Kate Vernon was born in Canada to character actor John Vernon and former actress and model Nancy West. Her family later moved to California when Kate was a little girl. Her sister is singer Nan Vernon. Kate was interested in being an architect when she finished high school, but she 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 landed parts in her early twenties, getting lots of work in television and film in the 80s. Her first feature film was a film called Alphabet City (1984), starring Vincent Spano, followed by Roadhouse 66 (1984). She then landed a role on the very popular 80s soap opera, "Falcon Crest" (1981) playing cutie pie "Lorraine Prescott". Soon after that, many other TV and film roles followed including: Pretty in Pink (1986) where she played the bitchy blonde, "Benny", and then Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992), where she locked lips with Denzel Washington.