Kitty Winn
Katherine Tupper Winn (born February 21, 1943) is an American retired actress. She is best known for her roles as the heroin addict Helen in the romantic drama The Panic in Needle Park (1971), for which she won the Best Actress Award at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival, and her recurring role of Sharon Spencer in the horror film franchise The Exorcist.
Also recorded as Katherine Tupper Winn
Kitty Winn
- Name
- Kitty Winn
- Birth Name
- Katherine Tupper Winn
- Born
- 21 February 1943
- Birthplace
- Washington, D.C., U.S.
- Occupation
- Actress
- Education
- Boston University (BA)
- Nationality
- United States
- Honours
- Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Katherine Tupper Winn (born February 21, 1943) is an American retired actress. She is best known for her roles as the heroin addict Helen in the romantic drama The Panic in Needle Park (1971), for which she won the Best Actress Award at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival, and her recurring role of Sharon Spencer in the horror film franchise The Exorcist.
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Note VALÉORINE
Kitty Winn (born 1943) is an American actor, actress and film actor, among other activities.
Languages used include English. The actor received Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 30 September 2026
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wikidata · Q446486 · wikipedia · Kitty Winn
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Kitty Winn • Birth Name — Katherine Tupper Winn • Born — 21 February 1943 • Birthplace — Washington, D.C., U.S. • Occupation — Actress • Children — 1 • Relatives — Katherine Tupper Marshall (grandmother) • Years Active — 1961–1983, 2011 • Education — Boston University (BA)
Early life
Early life
Winn was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Army officer James J. Winn and Molly Pender Brown Winn. She had one brother. Winn traveled widely during much of her childhood, having spent time in the United States, England, Germany, China, India, and Japan. Her mother is the stepdaughter of U.S. General of the Army, former US Secretary of State, and former US Secretary of Defense George C. Marshall and daughter of Katherine Tupper Marshall.
Career
Career
Winn's career has spanned a wide range of dramatic productions on stage, in motion pictures and on television. She studied acting at Centenary Junior College and Boston University, graduating from the latter in 1966. During her college years Winn acted in student productions at Centenary Junior College, Boston University, and Harvard College, and summer stock for two summers at The Priscilla Beach Theatre, south of Boston. Shortly after college she joined the company at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where she remained for four years under the artistic direction of William Ball. In the fall of 1970 Winn left American Conservatory Theater to star opposite Al Pacino in the film The Panic in Needle Park, for which she won the Best Actress Award at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival. Although she went on to do several more films, including They Might Be Giants (1971) and The Exorcist (1973), she spent most of her career in theater. She played Cordelia in The Tragedy of King Lear for KCET in 1983, and soon retired from acting. She did not return to the stage again until 2011, when she played the lead in The Last Romance at the San Jose Repertory Theatre. For this performance, she was nominated for a best actress award by the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.
Personal life
Personal life
Winn married Los Angeles attorney and businessman Morton Winston in 1978, and they have a child.
Theatre
Theatre
• Year — Production Location — Play — Role • 1961 — Centenary Junior College — Antigone — Antigone • 1963 — Priscilla Beach Theatre — Curious Savage — Florence • 1963 — Priscilla Beach Theatre — Song of Bernadette — Bernadette • 1964 — Priscilla Beach Theatre — Night of the Iguana — Miss Jenks • 1964 — Priscilla Beach Theatre — Gigi — Gigi • 1964 — Priscilla Beach Theatre — Shot in the Dark — Josefa Lantenay • 1964 — Boston University — Measure for Measure — Mistress Overdon's girl • 1964 — Boston University — Toys in the Attic — Lily • 1965 — Boston University — The Rose Tattoo — Rosa • 1965 — Harvard College — The Beggars' Opera — Polly Peachum • 1966 — Boston University — The Playboy of the Western World — Pegeen Mike • 1967 — American Conservatory Theater — The Crucible — Mary Warren • 1967 — American Conservatory Theater — Thieves' Carnival — Juliette • 1967 — American Conservatory Theater — Charley's Aunt — Kitty • 1968 — American Conservatory Theater — Long Day's Journey into Night — Cathleen • 1968 — American Conservatory Theater — Le Misanthrope — Celemene • 1968 — American Conservatory Theater — Under Milk Wood — Lily Smalls • 1969 — American Conservatory Theater — Rosencrantz and Guilderstern Are Dead — Ophelia • 1969 — American Conservatory Theater — Charley's Aunt — Kitty • 1969 — ANTE Theatre and American Conservatory Theater — The Three Sisters — Irina • 1969 — The Mineola Playhouse — Our Town — Emily (also with Henry Fonda) Michael York (actor) • 1970 — American Conservatory Theater — Glory Hallelujah — Nantelle Bowden • 1970 — American Conservatory Theater — The Rose Tattoo — Rosa • 1970 — American Conservatory Theater — The Tempest — Miranda • 1972 — Long Wharf Theatre, New York Shakespeare in the Park, and Mark Taper Forum — Hamlet — Ophelia (also with Stacy Keach, James Earl Jones and Colleen Dewhurst) • 1975 — Phoenix Theatre — Knuckle (off-Broadway premier) — Jenny Wilbur (opposite Perry King) • 1975 — Ahmanson Theatre — Ring Around the Moon — Isabelle (opposite Michael York) • 1977 — Long Wharf Theatre — St. Joan — Joan • 1978 — Coconut Grove Playhouse — Othello — Desdemona • 1982 — Repertory Theatre of Saint Louis — Romeo and Juliet — Juliet • 2011 — San Jose Repertory Theatre — The Last Romance — Carol
Motion pictures
Motion pictures
• Year — Name of Film — Role • 1971 — The Panic in Needle Park — Helen Reeves • 1972 — They Might be Giants — Grace • 1973 — The Exorcist — Sharon Spencer • 1976 — Peeper — Marianne Prendergast • 1977 — Exorcist II: The Heretic — Sharon Spencer • 1978 — Mirrors — Marianne Whitman
Movies for television
Movies for television
• Year — Name of Film — Role • 1970 — The House That Would Not Die — Sara Dunning • 1972 — The Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe — Harriet • 1973 — Message to My Daughter — Miranda Thatcher • 1974 — The Carpenters — Sissy • 1975 — Miles to Go Before I Sleep — Maggie Stanton • 1977 — The Last Hurrah — Maeve Skeffington • 1983 — The Tragedy of King Lear — Cordelia
Series for television
Series for television
• Year — Name of Series — Role • 1973 — The Streets of San Francisco — Barbara Talmadge • 1975 — Beacon Hill — Rosamond Lassiter • 1977 — Kojak - "Kojak Days: Part 1" — Carla Magid • 1977 — Kojak - "Kojak Days: Part 2" — Carla Magid
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
The authorities additionally record the heading Katherine Tupper Winn. Her recorded language was English. She was the child of James Julius Winn and Molly Pender Brown Winn.
Identity
Identity
Kitty Winn is recorded as having received Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress.
Awards
• Year — Award — Nominated work — Category — Result • 1971 — Cannes Film Festival Awards — Helen in The Panic in Needle Park — Best Actress Award (Prix d'interprétation féminine)
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
References
Citations
References
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Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
37,408 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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