Katharine McPhee

Katharine Hope McPhee (born March 25, 1984 ) is an American singer-songwriter and actress.

In March 2005, McPhee starred as Annie Oakley in a Cabrillo Music Theater production of the musical Annie Get Your Gun.

McPhee was nominated for a Los Angeles Stage Ovation Award in the category of "Lead Actress in a Musical".

McPhee filmed the role in early 2005, before she auditioned for American Idol.

McPhee has struggled with eating disorders.

She told People that at age 13, she began starving herself and exercising compulsively, and at age 17, became bulimic.

McPhee gained weight in college due to her bingeing.

In 2005, McPhee was persuaded by eventual husband Nick Cokas and her parents to try out for the television series competition American Idol.

In May 2006, she was the runner-up on the fifth season of American Idol.

After seven years of illness, she finally entered a three-month rehabilitation program after successfully passing her American Idol audition; her rehab stint ended just before the Idol semifinals started in February 2006.

McPhee and her sister appeared on the debut of The Dr. Keith Ablow Show on September 18, 2006, to discuss her struggles with bulimia and her childhood fear of her father.

She auditioned in San Francisco and sang "God Bless the Child", originally performed by Billie Holiday, and was selected to be a participant in the fifth season, which aired in 2006.

After the first round of Hollywood week, she sang "I'll Never Love This Way Again" by Dionne Warwick, which earned favorable comments from the judges.

Her eponymous debut album was released on RCA Records on January 30, 2007, and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 381,000 copies (as of December 2010).

McPhee had a small role as Paramount Girl in the 2007 musical film Crazy, based on the life of Hank Garland.

She told Teen Vogue in May 2007, "I eat whatever I crave—I'm just really careful about portions."

The album's first single, "Over It", was a Billboard Top 30 hit and was certified gold in 2008.

Her second album, Unbroken, was released on Verve Forecast Records on January 5, 2010, and debuted at No. 27 on the "Billboard 200".

The album featured the single "Had It All", which peaked at number 22 on the AC chart.

Her third album, the holiday-themed Christmas Is the Time to Say I Love You, was released on October 12, 2010.

The album debuted at number 11 on the Billboard Top Holiday Albums chart, while the single "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" peaked at number 16 on the "Billboard" AC chart.

It has sold 45,000 copies as of January 2011.

As of January 2011, this album had sold 23,000 copies.

Her mother, Peisha (née Burch) McPhee, has been a vocal coach on American Idol since 2011.

The family moved to the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles when she was 12 years old.

Peisha McPhee recognized her daughter's musical talent and decided to train her.

McPhee's older sister, Adriana, has been a vocal coach on American Idol since 2012.

McPhee is of English, Irish, Scottish, and German descent.

She attended Boston Conservatory for three semesters, majoring in musical theatre.

She left college before graduation on the advice of her manager, and returned to Los Angeles to try out for television pilots.

McPhee was cast (during the time she had dropped out of college and was auditioning in Los Angeles) in a mall-based MTV soap opera pilot, You Are Here, playing the older sister of a more popular younger sister.

MTV never aired the pilot and did not pick up the series.

From 2014 to 2018, she starred in CBS' Scorpion as Paige Dineen.

McPhee released her fourth album, Hysteria, on September 18, 2015.

She released her fifth album, I Fall in Love Too Easily, composed of jazz standards, on November 17, 2017.

McPhee has also established an acting career, co-starring in The House Bunny and Shark Night 3D.

She played Karen Cartwright, one of the lead roles on Smash.

She made her Broadway debut in the musical Waitress, taking over the role of Jenna in 2018 and again in 2019–2020 and also starred in the role in London's West End in 2019.

McPhee was born in Los Angeles, California.

Her father, Daniel McPhee, was a television producer.