In a tell-all memoir, Star Trek: Voyager‘s Captain Janeway actress Kate Mulgrew described some really tumultuous times of her life. The memoir revealed her unplanned pregnancy and giving up her child for adoption, alongside mentioning being r*ped at knifepoint. However, Mulgrew described one incident as more harrowing than the gruesome crime she endured.
Mulgrew went into detail about her Irish Catholic family in her memoir Born with Teeth. The Ryan’s Hope actress revealed how tragedy kept striking her family. After her difficult family life, Mulgrew moved to New York and joined the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting.
Star Trek: Voyager‘s Kate Mulgrew Felt One Tragic Incident Was More Traumatizing Than Her R*pe
Kate Mulgrew worked her way towards her dream as an actress after reaching New York. Under Stella Adler’s guidance, she quickly became one of the rising actresses in the industry. During this time, she went through one of the worst experiences in her life. She was r*ped at knifepoint, which became headlines at the time.
However, the Orange is the New Black actress shared that one other incident was more traumatizing. She revealed in the memoir, Born with Teeth, that losing her sister Tess to cancer cost her a greater deal. She shared that she didn’t know her attacker, which didn’t make the crime personal. But the same wasn’t the case with her sister’s death. She shared in her memoir (via The Daily Beast):
Things like losing my sister Tessie was more harrowing than the r*pe. And cost me a great deal more. That wasn’t personal. I didn’t know that guy. I don’t want to kill him. That poor guy was desperate. But my sister I loved.
Her sister’s death from cancer was not the only family tragedy she faced. Her other younger sister, Maggie, died when she was just an infant. She also revealed that her mother Joan Mulgrew was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and died in 2006 after a long battle with the disease. About her s*xual assault, Mulgrew further shared in her memoir:
I have never really dwelled in business for a second longer than absolutely necessary. What’s the point?
Kate Mulgrew also shared with the Daily Beast that she is a “liver, not a survivor.” She added, “I don’t belong there. It’s not for me. I have loved my life.” The Star Trek: Voyager star returned to her role in the 2021 animated show, Star Trek: Prodigy.
Kate Mulgrew Gave Her Daughter Up For Adoption Only To Regret The Decision
While starring in her breakout role in Ryan’s Hope, Kate Mulgrew became pregnant. She decided to put the child up for adoption and returned to the set of Ryan’s Hope soon after childbirth. Neither her pregnancy nor the adoption was covered in the media, although Mulgrew shared that they knew and kept it discreet.
Mulgrew shared that she soon regretted her decision to give up her child. She later hired a private detective to find her daughter. It was during her time on Star Trek: Voyager that she got the call regarding her daughter Danielle in 1998. They had a quick phone call and arranged a meeting with her. She shared about her daughter with Daily Beast:
My character was largely defined by the decision [to give Danielle up for adoption]. By the attendant grief and regret, and then by what I was determined to do about that. I realized I was not going to be able to contain the size of that emotion without finding my daughter. So it was almost instant that I set myself on that path. It took 22 years to find her, but I did.
Mulgrew’s Born with Teeth ends with her reuniting with her daughter. She wrote another memoir about her life’s events after finding her daughter, titled How to Forget.
