# Catherine Hickland
**Catherine Hickland** (born 1956 in [Fort Lauderdale, Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/fort-lauderdale-florida)) is an American actress, stage hypnotist, and mentalist best known for her daytime television roles, most notably Lindsay Rappaport on ABC's *One Life to Live* from 1998 to 2012 and Stevie Mason in the 1980s series *Knight Rider*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382692/bio/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382692/) • [3](https://www.catherinehickland.com/) After a 38-year acting career she retrained as a hypnotist and now performs mentalism and stage hypnosis, chiefly in Las Vegas.[3](https://www.catherinehickland.com/) • [4](https://worksmarthypnosis.com/podcast/session-107-catherine-hickland-on-hypnotic-journeys/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1956, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; height 5′ 5″ (1.65 m)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382692/bio/) |
| Signature role | Lindsay Rappaport on *One Life to Live*, 1998–2012, 150 episodes[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382692/) |
| Primetime role | Stevie Mason on *Knight Rider* (1983–1986)[3](https://www.catherinehickland.com/) • [5](https://elcinema.com/en/person/2130709/biographies) |
| Stage work | Fantine in *Les Misérables*, on Broadway and the national tour[3](https://www.catherinehickland.com/) |
| Other daytime roles | Tess Wilder on *Loving* and *The City*; Julie Clegg and Jenny Diamond on *Capitol*; Dr. Courtney Marshall on *Texas*; Brooke Logan Forrester on *The Bold and the Beautiful*[6](https://www.eyeonsoaps.com/OLTL/biohickland.htm) |
| Second career | Stage hypnotist and mentalist, over 100 shows a year; CEO of Cat Cosmetics since 2001[3](https://www.catherinehickland.com/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382692/bio/) |
| Marriages | Richard Knowlton Jr (1981–82), David Hasselhoff (1984–89), Michael E. Knight (1992–2006), Todd Fisher (2012–present); no children[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382692/bio/) |
## Early life and start in entertainment
Hickland was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and graduated from Fort Lauderdale High School in 1974.[5](https://elcinema.com/en/person/2130709/biographies) • [6](https://www.eyeonsoaps.com/OLTL/biohickland.htm) She spent two years at [Florida Atlantic University](https://www.edgepedia.org/florida-atlantic-university) before leaving to take a position as a flight attendant with National Airlines; six months later she moved into a commercial role with the airline before traveling to Los Angeles to study acting.[5](https://elcinema.com/en/person/2130709/biographies) Her first professional exposure came as the original stewardess in an airline "Fly Me" advertising campaign, which drew nationwide attention.[6](https://www.eyeonsoaps.com/OLTL/biohickland.htm) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382692/bio/)
One of her earliest jobs before her acting break was at a Hollywood answering service, where one of her assignments was telling [Sharon Gless](https://www.edgepedia.org/sharon-gless) that she had won the role of Christine Cagney on *Cagney & Lacey*.[6](https://www.eyeonsoaps.com/OLTL/biohickland.htm)
## Television career
**Daytime serials.** Hickland built her career largely in soap operas. She played Dr. Courtney Marshall on *Texas* before the 1980s, took the dual role of Julie Clegg and Jenny Diamond on *Capitol*, played Tess Wilder on *Loving* and its continuation *The City*, and later appeared as Brooke Logan Forrester on *The Bold and the Beautiful*.[6](https://www.eyeonsoaps.com/OLTL/biohickland.htm) • [5](https://elcinema.com/en/person/2130709/biographies) In May 1998 she joined *One Life to Live* as the scheming Lindsay Rappaport, a role she played through the show's cancellation in 2012, appearing in 150 episodes.[6](https://www.eyeonsoaps.com/OLTL/biohickland.htm) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382692/) Writing under her own byline in 2009, she described having spent 29 years making a career of playing villainesses on soap operas.[7](https://www.pr.com/article/1119)
**Primetime and film.** Her primetime guest appearances include *Knight Rider*, on which she played Stevie Mason and which starred her then-husband [David Hasselhoff](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-hasselhoff), as well as *Eight Is Enough*, *Airwolf*, *Vega$*, *CHiPs*, and *Law & Order*.[6](https://www.eyeonsoaps.com/OLTL/biohickland.htm) • [3](https://www.catherinehickland.com/) • [8](https://www.buddytv.com/catherine-hickland/) [Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/television) movies include *The Seeding of Sara Burns* and *To Race the Wind*; her feature films include *Witch Craft*, *War Zone Zero*, and *Taxi Killer*, in which she used karate skills.[6](https://www.eyeonsoaps.com/OLTL/biohickland.htm)
## Stage work
Hickland sang the role of Fantine in *Les Misérables* on Broadway and on the national tour, and appeared in the off-Broadway hit *Pieces*.[3](https://www.catherinehickland.com/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382692/bio/)
## Hypnosis and mentalism
**Origins of the interest.** Hickland has traced her fascination with hypnosis to the television hypnotist Pat Collins, "The Hip Hypnotist," whom she watched on talk shows such as *The Merv Griffin Show* when she was about 11 or 12 years old.[4](https://worksmarthypnosis.com/podcast/session-107-catherine-hickland-on-hypnotic-journeys/) After moving to Los Angeles she saw Collins perform live at her own club on the [Sunset Strip](https://www.edgepedia.org/sunset-strip).[4](https://worksmarthypnosis.com/podcast/session-107-catherine-hickland-on-hypnotic-journeys/)
**The transition.** After 38 years in acting she found herself burned out during her years on *One Life to Live* and decided to leave; in the final years on the show she studied hypnosis without telling anyone and staged her first hypnosis show in a large New York theater near the end of her acting career.[4](https://worksmarthypnosis.com/podcast/session-107-catherine-hickland-on-hypnotic-journeys/) She has said that studying hypnosis and [neuro-linguistic programming](https://www.edgepedia.org/neuro-linguistic-programming) revealed skills she had already been using unconsciously as a performer, including relaxing people, transporting them with a story, and choosing words that made them say yes.[4](https://worksmarthypnosis.com/podcast/session-107-catherine-hickland-on-hypnotic-journeys/) A teacher encouraged her to move to stage hypnosis given her theater background, and she studied stage hypnosis with Mark Soard; despite having performed publicly for decades, she reports she had severe stage fright as a hypnotist, since acting gave her a script while hypnosis did not.[4](https://worksmarthypnosis.com/podcast/session-107-catherine-hickland-on-hypnotic-journeys/)
**Current work.** Based in Las Vegas, she bills herself as "the world's only celebrity mind reader and hypnotist" and performs well over one hundred shows a year under the title *Beyond Illusion*.[3](https://www.catherinehickland.com/) She also runs "Get Your Fire Back" seminars in Las Vegas focused on self-discovery and mental fitness.[3](https://www.catherinehickland.com/)
## Business ventures
In 2001 Hickland created Cat Cosmetics, a line of color cosmetics, and remains its CEO.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382692/bio/) She has also been described as a singer and novelist who has published albums and books.[5](https://elcinema.com/en/person/2130709/biographies)
## Personal life
Hickland's marriages, in order, were to Richard Ernest Knowlton Jr (October 1981 to March 1982), David Hasselhoff (March 1984 to March 1989), her *One Life to Live* co-star Michael E. Knight (June 1992 to 2006), and producer [Todd Fisher](https://www.edgepedia.org/todd-fisher) (from December 22, 2012); she has no children.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382692/bio/) She and Fisher divide their time between a home in Las Vegas and a California ranch, where she keeps 24 chickens, 3 horses, a miniature donkey, 2 geese, 13 ducks, and a pet turkey.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382692/bio/)
## References
1. [Catherine Hickland – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382692/bio/)
2. [Catherine Hickland – IMDb filmography](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382692/)
3. [Catherine Hickland's official website, "Beyond Illusion"](https://www.catherinehickland.com/)
4. [Session #107: Catherine Hickland on Hypnotic Journeys, Work Smart Hypnosis Podcast](https://worksmarthypnosis.com/podcast/session-107-catherine-hickland-on-hypnotic-journeys/)
5. [Biographies: Catherine Hickland – Actor, El Cinema](https://elcinema.com/en/person/2130709/biographies)
6. [Catherine Hickland – Lindsay Rappaport biography, Eye on Soaps](https://www.eyeonsoaps.com/OLTL/biohickland.htm)
7. [My Name is Catherine Hickland, and I am the Heartbreak Kid, PR.com (March 6, 2009)](https://www.pr.com/article/1119)
8. [Catherine Hickland, BuddyTV](https://www.buddytv.com/catherine-hickland/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames He to H*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license