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.
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. Her Broadway credits included Every Man for Himself (1940), and Yesterday's Orchids (1934).
In 1935, she briefly changed her name to Lynn Acker "for screen purposes", but she soon dropped that name. 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).
Linaker wrote for the Voice of America during World War II in addition to working for the Red Cross.
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. 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.
