Kathryn Erbe was born on July 5, 1965 in Newton, Massachusetts. She is the daughter of a research geneticist named Richard Erbe and his wife Elsbeth. Kathryn would eventually go on to pursue higher learning at New York University, and during her undergraduate student days in college, she landed the role of Lynn Redgrave’s daughter in the television sitcom Chicken Soup. After her stint on the show, she joined up together with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company and began performing onstage in productions such as Streetcar Named Desire, Curse of the Starving Class, and The Grapes of Wrath. Her stage work has earned her a Tony Award nomination.

Shirley Bellinger is portrayed by Kathryn Erbe in the HBO prison drama television series Oz. She is the first-ever and only female inmate to be incarcerated at the Oz correctional prison facility, and she was sentenced to die for murdering her daughter. Shirley tried to commit suicide by driving into the sea while accompanied by her daughter, then swam away by herself as the car sank into the water. She maintains a deceptively shy demeanor, and regularly exposes herself to the guards and her fellow inmates, using sexual favors to help gain an advantage.




(Photo courtesy of HBO)