GENERAL HOSPITAL’s Kathleen Gati Reveals How Her Mother Saved Her Career
Fans of GENERAL HOSPITAL scene-stealer Kathleen Gati who only know her as Dr. Liesl Obrecht can enjoy hearing her un-accented natural voice in a virtual interview the actress gave on TAWKIN’ WITH THE ROSES. The online show is hosted by veteran actress Bonnie Rose and cabaret performer Stephen S. Miller (aka Mama Rose) and Gati chatted with them about what inspired her to be a performer, her early struggles, finding a career breakthrough in Hungary, and the all-time favorite theatrical moment of her career… so far!
With an opera singer mother and a symphony conductor father, Gati was brought up in Canada with music in her life and originally wanted to become a ballerina. When that career path didn’t work out, she turned to acting and singing, pursuing theater and television in New York before moving to Los Angeles. “I was heading here because they were like, ‘We want you here in Hollywood,’” she recalled. “Got a lot of calls and people were interested. Turns out my mother was terminally ill. Life happens. I went back to Canada for about a year. She passed away, and my life was over.
“Without my Mom, I’m nothing,” she continued, her voice cracking with emotion. “So I called up Hollywood a year later, and they were like, ‘Who are you?’ They literally forgot whatever I did in New York. So I had to start all over. So I went to Hungary for two months and ended up staying for six years.”
Her mother’s suggestion early in her career that she learn to speak Russian ended up serving Gati well in the years that followed. She found success acting and performing in Hungary and when the industry there collapsed, she decided to give Hollywood another shot. “They were like, ‘Who are you? You’re too old,’” Gati sighed. “Luckily, because of the Russian, that was my foot into the door because there weren’t that many people who could do a Russian accent and could speak Russian.”
Miller praised Gati’s performance as the M.C. singing “Cabaret” at the GH Nurses Ball — a number he also performed virtually from London recently — and when he asked what her favorite theatrical moment has been in her career, she quickly declared it was that one. “When I got to sing and dance and act on television in front of like, four million people doing Cabaret,” she explained. “All those years I’ve studied musical theater, acting, ballet, it all culminated in a three-minute moment. I will never forget that. I will always be grateful for that moment. It happens once in a lifetime.”
You can watch the entire conversation with even more revelations from Gati — including her advice to anyone just starting out in the industry — below!
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