Kate Benton

Kate Benton

1990s Alumni

Kate is the Department Chair of Middle School Deans and a Theatre Arts teacher and director at the Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. Previous to her academic career, Kate worked at the William Morris Agency in the Motion Picture Literary Department and at Columbia Pictures as a development executive and she was Vice President of Indian Neck Productions, an independent film company, earning a co-producer credit on a number of films. While performing at THE GROUNDLINGS, Kate earned her SAG and AFTRA card and has worked in television and film ever since: (TOYS – with Robin Williams, SEINFELD – twice, ELLEN - the Ellen DeGeneres sitcom, LARRY SANDERS, and ONCE AND AGAIN, to name a few). She played “Sharisse”, the tough talking waitress in the long running stage hit, "Ladies Room", written by fellow Groundling, Robin Schiff , produced by Aaron Spelling and starring former Groundlings, Lisa Kudrow. She has also appeared in national television commercials (Nissan, Clairol).While in The Groundlings, Kate served as the company President and, upon becoming an alumna, served on the Board of Directors and helped launch The Groundlings Teen Classes program. Luckily, while performing in the main company, she met fellow Groundling, Jim Doughan, and they just celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. They have two sons; Charlie Doughan, an accomplished vocalist and guitarist currently playing with his band, Terra Alta, at venues in Los Angeles, and Hank Doughan, an actor who not only took both teen classes, but has worked his way up to the final level, Advanced Writer’s Lab, at The Groundlings. He just finished shooting a short film for FUNNY OR DIE and performs in various productions and improv shows in Los Angeles. 

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