Darlene Cates Biography

Darlene Cates (born Rita Darlene Guthrie; December 13, 1947 - March 26, 2017) was an American actress. She was best known for her role in the 1993 film What's Eating Gilbert Grape, in which she played the title character's housebound mother.

Career

Author and screenwriter Peter Hedges saw a tape of Cates on a 1992 episode of Sally entitled "Too Heavy to Leave Their House". On the show, she discussed her battle with obesity and how it had affected her life. In 1986, pelvic infections caused by her excess weight kept her bedridden for two years, during which she gained an additional 149 pounds (). Hedges offered her the role of a morbidly obese mother in the 1993 film What's Eating Gilbert Grape, which she accepted. Television roles followed on the shows Picket Fences in 1994 and Touched by an Angel in 1996. She had a small role in the 2001 film Wolf Girl. Producer J. Miles Dale flew a small crew and the film's stars from Romania to Texas to shoot their scenes with Cates.

Her performance in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, her first attempt at acting in any form, received critical acclaim and was lauded by her costars Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp.

Personal life

Cates was born in Borger, Texas, to Truman Madison Guthrie. She grew up in Dumas. Her parents divorced when she was 12 years old. She took solace in food, and her overeating led to obesity. She underwent gastroplasty in 1981, when she weighed 408 lb (). She lost 99 lb () but eventually gained the weight back and more, topping out at 548 lb ().

Darlene married Robert Cates, a U.S. Marine, on January 11, 1963. She had one daughter, Sheri Ann (b. January 1966), and two sons, Mark (b. October 1967) and Chris (b. 1971). She had four grandchildren and lived in the Dallas suburbs. In 1992, she received her high school diploma via correspondence courses. In 2012, Cates had lost 240 pounds after a series of 2010 health issues kept her hospitalized for nearly a year, and she expressed a desire to resume her acting career.

Death

Darlene died in her sleep on March 26, 2017.Her daughter, Sheri Cates Morgan, announced her passing on a Facebook post.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	What's Eating Gilbert Grape	Bonnie Grape
2014	Mother	Mother	Short
2017	Billboard	Penny	Post-production, (final film role)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Picket Fences	Sophie Wallace	"Squatter's Rights"
1996	Touched by an Angel	Claudia Bell	"Statute of Limitations"
2001	Wolf Girl	Athena the Fat Lady	TV film