Kay Linaker

{{short description|American actress and screenwriter (1913–2008)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Kay Linaker

| image = Kay Linaker 1930s.JPG

| imagesize =

| caption = Linaker in the 1930s

| birth_name = Mary Katherine Linaker

| othername = Kate Phillips
Kay Linaker-Phillips

| birth_date = {{birth date|1913|07|19}}

| birth_place = Pine Bluff, Arkansas, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2008|04|18|1913|07|19}}

| death_place = Keene, New Hampshire, U.S.

| occupation = Actress
screenwriter

| yearsactive = 1936–1945

| spouse = {{marriage|Howard Phillips|1945|1985|end=his death}}

| children = 2

}}

Mary Katherine Linaker (July 19, 1913 – April 18, 2008) was an American actress and screenwriter who appeared in many B movies during the 1930s and 1940s, most notably Kitty Foyle (1940). Linaker used her married name, Kate Phillips, as a screenwriter, notably for the cult film The Blob (1958). She is credited with coining the name "The Blob" for the movie, which was originally titled The Molten Meteor.

Biography

Linaker was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and graduated from a private school in Connecticut and from New York University. She went on to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.{{cite book|last1=Weaver|first1=Tom|title=Eye on Science Fiction: 20 Interviews with Classic SF and Horror Filmmakers|date=2003|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786430284|page=215|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZbyQTjDufoC&dq=%22Kay+Linaker%22&pg=PA215|access-date=January 18, 2017|language=en}}

Linaker acted in supporting roles on Broadway before signing a film contract with Warner Bros. She was signed by the studio after a talent scout saw her in Jackson White at the Providencetown Theater.{{cite news |title='Find' Discovered in Famous Theater |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24954996/kay_linaker/ |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=July 3, 1935 |location=California, Los Angeles |page=23|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = October 29, 2018}} {{Open access}} Her Broadway credits included Every Man for Himself (1940), and Yesterday's Orchids (1934).{{cite web |title=Kay Linaker |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/kay-linaker-49798 |website=Internet Broadway Database |publisher=The Broadway League |access-date=October 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030005938/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/kay-linaker-49798 |archive-date=October 30, 2018}}

In 1935, she briefly changed her name to Lynn Acker "for screen purposes",{{cite news|title=Player Changes Name|url=https://archive.org/stream/motionpictureher120unse#page/n527/mode/1up|access-date=January 18, 2017|work=Motion Picture Herald|date=August 3, 1935|page=67}} but she soon dropped that name.{{cite news|title=A 'Little' from Hollywood 'Lots'|url=https://archive.org/stream/filmdailyvolume668newy#page/357/mode/1up|access-date=January 18, 2017|work=The Film Daily|date=August 8, 1935|page=10}} Most of her film work had her in limited roles, with one of her notable leading parts coming in The Girl from Mandalay (1936). Her screen debut was in The Murder of Dr. Harrigan (1936).{{cite news |title=Broadway Actress In Film |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24955562/the_morning_news/ |work=The Morning News |date=August 2, 1935 |location=Delaware, Wilmington |page=20|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = October 29, 2018}} {{Open access}}

Linaker wrote for the Voice of America during World War II in addition to working for the Red Cross.

She later taught in the film studies department at Keene State College in New Hampshire from 1980 to 2006.

From the 1960s to her death, Linaker dedicated much of her time supporting the children at Hampshire Country School in Rindge, New Hampshire. Linaker volunteered countless hours over the many years as English teacher and drama coach at the very small private school for twice exceptional children whose alumni include Temple Grandin.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}}

Personal life

Linaker – on June 9, 1953, in Bedford, New York – married Howard Baron Phillips (1909–1985), who initially was a baritone and writer but later worked as an executive with NBC television.{{cite news |title=Phillips |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24954433/kate_phillips/ |work=Philadelphia Daily News |date=April 28, 2008 |location=Pennsylvania, Philadelphia |page=24|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = October 29, 2018}} {{Open access}} In December 1936, for about a year, Phillips sang with Ray Noble under the pseudonym Howard Barrie.

: ''See "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm"

Death

On April 18, 2008, Linaker died in Keene, New Hampshire.{{cite news |last1=Hevesi |first1=Dennis |title=Kate Phillips, 94, actress who co-wrote 'The Blob' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24954235/kate_phillips/ |work=Philadelphia Daily News |agency=New York Times News Service |date=April 28, 2008 |location=Pennsylvania, Philadelphia |page=10|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = October 29, 2018}} {{Open access}}

Partial filmography

The Murder of Dr. Harrigan (1936) - Sally Keating
Road Gang (1936) - Barbara Winston
The Girl from Mandalay (1936) - Jeanie Barton
Easy Money (1936) - Carol Carter
Crack-Up (1936) - Mrs. Fleming
The Outer Gate (1937) - Lois Borden
Black Aces (1937) - Sandy McKenzie
Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1937) - Joan Karnoff
Personal Secretary (1938) - Flo Sampson
The Last Warning (1938) - Carla Rodriguez
I Am a Criminal (1938) - Linda La Rue
Trade Winds (1938) - Grace (uncredited)
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) - Mrs. Edwards (uncredited)
Charlie Chan in Reno (1939) - Mrs. Russell
Man About Town (1939) - Receptionist (uncredited)
Hotel for Women (1939) - Jane (uncredited)
Girl from Rio (1939) - Vicki
Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939) - Egyptian Princess Ectoplasm (uncredited)
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) - Mrs. Demooth
Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence (1939) - Nurse
Hidden Enemy (1940) - Sonia Manning
Green Hell (1940) - Woman in Cafe (uncredited)
Free, Blonde and 21 (1940) - Mrs. John Crane
Buck Benny Rides Again (1940) - Brenda Tracy
Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise (1940) - Mrs. Pendleton
Sandy Is a Lady (1940) - Mrs. Porter, Writer's Wife
Mystery Sea Raider (1940) - Flossie La Mare
Kitty Foyle (1940) - Veronica Strafford
The Invisible Woman (1940) - Showroom Buyer (uncredited)
They Dare Not Love (1941) - Barbara Murdock
Blood and Sand (1941) - Guest of Doña Sol (uncredited)
Charlie Chan in Rio (1941) - Helen Ashby
Private Nurse (1941) - Helene
Married Bachelor (1941) - Minor Role (uncredited)
Moon Over Her Shoulder (1941) - Radio Hostess (uncredited)
Cadet Girl (1941) - Minor Role (scenes deleted)
Glamour Boy (1941) - Mrs. Emily Colder
Remember the Day (1941) - Society Reporter (uncredited)
A Close Call for Ellery Queen (1942) - Margo Rogers
The Night Before the Divorce (1942) - Hedda Smythe
Men of Texas (1942) - Mrs. Sarah Olsen
Orchestra Wives (1942) - Margie (uncredited)
War Dogs (1942) - Joan Allen
Pittsburgh (1942) - Secretary (uncredited)
Happy Go Lucky (1943) - Suzanne (uncredited)
Cinderella Swings It (1943) - Madame Dolores
Two Weeks to Live (1943) - Mrs. Madge Carmen
The More the Merrier (1943) - Miss Allen (uncredited)
Let's Face It (1943) - Canteen Hostess (uncredited)
Wintertime (1943) - Wife (uncredited)
Lady in the Dark (1944) - Liza's Mother
Men on Her Mind (1944) - Eloise Palmer
It Happened Tomorrow (1944) - Anniversary Party Attendee (uncredited)
Laura (1944) - Woman (uncredited)
Here Come the Waves (1944) - Pretty Woman (uncredited)
Bring On the Girls (1945) - Commander's Wife (uncredited) (final film role)

References

{{Reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite news |author=Dennis Hevesi |title=Kate Phillips, Actress Who Christened 'The Blob', Is Dead at 94 |newspaper=New York Times |department=Obituaries |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/theater/27phillipsobit.html?ref=obituaries |date=April 27, 2008 |access-date=November 5, 2015}}

{{cite encyclopedia |author=Michael G. Fitzgerald |title=Kate Phillips (1913–2008) |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |date=May 22, 2014 |url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2778 |access-date=November 5, 2015}}

{{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Rust,|1975|p=}} |last1=Rust |first1=Brian Arthur Lovell (1922–2011) |author-link1=Brian Rust |date=1975 |title=The American Dance Band Discography, 1917–1942 |url={{GBurl |0uUvAAAAMAAJ |p=1311}} |publisher=Arlington House |via=Google Books (University of Michigan Library) {{free access}} }} {{LCCN|75033689}}; {{ISBN|978-0-8700-0248-9|0-8700-0248-1}}; {{OCLC|1818389|show=all}}.

{{cite book |title="Ray Noble" "HP" (Harry Phillips, vocalist) |url={{GBurl |0uUvAAAAMAAJ |p=1311 |dq="i've got my love to keep me warm"}} |volume=2 |page=1311}}

}}