Kate Linder was cast as Esther Valentine on The Young and the Restless 40 years ago, where she remains a key member of the top-rated daytime drama’s cast. 

Kate’s feature film credits include: Hysteria, Erased, Miss Meadows, Garry Marshall's Mother's Day, Charlie Matthau's The Book of Leah, and various others.

Kate enjoys the best of two worlds -- on the air and in the air – because she never quit her pre-Young and the Restless weekend job as a United Airlines flight attendant, which she says keeps her grounded.

Born in Pasadena, California, Kate entered dance classes at 3. By the time she finished high school, she’d appeared in major singing and dancing roles in Promises, Promises, Threepenny Opera, L’il Abner, Jesus Christ Superstar, and many more.

Following graduation from San Francisco State University with a degree in Theater Arts, Kate worked part-time at the University, which is where she met her husband, Professor Dr. Ronald Linder, who subsequently joined the Public Health and Medicine faculty at UCLA. After settling in Los Angeles, Kate broke into TV with sitcom and drama guest-starring roles, including starring in Cotillion ’65 as a dance teacher with a dual life that won multiple film festival awards.

Kate became the celebrity spokesperson for the ALS Association following her brother-in-law’s diagnosis. She spends most holidays serving food at the L.A. Mission. And she was on many USO tours with the late Johnny Grant, spending Thanksgivings visiting troops in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Korea, Guantanamo Bay and Fort Hood.

Kate and Robin Wyss debuted Kate’s charity OpportuniTea in 1998 in Vancouver, featuring her Young and Restless castmates. Kate’s teas also benefit the March of Dimes Canada's Conductive Education® program in Toronto and Calgary.

Kate was elected to two terms as the Television Academy’s Governor of Daytime Programming Peer Group and was elected to multiple terms as a SAG-AFTRA board member.

In April 2008, Kate received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.