Dead: What's Eating Gilbert Grape Star?Darlene Cates: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know.
The obese, housebound mother of Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape died in her sleep on Sunday.She was 69 years old.
The actress will appear posthumously in the upcoming comedy, following a lifelong struggle with weight that once saw her balloon to over 500 lbs., a struggle that actually launched her film career.
Peter Hedges discovered the Texas native after watching a tape of her on Sally Jessy Raphael's show, "Too Heavy to Leave Their House."She gained over 500 lbs. while she was immobile for nearly two years.
According to Hedges, the director started to cry when he saw the tape of Darlene, because she had the heart and spirit of what the mother should feel like.She was trapped in this body.There was a sweet feeling to her.
"No one could've been more surprised than me because I was just a fat housewife in Forney, Texas, of all places."When I started reading, Lasse threw his hands in the air and said, 'Finally!'Someone that can act!
When she had her first child at 18 and her husband was in the Marines, she began to struggle with her weight.Her weight ballooned out of control because she turned to food for comfort.
She had her stomach stapled in 1981 when she was 410 lbs.She dropped 100 lbs.After the surgery, the weight came back plus some, causing her to tip the scales at over 500 lbs.
That thing made you fat?She explained that they don't cut that out during surgery.When you come home from the hospital, the pressures that made you seek solace in food are still there.
In 1994 and 1996, Cates appeared in Picket Fences and Touched by an Angel.The 2001 film Wolf Girl had a small role for her.