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United States Kate Linder has established a career spanning over four decades in television and film, notably as Esther Valentine on The Young and the Restless, while also dedicating significant effort to philanthropy.
Linder has been the celebrity spokesperson for The ALS Association for over a decade, actively lobbying Congress and receiving national and state volunteer awards for her service. She is especially involved with The ALS Association's Golden West Chapter, advocating for research and support for health-related causes.
Linder hosts annual charity teas in Canada that benefit the March of Dimes Canada's Conductive Education program, for which she also serves as ambassador. She has been involved with these teas since 2012, in locations such as Toronto and Calgary.
Linder works with the Los Angeles Mission, spending most holidays serving food at the mission.
Linder has made several trips visiting troops with the USO, including Thanksgiving visits to troops in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Korea, and Guantanamo Bay.
Linder has been the Grand Marshal of the Walk to End Lupus Now Los Angeles twice and also supports the ALS Network's Walk and Roll to Cure ALS Walks.
Kate Linder was born on November 2, 1947, in Pasadena, California, and raised in Arcadia. She developed an early interest in performing, taking dance classes at age 3 and participating in numerous high school musical theater productions, including “Promises, Promises,” “Three Penny Opera,” “L’il Abner,” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.” She pursued her passion for theater by earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater arts from San Francisco State University. During her time in college, she also began working as a flight attendant for Transamerica Airlines.
Following her graduation, Linder engaged in various stage roles in the Bay Area before moving to Los Angeles to further her television career. She secured guest-starring roles in sitcoms and dramas, and in April 1982, she was cast as Esther Valentine on CBS’s “The Young and the Restless.” Initially a one-day role, her portrayal of Esther Valentine developed into a long-standing position, making her one of the longest-serving actors on American soap operas for over 40 years. Her work on “The Young and the Restless” has contributed to the show’s consistent ranking as the number one rated soap opera.
In addition to her television career, Linder has appeared in feature films such as “Hysteria” (2011), “Erased” (2012), “Miss Meadows” (2014), Garry Marshall’s “Mother’s Day” (2016), “Voice from the Stone” (2017), and “The Charnel House” (2016). More recently, she appeared in “Echo Boomers” (2020) and “A Little White Lie” (2023), and is slated to appear in Charlie Matthau’s “Book of Leah.” Linder has also crossed over to “The Bold and the Beautiful” for a special guest role in 2023. She maintains her role as a flight attendant for Transamerica Airlines and later for United Airlines, a profession she has held since before her initial casting on “The Young and the Restless.”
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