Kim Cattrall

Kim Victoria Cattrall (pronounced /kəˈtræl/, born 21 August 1956) is an English actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones in the HBO comedy/romance series Sex and the City, and for her leading roles in the 1980s films Police Academy, Big Trouble in Little China, Mannequin, and Porky's. Cattrall was born in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England. Her mother, (Gladys) Shane, née Baugh, was a secretary, and her father, Dennis, a construction engineer. When she was three months old, her family immigrated to the Canadian city of Courtenay, British Columbia. At 11, she returned to England when her grandmother became ill, and she took a number of acting examinations with the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), before returning to Canada at age 16 to finish her final year of secondary school. Cattrall began her career after graduating from high school in 1972, when she left Canada for New York City. There, she attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and upon her graduation, signed a five-year movie deal with director Otto Preminger. She made her film debut in Preminger's Rosebud in 1975. A year later, Universal Studios bought out that contract and Cattrall became one of the last participants in the contract player system of Universal (also referenced as MCA / Universal during this period) before the system ended in 1980.