What is Katharine McPhee's Net Worth?
Katharine McPhee (aka Katharine McPhee-Foster) is an American pop singer, songwriter, and actress who has a net worth of $14 million dollars. McPhee became a household name after appearing on "American Idol" in 2006. Since coming in second place on the show, Katharine has released five studio albums (including a Christmas album), and her 2007 debut album reached #2 on the "Billboard" 200 chart.
McPhee has also had a successful acting career, starring as Karen Cartwright on NBC's "Smash" (2012–2013) and Paige Dineen on CBS "Scorpion" (2014–2018). Katharine made her Broadway debut in April 2018, playing Jenna Hunterson in "Waitress" at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. She reprised her role at London's Adelphi Theatre in March 2019, then returned to the Broadway stage from November 2019 until the show's closure in January 2020.
Early Life
Katharine McPhee was born Katharine Hope McPhee on March 25, 1984, in Los Angeles, California. Her father, Daniel (who passed away in 2018) was a TV producer, and her mother, Peisha is a vocal coach who began working for "American Idol" in 2011; Katharine's older sister, Adriana, is also a vocal coach on the show. McPhee received musical training from her mother, and she starred in theatrical productions at Notre Dame High School. After graduating in 2002, Katharine enrolled at the Boston Conservatory and studied musical theatre for three semesters. Her manager advised her to drop out of college to focus on her career, so she went back home to L.A. and began auditioning for pilots. Though McPhee was cast in an MTV series, "You Are Here," the pilot never aired. In 2005, Katharine played Annie Oakley in an L.A. production of "Annie Get Your Gun," earning positive reviews and an Ovation Award nomination.
Music Career
In 2005, Katharine auditioned for "American Idol" in San Francisco, and her performance of "God Bless the Child" earned her an invitation to Hollywood. During the competition, she was a favorite of viewers as well as the judges, and she made it to the finals, becoming runner-up to Taylor Hicks. McPhee's was signed to RCA Records in June 2006, and her first single, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/My Destiny," was released later that month; the only single that sold more copies that year was Hicks' "Do I Make You Proud." Katharine performed on the "American Idol" tour that summer but had to miss the first three weeks due to bronchitis and laryngitis. McPhee's self-titled album was released in January 2007, selling an impressive 116,000 copies during its first week of release; her single "Over It" was certified Gold in February 2008. Katharine went on to release four more albums: "Unbroken" (2010), "Christmas Is the Time to Say I Love You" (2010), "Hysteria" (2015), and "I Fall in Love Too Easily" (2017). She was also featured on both "Smash" soundtracks, "The Music of Smash" (2012) and "Bombshell" (2013), which reached #1 and #3 on the "Billboard" US Soundtracks, respectively.
Acting Career
In 2007, McPhee guest-starred on ABC's "Ugly Betty" and the web series "lonelygirl15," and the following year, she played a pregnant sorority girl in "The House Bunny," co-starring with Anna Faris, Colin Hanks, and Emma Stone. Katharine landed a lead role in 2011's "You May Not Kiss the Bride," and that year, she also starred in the horror film "Shark Night 3D." In 2012, she competed for the role of Marilyn Monroe as Karen Cartwright on the musical television series "Smash," which aired 32 episodes and was produced by Steven Spielberg; she reprised her role in 2015, starring in a one-night-only, sold-out production of "Bombshell in Concert" at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre. In 2014, McPhee began playing a single mother with a genius son on "Scorpion," appearing in all 93 episodes of the series. Katharine has also guest-starred on several TV shows, including "CSI: NY" (2009), "Community" (2010), and "Family Guy" (2012), and she appeared in the Lifetime movie "The Lost Wife of Robert Durst" (2017).
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Personal Life
Katharine married actor Nick Cokas on February 2, 2008, and she filed for divorce in May 2014, a few months after photographs of McPhee kissing "Smash" director Michael Morris (who has been married to actress Mary McCormack since 2003) were published by TMZ. A source told "People" magazine that Katharine and Nick had been separated since the beginning of 2013. The divorce was finalized in February 2016. McPhee was in a relationship with "Scorpion" co-star Elyes Gabel from August 2014 to July 2016, and she began dating record producer David Foster in May 2017. David, who produced Katharine's first single back in 2006, proposed in June 2018, and the couple married on June 28, 2019. McPhee and Foster began touring together in January 2020 but had to cancel their remaining tour dates in March due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
In 2006, Katharine founded the McPhee Outreach charity, which teamed up with Global Compassion Services to build a preschool in Burkina Faso and collaborated with the Lollipop Theater Network to bring music to hospitalized children in Southern California. In late 2005, she entered a 3-month program to treat an eating disorder; she became anorexic at age 13 and bulimic at 17, and she began binge eating in college. McPhee decided to go to treatment after her "American Idol" audition and credits the show with saving her life.
Awards and Nominations
In 2005, McPhee was nominated for an Ovation Award for Lead Actress in a Musical for "Annie Get Your Gun," and the following year, she earned a Fox Reality Award for Favorite Hottie and a VH1 Big in '06 Award for Big "It" Girl. Katharine received Teen Choice Award nominations for Choice Breakout Female Artist in 2006 and 2007 and Choice TV Breakout Star: Female (for "Smash") in 2012. In 2007, she won a Young Hollywood Award for Exciting New Vocalist, and she has also received a Women's Image Network Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series for "Smash" (2012) and a Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite Replacement (Female) for "Waitress" (2018). In 2013, "Smash" earned McPhee two TV Musical Performance of the Year nominations from GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics: "Let Me Be Your Star" (with Megan Hilty) and "A Thousand and One Nights" (with Raza Jaffrey).
Real Estate
In 2017, Katharine paid $2.05 million for a 3,527 square foot home in Studio City, California. She listed this home for sale in March 2022 for a little under $2.7 million.
In 2015, she purchased a 2,039 square foot Toluca Lake home for $1.4 million. She put this home on the market for $1.5 million in August 2017. In October 2018 she listed it for rent, asking $6,900 per month. She bought this home from married actors Corbin Bernson and Amanda Pays.
In mid 2021, Katherine and David Foster paid $7 million for a mansion in LA's Brentwood neighborhood.
