Clip of Kate McNeil in Monkey Shines

Here's a clip of Kate McNeil in the 1988 horror film Monkey Shines.The two scenes included here serve as an introduction to her character in the movie, Melanie Parker. In the first scene, she is shown training a monkey and in the second, taking a walk with co-star John Pankow and discussing her work.

Clips of Kate McNeil on Love Boat: The Next Wave

In 199, Kate McNeil came aboard Love Boat: The Next Wave (a short-lived continuation of the classic TV series The Love Boat) in a small recurring role as Pat Kennedy, the ex-wife of ship's captain Jim Kennedy (played by actor Robert Urich).


to begin with, a short clip from Kate McNeil's first appearance on the show:

The next three clips are from Kate McNeil's second and more substantial appearance on Love Boat: The Next Wave.

Vital Signs 1986 newspaper clipping

Here's a press review of the 1986 TV movie Vital Signs, which featured Kate McNeil alongside stars Gary Cole and Ed Asner. The writer says a couple of negative things in the final paragraph but overall the article is mostly a straightforward summary of the movie.

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Clip of Kate McNeil in North and South Book II

Here's a clip of Kate McNeil in the 1986 miniseries North and South Book II. Kate McNeil portrays Augusta Barclay, a Southern woman who sneaks medicine and supplies to Confederate troops. In this scene she chats and later has a romantic interlude with Charles Main (played by Lewis Smith).

Clip of Kate McNeil in A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion

Between 1993 and 1997, Kate McNeil portrayed Janet Gilchrist in three TV movies based on the successful Waltons TV series. This clip shows Kate McNeil's very first scene in the first of the three movies, A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion.

Clip of Kate McNeil on Bodies of Evidence

Here's a clip of Kate McNeil from the very first episode of Bodies of Evidence. In this clip Detective Nora Houghton (Kate McNeil) revisits a murder scene and gets into the mind of a murderer.

Clip of Kate McNeil on Simon & Simon

Here's a clip of Kate McNeil guest starring in an episode of Simon & Simon in 1988. In this scene, Trish Van Alder (Kate McNeil) and A.J. Simon (Jameson Parker) spend some time together. Trish is the widow of one of A.J.'s old friends from college.

Clips of Kate McNeil on Midnight Caller

Here are two short clips of Kate McNeil and Gary Cole on Midnight Caller. The episode was called 'Planes' and it was originally broadcast in January 1990.

Clip of Kate McNeil in Beach House

Here's a clip of Kate McNeil (billed as Kathy McNeil) in her first movie, Beach House. A low-budget comedy released in 1982, the movie centers around two groups of young people, one from New York City and the other from Philadelphia, who have to share a beach house one summer. In this scene from Beach House, we see Kate McNeil looking young and beautiful in a bikini, chatting with a boy from Brooklyn named Anthony and getting suntan lotion rubbed on her back.

Clip of Kate McNeil on Designing Women

Kate McNeil made a brief but memorable guest appearance on the successful sitcom Designing Women in 1989. In this scene, Libby (Kate McNeil) has a chat with Charlene (Jean Smart).

Clip of Kate McNeil on WIOU

Kate McNeil was part of a large ensemble cast for WIOU, a TV show about the news department of a fictional television station. Unfortunately, the show was short-lived and lasted from 1990 to 1991 and was cancelled before all it's episodes aired. The other actors in this scene are Harris Yulin and Robin Gammell.

Kate McNeil in Vital Signs (1986 TV movie)

In 1986, Kate McNeil co-starred alongside Gary Cole, Ed Asner and Barbara Barrie in a TV movie called Vital Signs. I haven't seen the movie and I just hope that it is out there somewhere, maybe in the hands of some collector who will someday let the rest of the world have a chance to see it. All we have now are short advertisements for Vital Signs and that is what the images on this page are taken from.

Kate McNeil in the first episode of Bodies of Evidence

Bodies of Evidence premiered on television in the summer of 1992. For several years prior, Kate McNeil had been attempting to make her mark in the TV realm, meeting only with occasional success. Her guest appearances on a variety of shows had always been well received but her efforts to become part of the regular cast of a successful show had not gone over too well. In 1990, she appeared in a pilot movie for a TV series called The Bakery, but the show was not picked up. Things seemed promising when she joined the cast of WIOU later on in 1990, but the show ended up getting low ratings and generally negative reviews from critics. WIOU was cancelled before all of it's taped episodes were aired.

In 1992, Kate McNeil took another shot at TV, this time with the cop drama Bodies of Evidence. The show was not very high profile, but at least it got two seasons, even if they were only 8 episodes apiece. So, for 16 episodes between 1992 and 1993, Kate McNeil played Detective Nora Houghton. She played the role well and generally looked good doing it. After the show ended in 1993, Kate McNeil went back to doing television guest appearances and movies, never to return to the full-time cast of a TV show.

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The following are some images of Kate McNeil in 'Afternoon Delights', the premiere episode of Bodies of Evidence. Please note that all pictures on this page can be clicked on to be enlarged.

Kate McNeil and Lee Horsley

Kate McNeil with Lee Horsley and George Clooney

Kate McNeil on Simon & Simon

In 1988, Kate McNeil guest starred on Simon & Simon in an episode titled 'The Richer They Are the Harder They Fall'. The episode concerned an old friend of A.J. Simon's named Tommy Van Alder (played by Paul Tuerpe) who is from a wealthy family and is married to Trish Van Alder (Kate McNeil). Tommy Van Alder mysteriously dies shortly after the episode begins during a wedding vow renewal ceremony. Rick and A.J. Simon are then hired by the dead man's family to investigate the death.

1988 was a good year for Kate McNeil. She began the year with the first of two appearances she would do on Murder, She Wrote. That summer her second horror film, Monkey Shines, was released to theaters in the USA and that role has become one of her most popular. She closed out 1988 with a nice guest role on Simon & Simon.

In 'The Richer They Are the Harder They Fall', Kate McNeil doesn't have all that much screen time, but nonetheless is central to the story. She looks great throughout and this is, of course, about two years before she would cut off most of her hair in favor of a shorter hairstyle she would display during 1990-91. An yes, in case you were wondering, she does have the requisite kissing scene with Simon & Simon star Jameson Parker!

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Here are some images of Kate McNeil on Simon & Simon:

Kate McNeil on Designing Women

In 1989, Kate McNeil made a brief but memorable guest appearance on the sitcom Designing Women. In the episode called 'The Junies', Kate McNeil plays Libby Coker, a member of the Lady June sales company, of which Charlene (played by Jean Smart) has just become a member. When Libby comes over to the house and is ultra-perky and very high pressure, Charlene's friends begin to consider the Lady June organization as rather cult-like. Kate McNeil's character appears again briefly near the end of the episode, when the other women come to rescue Charlene from a Lady June meeting.

Kate McNeil had obvious comedic skills but she never really focused on straight comedy throughout her career. During 1989 to 1991, she appeared on a handful of sitcoms, such as Anything But Love and Dear John. Her small role on Designing Women showed off her funny side to great effect and also gave her yet another opportunity to show off her Southern accent and persona that she originally displayed in North and South Book II (and would later use to great effect again in an episode of Quantum Leap).

Kate McNeil chats with Jean Smart on Designing Women

Kate McNeil and Delta Burke on Designing Women

Kate McNeil on Anything But Love

In 1989, Kate McNeil appeared in the first of two episodes she would do of the sitcom Anything But Love. The show, which starred Jamie Lee Curtis and Richard Lewis, ran from 1989 to 1992 on the ABC network. Kate McNeil guest starred in two second season episodes playing Gail, the girlfriend of Richard Lewis' character. Earlier in 1989, Kate McNeil had done the first sitcom appearance of her career on the CBS sitcom Designing Women.

In her first episode of Anything But Love, titled 'Hearts and Bones', Kate McNeil goes out to dinner with boyfriend Richard Lewis and his co-worker Jamie Lee Curtis. Jamie Lee Curtis ends up prematurely performing the Heimlich maneuver on Kate McNeil, breaking one of her ribs in the process. Later, at the hospital, she again injures Kate McNeil's character when she accidentally slams a door in her face. Richard Lewis begins to wonder whether she is subconsciously hurting his girlfriend.

Here are some images of Kate McNeil in her first appearance on Anything But Love:

Several episodes later, Kate McNeil reprised her Gail character on Anything But Love. In the episode 'Partying Is Such Sweet Sorrow', Kate McNeil's character plans a surprise birthday party for her boyfriend Richard Lewis. Richard Lewis, however, decides to end their relationship right as the party begins, leading to some awkward moments.

After appearing on Anything But Love, Kate McNeil would only ever do one other sitcom, an episode of Dear John in 1991. After that she would abandon the half hour situation comedy format altogether.


Here are some pictures of Kate McNeil in her second appearance on Anything But Love:

Kate McNeil in Kane & Abel

In 1985, only having done a soap opera, a low-budget comedy and a horror film, Kate McNeil was cast in a featured role in the television miniseries Kane & Abel. Based on a novel by Jeffrey Archer, the miniseries deals with the intertwining stories of two men: Abel Rosnovski (played by Peter Strauss) and William Lowell Kane (played by Sam Neill).Kate McNeil portrays Florentyna Rosnovski, the daughter of Peter Strauss's character.

Kate McNeil's character in Kane & Abel shows up near the end of the second segment of the three part miniseries. She is then featured heavily throughout the final section. Though the miniseries begins in 1901, Florentyna Rosnovski does not appear until the 1950s and she continues on through the 1960s. Her plotline concerns her falling in love with the son of her father's rival, something that her father cannot accept.

All in all, Kane & Abel offered Kate McNeil some very good exposure and I'm sure it helped to raise her profile. The following year she co-starred in a TV movie called Vital Signs and took part in another popular miniseries, North & South Book II.


Here are some images of Kate McNeil in Kane & Abel: