Why Dr. Diane Auerbach From CSI: Vegas Looks So Familiar
We first meet Dr. Diane Auerbach in Season 2, Episode 1 ("She's Gone") of "CSI: Vegas" when Detective Serena Chavez (Ariana Guerra) pays the psychiatrist a visit. Dr. Auerbach acknowledges that she was the on-and-off therapist of Lynn Zobrist (Devyn LaBella) since she was a child. She's very forthcoming to Chavez about Zobrist's issues and abuse growing up, including at the hands of a Dr. Sarkisian, who burned her temples giving her electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
Dr. Auerbach shows up again in Episode 11 and helps identify the case's victims as all having been former patients of Dr. Sarkisian while also telling Allie Rajan (Mandeep Dhillon) that there may be more, but she thinks some of her files have gone missing. She's about to go out of town but gives Rajan permission to treat the area like a crime scene. Rajan finds doodles all over the old carbon paper in the files, similar to the symbols on the postcard Maxine Roby (Paula Newsome) received, raising their suspicions about Dr. Auerbach and her helpfulness.
If Dr. Diane Auerbach looks familiar, it's because the actress who plays her, Kathleen Wilhoite, is the quintessential performer, alternating between a life in music and in acting for most of her life. You're sure to have seen her in one of the many projects she's had a role in.
She played Phoebe Cates' roommate in Private School
Kathleen Wilhoite's film debut was the raunchy 1983 teen comedy "Private School," starring Phoebe Cates and Matthew Modine. Cates plays Chris, a student at an all-girls private school, and Modine is Jim, her boyfriend from a nearby boys' academy. While the couple are trying to find time to be alone together, Jordan (Betsy Russell), a rival classmate of Chris, schemes to steal Jim from her. Wilhoite plays Betsy, Chris's roommate. Loud and outspoken, she leads the front row of the graduating class in mooning their headmistress at the end of the film.
In an interview with Retro Junk, Wilhoite revealed that at the time she thought, "you got cast in a movie and that was it. You had arrived. There were no ups and downs, just up. It was a harsh reality when the movie came out and I was forced to work my market research job."
The film is full of perverse humor, with film critic Roger Ebert calling it part of a trend of anti-woman films while giving it a small amount of praise. "The movie is well-made in a light, fluffy way, and the direction by Noel Black ("Pretty Poison") is much better than average in the current epidemic of Horny Teenager Movies," he wrote.
She was Charles Bronson's vulgar sidekick in Murphy's Law
In 1986, Kathleen Wilhoite co-starred with Charles Bronson in the thriller "Murphy's Law." Playing the extremely foul-mouthed and bad-tempered Arabella McGee, she first meets Bronson's cop character Jack Murphy when she steals his car as he finishes grocery shopping. After he's falsely accused of murder, he's handcuffed to McGee, who is then forced to go on the run with him as he tries to clear his name.
Arabella's choice of insults is unique, to say the least, calling Murphy names like "donkey fart" and "dog snot." Wilhoite told Pop Geeks, "Originally the script was written with conventional profanities, and then they backed off of that. I was in a Method acting school at the time, and I really, really had a hard time with that script, but I was in no position to complain or demand anything."
The killer blackmailing Murphy is Joan Freeman (Carrie Snodgress), who was recently released from prison and holds a grudge against Murphy because he was the one who arrested her. After kidnapping Arabella to lure Murphy in to kill him, Freeman's murderous rampage ends when she falls to her death during a final confrontation with Murphy. The film ends by suggesting that Murphy and Arabella are going to become a couple.
She co-starred in the popular Patrick Swayze film Road House
After small roles in television series and films like "The Morning After" starring Jeff Bridges and Jane Fonda, and "Angel Heart" with Robert De Niro and Mickey Rourke, Kathleen Wilhoite played the role of Carrie Ann in 1989's "Road House." One of Patrick Swayze's most popular films, it also co-starred Kelly Lynch and Sam Elliott. Carrie Ann was one of the waitresses at the Double Deuce, who quickly ingratiates herself to Dalton (Swayze) after he arrives in town.
There's a scene in "Road House" in which Wilhoite is on stage singing the soul classic "Knock On Wood," and many fans were surprised by her impressive vocals. "Yeah, I sing. I've sang longer than I've acted," she told Coma Music Magazine. "I don't remember a time when I wasn't making up a song. So, I've been singing and songwriting for years. I've probably written about fourteen thousand songs, a handful of them are pretty good. I've got a couple of records available somewhere deep on the internet."
The campy movie earned $30 million, and a "Road House" reboot starring Jake Gyllenhaal is currently in production.
Wilhoite appeared in the first two seasons of ER
Kathleen Wilhoite had a recurring role in the early seasons of "ER" as Chloe, the drug-addicted sister of Dr. Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield). When we meet Chloe for the first time, she tells Susan that the $500 Susan gave her wasn't enough and she's been kicked out of her apartment. After a lot of begging, Susan gives her the keys to her apartment to stay. But when Susan returns to the apartment she discovers that Chloe has not only let her cat out and destroyed her apartment, but has stolen her television.
Wilhoite joked with Lisa Michelle during her interview for The Lisa Axelrod show about seeing Anthony Edwards, who she attended Santa Barbara High School with (via Medium). "Tony Edwards[Dr. Mark Greene] was one of my high school boyfriends, and it didn't end well. I show up on the 'ER,' 'Well, hello, we meet again!' He's like, 'Oh my God, hi Kathy.'"
Wilhoite stopped appearing regularly on the show at the end of Season 2 after Chloe got sober and moved to Phoenix with her daughter, Suzie (Gianna Beleno). She makes one last appearance in Season 8 after Suzie goes missing, and Susan goes to New York City to find her. The episode is an emotional one, ending without Suzie being found, and with Chloe high once again and unable to remember where she left her.
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
She played Liz in Gilmore Girls
She only appeared in a total of 16 episodes throughout four seasons, but Kathleen Wilhoite's character, Liz Danes, was linked to the show not only as Luke's (Scott Patterson) sister but as the mother of Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia), Rory Gilmore's (Alexis Bledel) love interest. Liz plays a laid-back, pot-smoking hippie who first shows up in Stars Hollow for her high school reunion, and immediately clashes with Luke. It's obvious he doesn't approve of her life, and Liz is exasperated with his stubbornness.
Fans of "Gilmore Girls" always stop Wilhoite on the street, excited to see the actress who portrayed Liz. "I can always tell when there's females between the ages of 25 and 40," she told Pop Geeks. "They'll walk past and kind of do a double-take. I can just feel a certain energy, and they'll say, 'Oh, I have to ask you something. I just have to ask you something. Are you on Gilmore Girls?' I'll say, 'Yep.' 'Oh, my god! I knew it! I loved that show. I used to watch it with my mom.' I hear that probably once every two weeks, not that I get recognized that much, but it's definitely something that resonated with that demographic certainly."
Wilhoite didn't appear for the revival "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life," and she tweeted to Melissa McCarthy that she hadn't been asked to return. During Episode 2, "Spring," Luke referenced Liz and her husband, saying that the two had joined a vegetable cult, thinking it was a co-op.