Tiefenbach and Victoria Sanchez from Romania to Texas to shoot their scenes with Cates. LESS