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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.
Birth Name
Kitty Lanahan
Born
Wednesday, 01 April 1903
Died
Wednesday, 22 December 1954
Actress Filmography
Title | Character | Year |
---|
One Rainy Afternoon | Bit Role | 1936 |
Klondike Annie | Dance Hall Girl | 1936 |
Thunder in the Night | Party Guest | 1935 |
Sweeping Against the Winds | 1930 | |
The Phantom of the North | Colette | 1929 |
Golf Widows | Ethel Dixon | 1928 |
Hey! Hey! Cowboy | Emily Decker | 1927 |
The Desert's Toll | Muriel Cooper | 1926 |
College Days | Louise | 1926 |
Money Talks | Vamp | 1926 |
Actress Filmography
Title | Character | Year |
---|
One Rainy Afternoon | Bit Role | 1936 |
Klondike Annie | Dance Hall Girl | 1936 |
Thunder in the Night | Party Guest | 1935 |
Sweeping Against the Winds | 1930 | |
The Phantom of the North | Colette | 1929 |
Golf Widows | Ethel Dixon | 1928 |
Hey! Hey! Cowboy | Emily Decker | 1927 |
The Desert's Toll | Muriel Cooper | 1926 |
College Days | Louise | 1926 |
Money Talks | Vamp | 1926 |
The Flaming Frontier | Lucretia | 1926 |
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ | Tirzah | 1925 |
The Big Parade | Miss Apperson | 1925 |
The Midshipman | Rita | 1925 |
A Lover's Oath | Sherin | 1925 |
1925 Studio Tour | Self | 1925 |
The Sea Hawk | Andalusian Slave Girl | 1924 |
The Man from Brodney's | Neenah | 1923 |
North of Hudson Bay | Estelle McDonald / Estelle MacDonald | 1923 |
Hell's Hole | Mabel Grant | 1923 |
Bells of San Juan | Florrie Engel | 1922 |
West of Chicago | Señoria Gonzales | 1922 |
Where's My Wandering Boy Tonight? | Veronica Tyler | 1922 |
The Fighting Breed | Enid MacDonald / Enid MacDonald (as Ethel Payton) | 1921 |
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | Georgette | 1921 |
The Rookie's Return | Gloria | 1921 |
The Jackeroo of Coolabong | Edith MacDonald | 1920 |