One of her first films was the Milos Forman comedy Taking Off (credited as "Bobo Bates"), wherein she sings an original song "Even Horses Had Wings". In 1990, she would appear again with Hoffman in Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy as a stenographer who couldn't understand the mumbling of Hoffman's character, Mumbles. Bates appeared off-Broadway in Terrence McNally's 1987 play Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, performed in little-seen films such as Summer Heat and The Morning After, and guest-starred in television shows such as L.A. Law before landing the role of obsessed fan Annie Wilkes, who holds her favorite author (played by James Caan) captive, in the 1990 thriller Misery, which was based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. She received her first Academy Award nomination for that role, winning Best Actress. Soon after, she starred with Jessica Tandy in the acclaimed 1991 movie Fried Green Tomatoes. In 1995, she turned in another applauded portrayal as the title char