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Kathleen Key

Kathleen Key

Born: 1903-04-01 • 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 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
Klondike Annie poster
Klondike Annie
1936
Thunder in the Night poster
Thunder in the Night
1935 • Party Guest
No Image
Sweeping Against the Winds
1930
No Image
The Phantom of the North
1929 • Colette
Golf Widows poster
Golf Widows
1928 • Ethel Dixon
Irish Hearts poster
Irish Hearts
1927 • Clarice
Hey! Hey! Cowboy poster
Hey! Hey! Cowboy
1927 • Emily Decker
The Desert's Toll poster
The Desert's Toll
1926 • Muriel Cooper
The Flaming Frontier poster
The Flaming Frontier
1926 • Lucretia
Money Talks poster
Money Talks
1926 • Vamp
Under Western Skies poster
Under Western Skies
1926 • Milly Lewis
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ poster
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1925 • Tirzah
The Big Parade poster
The Big Parade
1925 • Miss Apperson (uncredited)
A Lover's Oath poster
A Lover's Oath
1925 • Sherin
1925 Studio Tour poster
1925 Studio Tour
1925 • Self
Revelation poster
Revelation
1924 • Madonna
The Sea Hawk poster
The Sea Hawk
1924 • Andalusian Slave Girl
The Trouble Shooter poster
The Trouble Shooter
1924 • Nancy Brewster
The Man from Brodney's poster
The Man from Brodney's
1923 • Neenah
Reno poster
Reno
1923 • Yvette - The Governess
North of Hudson Bay poster
North of Hudson Bay
1923 • Estelle MacDonald
The Rendezvous poster
The Rendezvous
1923 • Varvara
Hell's Hole poster
Hell's Hole
1923 • Mabel Grant
Bells of San Juan poster
Bells of San Juan
1922 • Florrie Engel
West of Chicago poster
West of Chicago
1922 • Señoria Gonzales
Where's My Wandering Boy Tonight? poster
Where's My Wandering Boy Tonight?
1922
No Image
The Fighting Breed
1921 • Enid MacDonald (as Ethel Payton)
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse poster
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
1921 • Georgette (uncredited)
The Rookie's Return poster
The Rookie's Return
1920 • Gloria
The Jackeroo of Coolabong poster
The Jackeroo of Coolabong
1920 • Edith MacDonald