Georgina Cates

Georgina Cates was born Clare Elaine Woodgate in Colchester, Essex, England, in 1975. Sources differ on the exact day: Wikipedia gives 4 April 1975, while IMDb and NNDB give 14 January 1975. She grew up in Colchester and, as Clare Woodgate, began acting as a teenager. A former schoolmate recalled on X in October 2026 performing on stage with her at school, remembering that "we thought she was so cool." In a 1995 interview with The New York Times she described a childhood habit of fantasy and role play that later proved useful in her career.

She attended Colchester County High School for Girls in Colchester. She left school to pursue acting and was cast in her first major television role, in the BBC sitcom 2point4 Children, at the age of 16.

Television (1991 to 1995). As Clare Woodgate she played Jenny Porter, the teenage daughter of Bill (Belinda Lang) and Ben Porter (Gary Olsen), in the first two series of Andrew Marshall's BBC sitcom 2point4 Children (1991 and 1992). Clare Buckfield took over the role from series 3. She went on to guest roles in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (An Unwanted Woman, 1992), Casualty (Life in the Fast Lane, 1993), The Bill (1993 and 1994), Chris Cross (1994), the television film An Exchange of Fire (1993), the BBC adaptation of Henry Green's Loving (1995) and the anthology series Ghosts (1995).

An Awfully Big Adventure (1995). Turned down for the role of Stella Bradshaw in Mike Newell's adaptation of Beryl Bainbridge's novel, she dyed her hair red and reapplied as Georgina Cates, a 17-year-old Liverpool girl with no acting experience. She wrote to the casting director signing herself with the character's name, Stella Bradshaw, according to The New York Times, and Vanity Fair reported that she claimed to live above a fish and chip shop with no telephone and had her mother pose as an aunt from Essex. She won the part opposite Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant, and Newell learned of the ruse only after filming wrapped. The role brought a nomination at the 1996 London Critics Circle Film Awards, and she adopted Georgina Cates as her legal name.

Film (1995 to 1998). She played Young Emma in Frankie Starlight (1995) with Gabriel Byrne and Matt Dillon, then moved into American and independent cinema with Big City Blues, John Turturro's Illuminata (1998, as Simone), the Vietnam war drama A Soldier's Sweetheart (1998, as Marianne Bell), the Merchant Ivory spoof Stiff Upper Lips (1998, as Emily), The Treat (1998, as Mimi) and David Dobkin's Clay Pigeons (1998), in which she played Amanda opposite Joaquin Phoenix and Vince Vaughn. Her Clay Pigeons performance drew critical praise.

Later work (2007 to 2016). After a seven-year break she returned in Marc Benardout's Sinner (2007), playing the drifter Lil opposite Nick Chinlund and Brad Dourif, and won Best Actress at the Brooklyn Arts Council International Film and Video Festival. She appeared in the television film The Upshot (2008), The Closer (episode Elysian Fields, 2009), Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013) as Kimmie, the mother of Jackson Nicoll's character Billy, its follow-up Bad Grandpa .5 (2014) and the independent film Everlasting. Her final screen role was reported to be in the 2016 short Save Me From The Sound Of The Siren.

In 1997 Cates married the American actor Skeet Ulrich, whom she met at an Academy Awards party. Their wedding was a small ceremony on their farmland in Madison County, Virginia, with only the preacher as a guest. Their twins, a son, Jakob, and a daughter, Naiia, were born on 9 March 2001. The couple separated in 2004 and filed for divorce in 2005, citing irreconcilable differences. IMDb also lists an earlier marriage that ended in divorce; no details of it have been made public. In her later years, according to fans quoted by the Express, she was living in England and running a business.

Cates rarely spoke publicly about politics or religion. What she did discuss was acting as transformation. Reflecting on the mixed reaction to her An Awfully Big Adventure ruse, she told Vanity Fair in 1996: "In London, people thought I was unprofessional and that I should have accepted that I wasn't right for the part. In America, people took what I did as a performance, and that was that." In 2016 she gave an interview to the charity channel Actors for Autism, one of her last public appearances.

Cates is remembered for one of the most audacious casting stories in modern British film: an actress who reinvented her name, age, accent and background to win a part she had already been refused, and then carried the deception through a full shoot alongside Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant. To 2point4 Children audiences she remains the original Jenny Porter, credited by the show's fan community with giving the character a dry wit and a dark edge. Her later independent work, especially Clay Pigeons and Sinner, showed a darker, grittier range. The five-month gap before her death became public in October 2026 prompted reflection among fans and colleagues about how quietly she had stepped away from the spotlight.

Nominee, Actress of the Year, London Critics Circle Film Awards 1996, for An Awfully Big Adventure. Winner, Best Actress in a Leading Role, 41st Brooklyn Arts Council International Film and Video Festival, for Sinner (2007).

Television: 2point4 Children (1991 to 1992), The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1992), Casualty (1993), The Bill (1993, 1994), Chris Cross (1994), Loving (1995), Ghosts (1995), The Upshot (2008), The Closer (2009). Film: An Awfully Big Adventure (1995), Frankie Starlight (1995), Big City Blues, Illuminata (1998), A Soldier's Sweetheart (1998), Stiff Upper Lips (1998), The Treat (1998), Clay Pigeons (1998), Sinner (2007), Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013), Bad Grandpa .5 (2014), Everlasting. Press: The New York Times profiled her identity switch in August 1995 (An Identity Change, Just to Win a Film Role), and Vanity Fair featured her in October 1996 (Georgina Peach).

Her invented identity for An Awfully Big Adventure drew a mixed reaction once revealed. She said British observers considered it unprofessional, while American audiences treated it as a performance. Alan Rickman was reportedly miffed when he learned her true age; according to Mike Newell, Rickman had treated her very tactfully during their intimate scenes, presuming that she was sexually inexperienced.

Georgina Cates died in May 2026 at the age of 51. Wikipedia and a fan account citing IMDb give the date as 6 May 2026, while another fan post gave 5 June 2026; contemporary press reports say only that she died in May. Her death was not publicly reported at the time. It became widely known on 17 October 2026, when 2point4 Children creator Andrew Marshall posted on X that he had just discovered that his first Jenny Porter had died the previous May, adding his sympathies to her family and children. The show's podcast, the Express and the Daily Star followed with tributes. The place and cause of her death have not been made public.