“The Young and the Restless” star Kate Linder still works a side job at United Airlines as a part-time flight attendant.
“You don’t forget who you are that way,” she said. “It keeps you grounded.”
“The Young and the Restless” is the highest-rated daytime drama and has won 11 Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series.
“It’s really interesting because one day I get to be on the set, the next day I get to be here doing this Hollywood Christmas parade, and then I get to serve coffee at 35,000 feet,” Linder said.
Linder has been playing Esther Valentine on the CBS Daytime soap opera for more than 30 years. The show has been on the air for 50 years. In 2008, Linder was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“We just aired our 13,000th episode, and I was so honored to be part of that,” she said. “It’s over 42 years and counting for me. I’m just absolutely thrilled.”
Linder’s character in “The Young and the Restless” is the mother of Chloe Mitchell, as well as the maid, housekeeper, and confidante to Katherine Chancellor, played by Jeanne Cooper, who died in 2013.
At times, airline passengers recognize Linder when she’s working as a stewardess. She said that one fan couldn’t believe Linder would be working on her flight.
“I feel so very fortunate to do what I do,“ Linder said. ”This is all I’ve ever wanted to do.
“No one in my family was in the business, so it was always like taking one step forward and two steps back, and yet, how fortunate and how lucky am I?”
Linder isn’t alone in pursuing opportunities outside of acting. Many successful Hollywood actors have side gigs.
For example, Texas personal injury lawyer Don Worley is the star of the Amazon Prime and Tubi unscripted streaming series “Power of Attorney: Don Worley” and the independent feature film “Time for Sunset,” which is premiering at the Culver City Film Festival in Los Angeles.
“As a lawyer, you’re helping people, and you can’t just stop helping in the middle of someone’s case that’s going on,” Worley told The Epoch Times on Dec. 5.
“I enjoy being a lawyer, and like any actor, you never know when the next acting job is coming.”
“Even when actors reach a certain level of fame, they often face periods without work, which means their income can dry up,” Samer Saah, managing partner at Los Angeles-based public relations firm Frank Groff Inc. (FGI), told The Epoch Times on Dec. 4.
“Maintaining a secondary job provides a safety net, especially for actors during uncertain times.”
Soap opera stars in lead roles can earn $300,000 or more per year, while supporting, recurring, and day-player actors can earn as little as $10,841 annually. On average, Zippia estimates soap actors earn a yearly salary of at least $52,946.
Balancing time on set with working as a flight attendant reflects a pragmatic approach to an uncertain career as a performer, according to Hollywood Branded CEO and founder Stacy Jones.
“Not all celebrities are pulling in millions,” Jones told The Epoch Times on Dec. 5. ”The entertainment world is wildly unpredictable.
“Roles don’t always last, and job security is often a luxury, not a guarantee,” she noted.
“Without a substantial and regular income, even long-standing actors can’t rely solely on Hollywood to make ends meet.”
