Kathleen Chalfant (b. 1945, San Francisco) is an American actress, primarily a stage performer. She earned a Tony nomination for Angels in America (1993) and won multiple awards for Wit (1998), including a Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Obie. She received the Obie for Lifetime Achievement in 2018. On screen, her highlights include Old (2021) and Familiar Touch (2024), the latter earning her the Venice Orizzonti Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress. She is married to photographer Henry Chalfant.

Filmography

• 2025Familiar Touch — Ruth
• The Copenhagen Test — St. George
• 2025Where to Land — Elizabeth
• 2024Turning Blue — Clara
• 2022The Courtroom — Judge Easterbrook
• 2021Old — Agnes
• 2020500 Calories — Ms. Evangeline
• New Amsterdam — Molly
• 2017Ambition's Debt — Soothsayer
• 2017Class Rank — Barbara – The Editor in Chief
• 2017They Shall Not Perish — Mabel Elliot
• 2015Welcome to This House — Elizabeth Bishop
• Forever — Gloria Carlyle
• Madam Secretary — Dean Felicia Ward, Dean Ward
• 2014My America
• The Affair — Margaret Butler
• The Strain — Abraham's Grandmother
• 2013A Dream of Flying — Old Woman
• House of Cards — Margaret Tilden
• 2013Isn't It Delicious — Joan Weldon
• 2013Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight — Ethel Harlan
• The Americans — Aunt Helen
• The Blacklist — Alberta Gilbert
• Elementary — Mrs. Clennon
• 2010The Last New Yorker — Mimi
• 2009Duplicity — Pam Frailes
• 2009Georgia O'Keeffe — Mrs. Stieglitz
• Mercy
• 2007First Born — Mrs. Kasperian
• 2007Perfect Stranger — Elizabeth Clayton
• The Book of Daniel — Catherine Webster
• 2005Lackawanna Blues — Mrs. Carmichael
• 20042BPerfectlyHonest — Female Customer
• 2004Kinsey — Barbara Merkle
• Rescue Me — Sean's Ma
• 2004The Pornographer: A Love Story — Mom
• 2002A Death in the Family — Aunt Hannah
• 2002Book of Kings — Nina
• 2002The Laramie Project — Anonymous Female Rancher
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent — Bessie Holland, Priscilla Van Acker
• The Guardian — Laurie Solt
• 2000Company Man — Mother Quimp
• The Beat
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — Judge Cutress, Mrs. Nash, President Roberts
• Storm of the Century — Joanna Stanhope
• 1998A Price Above Rubies — Beggar Woman
• 1998QM, I Think I'll Call Her QM — Dr. Ruth Fielding
• 1998Side Streets — Nanda
• 1998The Last Days of Disco — Zenia
• 1997David Searching — Grandmother
• 1996MURDER and murder — Mildred
• Spin City — Mother Superior
• 1994Junior — Casitas Madres Receptionist
• New York Undercover
• 1993In the Wings: Angels in America On Broadway
• 1992Bob Roberts — Constance Roberts
• 1991Dangerous Music — Therapist
• 1991Jumpin' at the Boneyard — Mom
• 1991Out of the Rain — Ruth
• Law & Order — Defense Attorney Lisa Cutler
• 1990Tales from the Darkside: The Movie — Dean (segment ‘Lot 249’)
• 1989Miss Firecracker — Miss Lilly
• 1987Five Corners — Mrs. Fitzgerald
• L.A. Law — Sister Marlene Branson
• American Playhouse — Erna Hauser, Self

Appearances as themselves (2)

• 2011Heart of Broadway: The Ensemble Behind Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS — Herself
• 2009The People Speak — Self