<Tr> <Th> Years active </Th> <Td> 1993--2017 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Spouse (s) </Th> <Td> Robert Cates (m . 1963) </Td> </Tr> <P> Darlene Cates (born Rita Darlene Guthrie; December 13, 1947--March 26, 2017) was an American actress . She was best known for her role in the 1993 film What's Eating Gilbert Grape, in which she played the title character's housebound mother . </P> <P> Author and screenwriter Peter Hedges saw a tape of Cates on a 1992 episode of Sally entitled "Too Heavy to Leave Their House". On the show, she discussed her battle with obesity and how it had affected her life . In 1986, pelvic infections caused by her excess weight kept her bedridden for two years, during which she gained an additional 149 pounds . Hedges offered her the role of a morbidly obese mother in the 1993 film What's Eating Gilbert Grape, which she accepted . Television roles followed on the shows Picket Fences in 1994 and Touched by an Angel in 1996 . She had a small role in the 2001 film Wolf Girl . Producer J. Miles Dale flew a small crew and the film's stars from Romania to Texas to shoot their scenes with Cates . </P>

Who played the mother in what's eating gilbert grape