Orange Is The New Black and Seinfeld actress, Kathyn Kates has died at age of 73 following a battle with cancer.
Her representatives at Headline Talent Agency confirmed the ‘incredibly brave and wise’ star died in Florida on Saturday January 22, in a statement provided to Deadline.
The statement read: ‘Kathryn has been our client for many years, and we have grown much closer to her in this last year since she knew of her cancer returning.
‘She was always incredibly brave and wise and approached every role with the greatest of passion. She will be greatly missed,’ they concluded.
Kates landed highly visible television roles in the mid-’90s, notably appearing as a counterwoman on two of the most memorable episodes of Seinfeld — “The Dinner Party” (or the Babka episode) in 1994 and “The [Marble] Rye” episode two years later in 1996.
Other credits on Kates’ screen resume include Matlock, Judging Amy, Lizzie McGuire, and Caroline in the City, before she landed recurring roles in hit shows Orange Is the New Black, Law & Order: SVU, and the Jennifer Lopez-starring Shades of Blue.
More recently, Kates appeared in last year’s short film Welcome to Sarajevo, and portrayed Angie DeCarlo in The Sopranos prequel movie The Many Saints of Newark. She had recently completed acting in a new project, titled Maybe There’s a Tree.
She is survived by her sister Mallory and brother Joshua.