Vernon was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada3 to Nancy West and actor John Vernon.4 At age seven, she moved with her family to Los Angeles, California, where her father was pursuing his career.5 Her sister is singer Nan Vernon.6
Vernon portrayed Lorraine Prescott on the CBS prime time soap opera Falcon Crest from 1984 to 1985.789 During the 1980s she appeared on various TV series, including Family Ties, Dallas, Remington Steele, Hotel, Murder, She Wrote and the 1987 miniseries I'll Take Manhattan, as well as the 1986 comedy-drama film Pretty in Pink,10 and the 1989 gangster comedy Mob Story, in which she appeared opposite her father. Other early film credits included Alphabet City (1984) and Roadhouse 66 (1985).
In 1990 Vernon portrayed Kathleen Sawyer in a four-episode arc on Who's the Boss?, followed by extended appearances on L.A. Law in 1994 as A.D.A. Belinda Fox (four episodes) and on Nash Bridges in 1996–1997 as Whitney Thomas (seven episodes). Among many other roles, she co-starred as Sophia in the 1992 film Malcolm X, appeared in the 1992 Italian sci-fi film Jackpot, portrayed Alexandra on the 1996 series Kindred: The Embraced and appeared in a 1998 episode of Star Trek: Voyager entitled "In the Flesh". She played Dr. Rachel Stein in the 1998 TV movie Blackjack.
From 2004 to 2009, Vernon portrayed the recurring role of Ellen Tigh on Battlestar Galactica,1112 as well as the 2009 television film Battlestar Galactica: The Plan.13 In April 2009, she made a guest appearance in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode "A Space Oddity", which also featured cameos by her former Galactica producer Ronald D. Moore and co-stars Grace Park and Rekha Sharma.14
In 2010, Vernon guest starred in two episodes of Heroes ("Close to You" and "Pass/Fail") as Vanessa Wheeler,15 and in 2014 portrayed Diana Sydney on The 100 and Starfleet captain Sonya Alexander in the fan film Star Trek: Prelude To Axanar. In 2016, Vernon played Caroline Morrow in an episode of NCIS. She appeared in several episodes of the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show in 2019.
In 2021, Vernon appeared on the science fiction TV series Another Life with her Battlestar Galactica co-stars Sharma and Katee Sackhoff.16
Vernon shares a daughter with Chuck Negron, founding member and lead vocalist of the rock band Three Dog Night.1819
"Kate Vernon". TV Guide. Archived from the original on March 13, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2021. https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/kate-vernon/credits/3000472229/ ↩
"About Kate". KateVernon.com. Archived from the original on August 23, 2015. Veteran TV and film actress Kate Vernon was born in Canada in 1961. She moved to Los Angeles at the age of 7... https://web.archive.org/web/20150823020213/http://katevernon.com/biography.html ↩
Bernstein, Adam (February 4, 2005). "Actor John Vernon, 72; Animal House Dean". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2016. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62220-2005Feb3.html ↩
Boxer, Tim (October 21, 1984). "Kate Vernon on Dad John". The Winnipeg Sun. p. 98. Retrieved January 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-winnipeg-sun-kate-vernon-on-dad-john/100455981/ ↩
Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (June 24, 2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 443. ISBN 9780307483201. Retrieved January 15, 2020 – via Google Books. 9780307483201 ↩
Schemering, Christopher (September 1985). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia (1st ed.). Ballantine Books. pp. 95–98. ISBN 0-345-32459-5. 0-345-32459-5 ↩
Mackie, Drew (August 29, 2022). "30 Things You Might Not Know About Pretty in Pink, 30 Years Later". People. https://people.com/movies/30-things-you-might-not-know-about-pretty-in-pink-30-years-later/ ↩
"Battlestar Galacticast Episode 12: Remembering 'Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down'". SyFy. February 27, 2019. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2023. https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/battlestar-galacticast-episode-12-remembering-tigh-me-up-tigh-me-down ↩
McNamara, Mary (March 20, 2009). "Battlestar Galactica finale is satisfying—so say we all". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 15, 2010. Retrieved December 24, 2011. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-mar-20-et-battlestar20-story.html ↩
Wieselman, Jarett (March 6, 2009). "Battlestar's Final Cylon Says, 'The Ending is Like Nothing You'd Ever Expect'". New York Post. Archived from the original on March 7, 2009. Retrieved March 6, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090307200751/http://blogs.nypost.com/popwrap/archives/2009/03/final_cylon_qa.html ↩
Ausiello, Michael (March 5, 2009). "CSI plots fraktastic Battlestar crossover". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 9, 2009. http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/03/exclusive-csi-p.html ↩
French, Dan (November 12, 2009). "'Battlestar' actress cast in 'Heroes'". Digital Spy. https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a186619/battlestar-actress-cast-in-heroes/ ↩
Yohannes, Alamin (September 27, 2021). "Netflix Series Another Life Is Hosting a Battlestar Galactica Reunion in Season 2". Entertainment Weekly. https://ew.com/tv/netflix-series-another-life-is-hosting-a-battlestar-galactica-reunion-in-season-2/ ↩
Petski, Denise (April 26, 2017). "'Condor' Adds Kate Vernon; Lyndie Greenwood Joins 'Flint'". https://deadline.com/2017/04/condor-kate-vernon-lyndie-greenwood-flint-1202077798/ ↩
Zach Farnum (June 16, 2017). "Chuck Negron Releases New Album, Negron Generations, June 30, Features Unreleased Three Dog Night Tracks". 117 Entertainment Group. http://117group.com/chuck-negron-negron-generations/ ↩
Lynch, Lorrie (March 15, 2009). "Who's News". The Albany Herald. Retrieved December 7, 2023 – via Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=6S5EAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Ellen+Tigh%22&pg=PA30&article_id=3357,1746857 ↩