Catherine Hickland (born February 11, 1956 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is a singer and an actress best known for roles on soap operas broadcast in the United States.
Hickland grew up in Fort Lauderdale and graduated from Fort Lauderdale High School in 1974. She went on to enroll at Florida Atlantic University as a physical education major, but dropped out after two years. She married Richard Knowlton in 1978, but they divorced the same year.
Hickland first performed on Texas as Dr. Courtney Marshall from 1980 to 1981. Since then, she has portrayed several other soap roles. Hickland played the role of Julie Clegg McCandless on Capitol from 1983 to 1987, as well as the dual role of Jenny Diamond from 1985 to 1986. She also played Tess Wilder on Loving (1993-1995) and The City (1995-1997). In 1987, she filled in for Katherine Kelly Lang as Brooke Logan on the serial The Bold and the Beautiful while Lang was on maternity leave. Since 1998, Hickland has portrayed Lindsay Rappaport on One Life to Live; in May 2005 she was bumped from contract to recurring status on One Life to Live, but as of January 2008 she still appears in the show's opening credits.
Hickland has also had guest-starring roles on numerous television series, including CHiPs, Law & Order and Airwolf, in which she acted alongside her then husband's "Super-Machine" lead character rival, Stringfellow Hawke, played by Jan-Michael Vincent.
For many years, the desire of casting directors to keep her thin wreaked havoc on her physique, and caused her to gain weight while in her numerous soap opera roles. She told all regarding her weight gain and how she has controlled her problem in a TV Guide soap column written by Michael Logan.
David Hasselhoff and Hickland in the Knight Rider episode "Let It Be Me," which helped launch Hasselhoff's singing career
Hickland has also appeared in Broadway musicals, starring most notably in Les Misérables as Fantine. She has also released a CD and writes a column on skin care for Soap Opera Digest.
In 2006, Procter & Gamble began making several of its soaps available through America Online's AOL Video service, downloadable free of charge. Reruns of Texas episodes featuring Hickland began with the show's first episode in August 1980.
From March 24, 1984 to March 1, 1989, Hickland was married to David Hasselhoff, star of the television series Knight Rider. She appeared in three episodes of Knight Rider: "White Bird" (March 4, 1983), "Let It Be Me" (May 13, 1984), and "The Scent of Roses" (January 3, 1986).
On June 27, 1992, Hickland married All My Children star Michael E. Knight, whose name matched that of Hasselhoff's character on Knight Rider. The couple were honored for their charitable work by the West End Intergenerational Residence in Manhattan in 1999. In January 2006, Hickland and Knight announced their amicable divorce after 14 years of marriage.
In 2007, Hickland was linked romantically to the actor Ray Liotta.
