Katharine McPhee

KATHARINE MCPHEE

Date of Birth: March 24, 1984

Born in Los Angeles, California, Katharine McPhee got her break when her parents and boyfriend convinced her to audition for the hit television show American Idol.

Katharine started singing at the age of two and throughout her childhood she received vocal lessons from her mother, Patricia Burch McPhee—who is a vocal coach and accomplished cabaret singer. After graduating high school in 2002, the aspiring actress attended Boston Conservatory for three semesters, majoring in musical theater. Her manager suggested that she try out for TV pilots, so Katharine moved to Los Angeles to start the audition process. She was then cast in the musical film Crazy, local professional productions of Annie Get Your Gun and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, and an MTV series that didn't make it to air.

In 2006, Katharine auditioned for the fifth season of American Idol and was an immediate fan favorite. After making it through the entire season, she was crowned runner-up, losing the top spot to fellow contestant Taylor Hicks. Although Katharine did not win, she scored a record deal and released her first album on January 30, 2007. The self-titled album sold over 116,000 copies and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Albums Chart.

Although her fans know her best from American Idol, her passion has always been theater. In 2006, Katharine co-produced Michael Albanese's play Red Herring and in 2008, she appeared in the feature film comedy The House Bunny and the fantasy/drama The Storyteller.

In 2012, she was cast in a starring role on the TV series Smash, about a team preparing a Broadway musical. The series lasted two seasons before ending in 2013. In 2014, she was cast on the CBS crime-drama series Scorpion, which enjoyed four seasons on air before being cancelled in 2018.

On February 2, 2008, at the age of 23, Katharine married her 43-year-old boyfriend, Nick Cokas, in Beverly Hills. Unfortunately, the marriage came to an end after her affair with her married Smash director, Michael Morris, went public.

On June 28, 2019, Katharine became world-renowned record producer David Foster's fifth wife. She'd met him at age 21, when he produced her first single. Through her marriage to Foster, who is 35 years her senior, Katharine gained four stepdaughters from his first and second marriages—three of whom are older than her and one who is one year younger.

Filmography:

The Storyteller (2008)
The House Bunny (2008)
Crazy (2007)