Bates was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Bertye Kathleen (née Talbot), a homemaker, and Langdon Doyle Bates, a mechanical engineer. Her great-great-grandfather was an immigrant from Ireland to New Orleans and served as President Andrew Jackson's doctor. She has two older sisters, Mary and Patricia. Bates graduated from White Station High School in Memphis. She attended Southern Methodist Read more...

One of her first films was the Milos Forman comedy Taking Off (credited as "Bobo Bates"), wherein she sings an original song "Even Horses Had Wings". In 1990, she would appear again with Hoffman in Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy as a stenographer who couldn't understand the mumbling of Hoffman's character, Mumbles. Bates appeared off-Broadway in Terrence McNally's 1987 play Frankie and Johnny in the Read more...

In 1991, Bates married actor Tony Campisi, with whom she had lived for 12 years previously. They divorced in 1997. She was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer in 2003, but has since made a full recovery.

Bates is the Executive Committee Chair of the Actors Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors.

Her nickname is Bobo. She was often mistaken for comedian Read more...