poster movie

Kathleen Key

1903-04-01

The Biography

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.

Kathleen Key in

Movies

poster movie

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

7.357 average rating
poster movie

The Big Parade

7.558 average rating
poster movie

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

6.8 average rating
poster movie

Reno

0 average rating
poster movie

Klondike Annie

6.5 average rating
poster movie

Revelation

0 average rating
poster movie

Irish Hearts

0 average rating
poster movie

The Sea Hawk

6.5 average rating
poster movie

1925 Studio Tour

6.2 average rating
poster movie

Hey! Hey! Cowboy

0 average rating
poster movie

Money Talks

0 average rating
poster movie

Under Western Skies

0 average rating
poster movie

The Phantom of the North

0 average rating
poster movie

Hell's Hole

0 average rating
poster movie

North of Hudson Bay

5.5 average rating
poster movie

West of Chicago

0 average rating
poster movie

Thunder in the Night

5.5 average rating
poster movie

The Flaming Frontier

6 average rating
poster movie

A Lover's Oath

0 average rating
poster movie

The Desert's Toll

0 average rating