Not usually. I just encountered this situation today and unless you have a dead battery it will turn over. I have a 98 Tahoe and if I let is sit about an hour it will go about 3 miles and die. This is just from my experience today.
It could, yes.
YesYes
Yes
A bad catalytic converter can cause hard starts if it has become clogged. This produces excessive back pressure in the engine.
Yes.
Yes if it is totally clogged.
Yes, it is possible. It will also cause severe loss of power.
A clogged converter will cause an extreme loss in power, poor mileage, and hard starting. If it is clogged really, really, bad it may cause the engine to not even start.
A defective catalytic converter can do that.
Yes, an engine misfire will cause this and will ruin the converter. It may also be partially clogged.
Partially clogged! Y-THINK-Y
If the converter is partially clogged it can cause the engine to overheat which can cause serious problems. Other than that if will not harm the engine.