Kathleen Key

Person

Kathleen Key

Acting April 1, 1903

Buffalo, New York, USA

From Wikipedia: Kathleen Key (April 1, 1903 – December 22, 1954) was an American actress who achieved a brief period of fame during the silent era. She is best remembered for pla…

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From Wikipedia: Kathleen Key (April 1, 1903 – December 22, 1954) was an American actress who achieved a brief period of fame during the silent era. She is best remembered for playing Tirzah in the 1925 film Ben-Hur. Key was the great-great granddaughter of Francis Scott Key, composer of "The Star Spangled Banner", and a distant cousin of author F. Scott Fitzgerald. Born Kitty Lanahan in Buffalo, New York, she debuted in films in 1920 in the film The Jackeroo of Coolabong, playing a lead role. From that point on to the end of the 1920s, Kathleen Key, sometimes credited as Kathleen Keys, starred in several films, but never really reached stardom, and was never given much credit for the roles she had, although there were some exceptions. In the early '20s, Key had a well-known love affair with silent-film actor Buster Keaton, who was married at the time. As told in Keaton's biography, the actor attempted to call off the relationship, but Key flew into a jealous rage and ransacked his MGM dressing room, which caused her to be virtually blacklisted afterward by the movie industry. It is also stated that Keaton refused to give Key a monetary loan. A telegram, sent by one of Keaton's friends who had heard about the argument, comically read: "Congratulations. Hear you are off Key." After her retirement in 1936, Keys spent the rest of her days in moderate comfort at the Motion Picture Country House in Woodland Hills, California, where she died at the age of 51 in 1954. Her interment was located at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery.

Filmography

Movies and shows, newest first

  1. 1936
  2. 1935
    Thunder in the Night

    Movie Party Guest

  3. 1930
  4. 1929
    The Phantom of the North

    Movie Colette

  5. 1928
    Golf Widows

    Movie Ethel Dixon

  6. 1927
    Irish Hearts

    Movie Clarice

  7. 1927
    Hey! Hey! Cowboy

    Movie Emily Decker

  8. 1926
    The Desert's Toll

    Movie Muriel Cooper

  9. 1926
    The Flaming Frontier

    Movie Lucretia

  10. 1926
    Money Talks

    Movie Vamp

  11. 1926
    Under Western Skies

    Movie Milly Lewis

  12. 1925
  13. 1925
    The Big Parade

    Movie Miss Apperson (uncredited)

  14. 1925
    A Lover's Oath

    Movie Sherin

  15. 1925
    1925 Studio Tour

    Movie Self

  16. 1924
    Revelation

    Movie Madonna

More credits
  1. 1924
    The Sea Hawk

    Movie Andalusian Slave Girl

  2. 1924
    The Trouble Shooter

    Movie Nancy Brewster

  3. 1923
    The Man from Brodney's

    Movie Neenah

  4. 1923
    Reno

    Movie Yvette - The Governess

  5. 1923
    North of Hudson Bay

    Movie Estelle MacDonald

  6. 1923
    The Rendezvous

    Movie Varvara

  7. 1923
    Hell's Hole

    Movie Mabel Grant

  8. 1922
    Bells of San Juan

    Movie Florrie Engel

  9. 1922
    West of Chicago

    Movie Señoria Gonzales

  10. 1922
  11. 1921
    The Fighting Breed

    Movie Enid MacDonald (as Ethel Payton)

  12. 1921
    The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

    Movie Georgette (uncredited)

  13. 1920
    The Rookie's Return

    Movie Gloria

  14. 1920
    The Jackeroo of Coolabong

    Movie Edith MacDonald