During her late teens, Kathy's life was interrupted when she was run over by a jeep while sunbathing on a beach. As a result, she experienced intermitted paralysis in her legs. Her recovery took almost five years. Then, just six years later, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Undaunted, she has turned roadblocks into springboards, using her personal experience as launching pads for humor and the education of others.

In 1992, she was selected from among hundreds of performers to showcase her talents at The National Association for Campus Activities Convention. That appearance made her a favorite of the college campus circuit.

Kathy's popular appeal, unique persona, and refreshing sense of humor also attracted the attention of high profile comedy television shows, entertainment news programs, and talk shows. She has been a guest on "The Tonight Show - Starring Jay Leno" and "The Howard Stern Show." She has been featured in various national magazines including People as one of their most touching stories of 1997, and profiled in depth on the "Today Show," "Good Morning America," "CBS This Morning," "Entertainment Tonight," "Extra," "Inside Edition," "Turner Entertainment Report," "CNN'S Show Biz Today," "Real Life," "Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee," "Phil Donahue," "Leeza," "Dr. Ruth's Never Too Late," "Caryl & Marilyn," "Geraldo," "Mike & Maty," "Crook & Chase," "The Tom Snyder Show," and the "KTLA Morning News."

She has appeared on "Stand-Up Spotlight" (VH-1), "Comic Strip Live" (FOX), "Evening at the Improv" (A&E), and "Caroline's Comedy Hour" (A&E), to name just a few. She also served as celebrity guest host for Fox Television Special, "Smart Kids," and made a cameo appearance in the ABC Television Movie of the Week, "Breaking Free." She was featured in the HBO Television Special, "Women of the Night," shot on location at the U.S. Comedy Festival in Aspen, Colorado, and was included in the E! Entertainment Television Special, "The World's Most Intriguing Women."

In one of her many special projects, Kathy was the focus of "I Can Hear the Laughter," a 1991 Emmy award-winning documentary, and although she regularly receives national media attention, Kathy Buckley is more than just a popular comic. Her humor has a higher purpose. "My comedy disarms people," says Kathy. "I love to make people laugh, but I love it even more if I can teach them something at the same time."

She backs her philosophy by tirelessly performing on behalf of nonprofit and educational organizations such as The MDA Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, Children's Hospitals, and the Children's Miracle Network Telethon, and numerous other causes.

Recently, Kathy was Mistress of Ceremonies at a Permanent Charities annual fundraising gala featuring Quincy Jones, Warren Beatty, and Chevy Chase. She has appeared in benefits with Bob Hope, Nannette Fabray, Donald O'Connor, Phyllis Diller, and Robert Guillaume for The House Ear Institute in Los Angeles, the Alexander Graham Bell Awards with Charlton Heston, and some of the most prestigious theaters in the country, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., the Flint Center for the Performing Arts in Northern California, and the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles.

Among her many honors, Kathy Buckley has received the 1998 Woman of The Year Award from the Oralingua School for the Hearing Impaired, 1997 American Hero Award from the City of Hope as their role model of the year, the 1996 Toastmasters International Communication and Leadership Award, the 1991 Dole Foundation Media Awareness Award for her dedication to all people with disabilities, the National Council on Communicative Disorders Individual Achievement Award, and the Hear Now Hear America Hear award for her commitment to children.

She was also recognized by the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army for outstanding efforts toward disability employment awareness.

She is a key motivational speaker for Anthony Robbins' Life Mastery Classes and works to entertain and enlighten people of all ages, but her heart belongs to children. "Every child deserves to have a real childhood," Kathy asserts. "And they should have healthy role models to show them that people do care about them deeply."

Whether performing in a comedy club, guesting on television, speaking publicly, teaching at camps for the deaf, or appearing in any number of other settings, Kathy Buckley bears her message that anything can be achieved when the heart and the mind work together.