Her son, Michael T. Cates, writes music and science fiction and lives in
Dallas; he has an aka "Mohawk Mike"which he is also known as. Her second son, with Mel Welles, an actor, is Kevin K. Welles.
A 1957 graduate of W.H. Adamson High School in Dallas.
Studied acting under both Lee Strasberg and Sanford Meisner.