Happy birthday, Kate Linder.
Esther has a nice quiet life on The Young and the Restless. Well, at least until she hopped over to Los Angeles and found herself smooching a very taken Charlie. In real life, portrayer Kate Linder has every reason to smile as she’s celebrating a major milestone.
That’s because she was born on November 2, 1947, in Pasadena, California, which means that this much-beloved performer is turning 76 years old today! Despite having been a dancer since the age of 3, Linder wasn’t bitten by the acting bug until she was in the seventh grade. But since that time, she has devoted her life to the performing arts.
After graduating from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor’s in Theatre Arts, Linder immediately hit the audition circuit and soon began scoring roles on primetime series, including Archie Bunker’s Place and Bay City Blues.
But it is, of course, her role of Esther Valentine on Y&R, for which Linder is best known. She first appeared on the CBS daytime drama in April of 1982 in what was supposed to be a single-line, walk-on part. As for the line? It was, “Dinner is served.”
However, Linder was called back in for another appearance, and then another, and yet still another. Subsequently, the no-named maid serving at the beck and call of Katherine Chancellor was christened Esther Valentine, and Linder was put on contract.
As the years wore on, background character Esther moved to the forefront and appeared as the main player in two high-profile storylines. In one, she emerged pregnant from a one-night stand with a plumber, and in another, she was romanced by a con artist who murdered her employer’s husband.
Outside of her work on the soap, Linder has appeared in a number of films beginning with the short, Cotillion 65, and including The Divorce Ceremony, A Couple of White Chicks at the Hairdressers, and Hysteria.
Aside from her acting career, Linder is a 30+ year veteran flight attendant with United Airlines, one of the two Daytime Governors at the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and an active member of multiple charitable groups, including The ALS Association (for whom she is the national spokesperson) and TV Cares.
Soap Hub would like to wish Kate Linder a very happy birthday, and you can too by clicking on the X (formerly Twitter) link below.
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