Camelia Kath is an American actress and entertainment professional whose life has intersected with several well-known figures in music and film. She was married to Terry Kath, the guitarist and founding member of Chicago, before his death in 1978. She later married actor Kiefer Sutherland and built a family whose members have pursued their own creative careers.
Camelia Kath is an actress and the widow of Terry Kath, Chicago’s founding guitarist, who died in 1978. She later married Kiefer Sutherland, with whom she has a daughter, Sarah. Her older daughter, Michelle Kath Sinclair, directed a documentary about Terry. IMDb also lists Camelia as Jeff Lynne’s wife.
Family Profile
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Camelia Kath; also credited as Camelia Lynne |
| Profession | Actress, writer, entertainment professional |
| Birth Date | September 22, 1953, according to IMDb |
| Birthplace | Puerto Rico, according to IMDb |
| Nationality | American |
| Known For | The Killing Time (1987), her marriage to Terry Kath |
| First Husband | Terry Kath (died 1978) |
| Second Husband | Kiefer Sutherland (married 1987; divorced 1990) |
| Current Reported Husband | Jeff Lynne (IMDb lists marriage in 2017) |
| Children | Michelle Kath Sinclair and Sarah Sutherland |
| Notable Film | The Killing Time (1987) |
| Television Work | The Nanny (1999), story and production credits |
| Family Documentary | Chicago: The Terry Kath Experience |
Who Is Camelia Kath?
Camelia Kath, also credited professionally as Camelia Lynne, worked in films and television during the 1980s and later held behind-the-scenes television credits. Her screen career was relatively modest, but it included a leading role opposite Kiefer Sutherland in the 1987 thriller The Killing Time. The American Film Institute confirms both her role in that production and that she met Sutherland while making the film.
Her connection to Terry Kath predates those acting credits. Their daughter, Michelle Kath Sinclair, later directed a documentary about her father, making Camelia part of a story that continues to interest Chicago fans decades after Terry’s death. She is also the mother of actress Sarah Sutherland, whose work on Veep has brought another generation of the family into television.
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Early Life and Background
IMDb’s biography of Kath, under the name Camelia Lynne, lists a September 22, 1953, birth date and Puerto Rico as her birthplace. Those details appear in an entertainment-industry database rather than an independently located birth record, so they are best understood as published biographical information. Several less authoritative websites give differing dates, making precise age claims worth treating carefully.
Compared with her later professional work, her childhood, education, and early career are less extensively documented in established publications. There is no sound basis for assigning her a particular school, hometown upbringing, or ethnicity from scattered online profiles. The more substantial public record begins with her relationship with Terry and, later, her work on screen.
Marriage to Terry Kath and Their Daughter
Terry Kath helped found the band Chicago, which combined a rock rhythm section with an unusually prominent horn lineup. As a guitarist and singer, he was central to its early identity. His powerful playing and distinctive vocal style made him an important figure in the group’s formative recordings, even though other band members eventually became better-known mainstream personalities.
Camelia and Terry married during the 1970s. Biographical listings commonly place the marriage in 1974, although published timelines are not completely consistent. Their daughter, Michelle, was born in 1976. Their family connection became an important part of rock history when Michelle eventually began documenting her father’s music and personal history on film.
The marriage ended when Terry died on January 23, 1978, following an accidental gunshot. He was 31 years old. Camelia was left raising their young daughter, who had only limited time with her father. The loss is a major event in Terry’s biography, but detailed public accounts of Camelia’s own experience at the time remain comparatively limited.
The Terry Kath Experience and His Legacy
Years later, Michelle Kath Sinclair set out to understand the father she had barely known. Her documentary, Chicago: The Terry Kath Experience, draws on interviews with musicians, relatives, and friends, along with material from the family’s past. Rather than simply recounting Chicago’s commercial success, it investigates the person behind the recordings and his enduring reputation among guitar players.
Camelia participated in the project. The documentary’s official website identifies an interview between Michelle and her mother, and contemporary coverage by Classic Rock reported that Camelia was among those filmed. The interview matters because her recollections form part of Michelle’s effort to reconstruct her father’s life through people who knew him firsthand.
The documentary premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2016 and later reached a wider audience through broadcast and home-video releases. It also connected chapters of Camelia’s family history: Kiefer Sutherland, Michelle’s former stepfather, participated in a festival discussion. The project is among the clearest public examples of her involvement in preserving Terry’s story.
Camelia Kath’s Movies and Television Career
Camelia’s filmography shows that she had professional ambitions and credits beyond her marriages. IMDb lists appearances in Terror on Tour (1980), Fake-Out (1982), and The Killing Time (1987), along with smaller television and short-film roles. These were not all major productions, but they document her activity in the entertainment industry over several years.
Her best-documented substantial film part was Laura Winslow in The Killing Time, directed by Rick King. The American Film Institute describes it as her first starring role in a feature and records the film’s October 1987 release. The cast also included Beau Bridges, Wayne Rogers, and Kiefer Sutherland, placing Kath in a professional production with several recognizable Hollywood actors.
Her work was not limited to appearing before the camera. IMDb credits her with a story contribution to an episode of the sitcom The Nanny in 1999 and lists executive-assistant work on that series. Those credits suggest a broader involvement in television production, although they do not establish an extensive later writing or producing career.
Marriage to Kiefer Sutherland
Camelia met Kiefer Sutherland on the set of The Killing Time, according to the American Film Institute. They married in 1987, before the movie reached theaters, and welcomed daughter Sarah in 1988. The marriage ended in divorce in 1990. These dates distinguish the couple’s documented history from online descriptions that sometimes blur their marriage with Kiefer’s subsequent relationships.
Kiefer became stepfather to Michelle when he married Camelia. In later interviews, he described becoming a parent at a young age as an experience that brought serious responsibilities. Their marriage did not last, but his relationship with Michelle continued. As documented in Us Weekly’s coverage of his family, he spoke publicly about their relationship during the 2016 Toronto film festival appearance.
This history also explains why Camelia is sometimes identified as Kiefer Sutherland’s first wife. It should not obscure the fact that she had already been married, had a daughter, and worked in the entertainment business before meeting him.
Her Two Daughters: Michelle and Sarah
Michelle Kath Sinclair is Camelia’s daughter with Terry Kath. Her documentary became a major public contribution to her father’s legacy, combining family memories with interviews of Chicago’s surviving members and other musicians. The film reflects Michelle’s own perspective as a filmmaker rather than a project that should simply be credited to her mother.
Sarah Sutherland, Camelia’s daughter with Kiefer, became an actress and played Catherine Meyer in HBO’s political comedy Veep. In a 2015 interview with The Independent, Sarah discussed pursuing acting independently despite growing up in a prominent acting family. Her paternal grandparents were actors Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas.
Michelle and Sarah are maternal half-sisters. Their careers are quite different, yet both provide a clear picture of how Camelia’s family remained connected to performance, filmmaking, and music. The relationship is straightforward without needing to speculate about their private lives or suggest that either career was guaranteed by family ties.
Camelia Kath and Jeff Lynne
Camelia has also had a long-standing relationship with Jeff Lynne, the English musician and producer best known for leading Electric Light Orchestra. The two have attended public music-industry events together, including the 2023 Songwriters Hall of Fame gala. Those appearances establish their publicly visible partnership without relying on anonymous online accounts.
IMDb lists Camelia under the name Camelia Lynne and identifies Jeff Lynne as her husband, with a wedding date of September 19, 2017. Jeff’s IMDb biography also lists that marriage. Because a direct public wedding announcement was not located in the more authoritative sources reviewed, the exact date is best attributed to those listings rather than represented as independently documented.
Conclusion
Camelia Kath is more than a name linked to famous husbands. She has a documented acting and television résumé, two daughters with independent creative careers, and a role in the documentary preserving Terry Kath’s musical legacy. Her story is most accurately understood through those verifiable contributions and family relationships, rather than speculation about private details.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Who was Camelia Kath’s first husband?
Camelia Kath was married to Terry Kath, the guitarist and singer who helped found the rock band Chicago. They had one daughter, Michelle Kath Sinclair. Their marriage ended when Terry died in an accidental shooting on January 23, 1978.
2. How old is Camelia Kath?
IMDb lists Camelia Kath’s birth date as September 22, 1953, which would make her 73 years old as of November 2026. However, this birth information has not been independently established through an authoritative public record.
3. Was Camelia Kath married to Kiefer Sutherland?
Yes. Camelia Kath married actor Kiefer Sutherland in 1987 after meeting him during production of The Killing Time. They welcomed their daughter Sarah in 1988 and divorced in 1990.
4. How many children does Camelia Kath have?
Camelia Kath has two publicly documented daughters. Michelle Kath Sinclair is her daughter with musician Terry Kath, while actress Sarah Sutherland is her daughter with Kiefer Sutherland. Michelle directed The Terry Kath Experience, and Sarah appeared in HBO’s Veep.
5. Is Camelia Kath married to Jeff Lynne?
IMDb lists Camelia Kath, also known as Camelia Lynne, as married to Electric Light Orchestra musician Jeff Lynne since September 19, 2017. The couple have also appeared together at public music-industry events, although the precise wedding date relies on the IMDb listing rather than an independently verified announcement.
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