Kate Vernon

Genre fans have come to love Kate's hateful protrayal of Ellen Tigh, the scheming wife of Galactic's Executive Officer, on the hit Sci-Fi series Battlestar Galactica. Her character's lust for power and bold power-plays eventually led to her cruel death this season at the hands of her beloved husband.

Who knows her true fate? Will Kate return to the series as one of the mysterious "unseen" cylons? Perhaps we'll find out at Starfest...

Kate Vernon was born in Canada to character actor John Vernon and former actress and model Nancy West. Her family (Her sister is singer Nan Vernon) moved to California when Kate was a little girl. She was interested in being an architect when she finished high school, but then felt she would have to "lock herself in a loony bin" if she did not express herself as an actress. Her father tried to scare her away from the business, but Kate was determined to become an actress - which she did.

She started landing parts in her early 20s, getting lots of work in television and film in the 1980s. Her first feature was Alphabet City (1984), starring Vincent Spano, followed by Roadhouse 66 (1984). She then landed a role on the very popular 1980s soap opera Falcon Crest (1981), playing cutie pie Lorraine Prescott. Soon afterward many other TV and film roles followed, including Pretty in Pink (1986) where she played bitchy blonde Benny, and Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992), where she locked lips with Denzel Washington.

Her genre roles include her starring role in the thriller Grave Matters, The Hunger TV series, Star Trek Voyager as Commander Valerie Archer, The Outer Limits, Kindred: The Embraced, Bloodknot, Tales from the Crypt, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Remington Steele.

Kate Vernon will be attending Horrorfest for all three days. Aside from her Q&A on Sunday, she'll be participating in one or more of the Horrorfest panels.