Exhibiting some of the legendary "luck of the Irish," Kate was immediately cast as Mary Ryan on the ABC daytime drama Ryan's Hope (a job that lasted two years), while simultaneously earning the role of Emily in a production of "Our Town" at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut. At the age of 23, Kate was approached by then head of NBC programming Fred Silverman, who offered her a starring role in a series he had created with her in mind -- Kate Columbo. The series found Kate playing the wife of one of TV's most beloved detectives, Lt. Columbo. While a critical success, the series was canceled after two seasons, although it can still be seen in syndication under the title Kate Loves a Mystery.

Mulgrew went on to star in several feature films, including "Love Spell: Isolt of Ireland" alongside Richard Burton, and "A Stranger is Watching" with Rip Torn. She traveled to Europe to film the ABC mini-series "The Manions of America" with Pierce Brosnan, and spent time in Mexico filming the feature "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins". Mulgrew also starred in "Throw Momma from the Train" with Danny DeVito and Billy Crystal.

She returned to television as star of the ABC drama Heartbeat, where she portrayed Doctor Joanne Springstein, the head of a medical clinic. This series, which aired for two seasons, won a People's Choice Award for Best Drama. Following this, Mulgrew went on to co-star in the comedy series Man of the People alongside actor James Garner.

Her episodic television credits include a recurring role as a Boston councilwoman and Sam Malone's love interest in several important episodes of Cheers. She also portrayed an alcoholic anchorwoman on an episode of Murphy Brown, for which she won the Tracey Humanitarian Award. In addition, she starred in the UPN movie "Riddler's Moon" during the 1998-99 television season.

Mulgrew is also a veteran of numerous theatrical productions. She made her Broadway debut in "Black Comedy," a play written by Peter Schaeffer that also starred Nancy Marchand and Peter MacNicol. Her other stage credits include starring roles in "Titus Andronicus" at the Shakespeare Theater in New York City's Central Park; and "Hedda Gabler" and "Measure for Measure" at Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum.

She is the recipient of the 1998 Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an actress in a dramatic TV series and the 24th Annual Saturn Award for Best Genre TV actress.