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,[2] 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.[1]
Linaker acted in supporting roles on Broadway before signing a film contract with Warner Bros.[1] She was signed by the studio after a talent scout saw her in Jackson White at the Providencetown Theater.[4] Her Broadway credits included Every Man for Himself (1940), and Yesterday's Orchids (1934).[5]
In 1935, she briefly changed her name to Lynn Acker "for screen purposes",[6] but she soon dropped that name.[7] Most of her film work had her in limited roles, with one of her notable leading parts coming in The Girl from Mandalay (1936).[2] Her screen debut was in The Murder of Dr. Harrigan (1936).[8]
Linaker wrote for the Voice of America during World War II in addition to working for the Red Cross.[2]
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.[10] In December 1936, for about a year, Phillips sang with Ray Noble under the pseudonym Howard Barrie.
Weaver, Tom (2003). "Kay Linaker". Eye on Science Fiction: 20 Interviews with Classic SF and Horror Filmmakers. McFarland. pp. 215–233. ISBN978-0-7864-3028-4.
