K Callan | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

K Callan was a veteran character actress with more than six decades of credits, as well as author of more than 30 showbiz reference books. Born in Dallas, TX as Katherine Elizabeth Borman in 1936, her first professional Hollywood credit came in 1962, playing a Western Union operator on the TV classic "Route 66" (ABC-1960-64). Although she did'nt rack up another such role until 1970, when she played the wife of Peter Boyle's title character in the controversial anti-hippie drama "Joe," Callan went on to amass hundreds of film and TV credits over the next several decades. These included her notable 1977 appearance on the "All in the Family" (CBS 1971-79) episode "Cousin Liz," in which Edith Bunker (Jean Stapleton) learned about the relationship between Callan's lesbian character Veronica and Edith Bunker's now-deceased Cousin Liz. Following work in notable films such as the police drama "The Onion Field" (1979) and the controversial "American Gigolo" (1980), Callan became one of the most in-demand guest character actresses on TV in the 1980s and '90s. All preceded the role for which she is most likely known, that of Superman's adoptive mom Martha Kent on "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" (ABC 1993-97). Following that show's conclusion, she went on to brief feature roles in the atmospheric "Carnivàle" (HBO 2003-2005), Tyler Perry's "Meet the Browns" (TBS 2009-2012) and as Lily's (Alyson Hannigan) grandmother Lois on "How I Met Your Mother" (CBS 2005-2014). Her next recurring role came on the dark hospital comedy-drama "Getting On" (HBO 2013-15).