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: