Biography

In addition to being the first Angel to be cast in Charlie's Angels (1976), she also was responsible for coming up with the show's name.

Had to turn down the Meryl Streep role in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) because of scheduling conflicts with Charlie's Angels (1976). This eventually prompted the actress to leave the TV series. Streep won an Oscar for the role.

She had met her Charlie's Angels (1976)' co-stars long before they were cast in the hit show. When she first came to Hollywood, she saw Farrah Fawcett at a party and thought that if all girls in Hollywood were as beautiful as her, she didn't have a chance and might as well go home to Alabama. Luckily, she stayed and became a star. She met Jaclyn Smith at an audition for another show and they became friends. Jaclyn and Farrah had worked together before on a Max Factor commercial, and they knew each other. But it was "Charlie's Angels" that put all three of them together in the same room for the first time, and they became close friends; a friendship that lasted over three decades, until Fawcett passed away in 2009.

Has survived two battles with breast cancer. Once in 1987, and again in 1989. After a partial mastectomy and radiation, she won her fight and shared her experience to highlight the importance of mammograms.

She had developed an unfair reputation for being difficult on Charlie's Angels (1976). The truth was she was strong and protective towards her costars Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith and frequently stopped the producers from overworking them. They had wanted the three actresses to give up their lunch hour to pose for "Time" magazine cover in 1976, and both Farrah and Jaclyn were willing, since they deemed it a prestigious honor, but Kate saw it as one more way for the producers to encroach on their personal time. She locked herself in with her trailer with Farrah and Jaclyn and told the producers that the door was stuck and won't open. The three had their lunch for 45 minutes, when the producers struggled to open the door and begged them to pose for "Time" magazine, which they did in the last 15 minutes of their lunch hour.