Kate Mulgrew was born on April 29, 1955, in Dubuque, Iowa, the second oldest child and oldest girl in a large Irish Catholic family. Her mother, Joan, encouraged her to pursue acting, and Kate left Iowa for New York City at the age of 17 to attend the Stella Adler Conservatory.
Kate's early career included roles in the ABC soap opera Ryan's Hope, the American Shakespeare Theatre's production of "Our Town," and the TV series "Mrs. Columbo." In 1981, she co-starred with Richard Burton and Nicholas Clay in the film Lovespell, and in 1985, she had a notable role in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins.
In the 1990s, Kate appeared in several TV shows, including Murphy Brown, Murder, She Wrote, and Batman: The Animated Series. She also voiced characters in animated series and video games.
In 1995, Kate married theater director Robert H. Egan and had two sons with him. They divorced in 1995. The same year, Kate received a call to play Captain Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager, a role she played for seven seasons.
After Star Trek: Voyager, Kate appeared in various TV shows, including The Black Donnellys, Mercy, Warehouse 13, and NTSF:SD:SUV. In 2013, she began playing the role of Galina "Red" Reznikov in the Netflix series Orange Is The New Black.
Kate is also an author, releasing two memoirs: Born With Teeth in 2016 and How To Forget: A Daughter's Memoir in 2019. She is currently filming the newest season of Mr. Mercedes, a serial killer drama based on Stephen King's Bill Hodges trilogy.
