Kate Linder
Kate Linder
The Young & The Restless: Esther Valentine
Kate Linder joined the cast of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS in April, 1982, as Esther Valentine, confidante and housekeeper to Katherine Chancellor (Jeanne Cooper).
She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 10, 2008 and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Y&R co-creator Lee Phillip Bell and castmate Jeanne Cooper spoke at her well-attended ceremony. Kate had roles in the feature films HYSTERIA (2012) ERASED (2013), and MISS MEADOWS (2014) starring Katie Holmes as a teacher with Linder as Trudy Navis, the school's principal. She just wrapped another two features, STEREOTYPICALLY YOU and VOICES FROM THE STONE.
A native of Pasadena, CA, Linder attended San Francisco State University and graduated with a B.A. in theater arts. Linder has appeared in numerous theatrical productions in Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
Linder is also active with the USO, visiting troops in the US, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Korea and Guantanamo Bay in addition to military bases in the United States. In late '05, she was elected Governor of the Daytime Programming Peer Group of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (yup, the folks who put on the Emmys), and was reelected in ’07 for a second two-year stint. She is currently an active and longtime board member for SAG-AFTRA.
Kate is an eternal optimist and tireless worker for many charities and was named celebrity spokesperson for The ALS Association in early 2005. Her brother-in-law was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) in December, 2004 and Kate has gone to Washington, DC each May to lobby for more funds to fight this disease with no cure. In 2006, Linder won the organization's All-Star Award for her passionate service to the cause and won their Packman Award in 2007. Kate travels around the country to participate in and encourage other volunteers at the ALS Association's fundraisers, Walk to Defeat ALS, and in their fundraising dinners for local chapters. She's also active with many AIDS charities and the Los Angeles Mission.
In addition to her role on the daytime drama, Linder works as a United Airlines flight attendant, flying mostly on weekends. She was also the first daytime celebrity to compete in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach's Pro/Celebrity Race.
She is married to Ronald Linder, a leading expert and author on drug abuse. The couple, who married on Valentine's Day in 1976, lives in Los Angeles.
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Kate Linder at the Internet Movie Database