Kathleen Key
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.
Early life and career
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 1921 she played her grandmother in the short film "The Story of the Star Spangled Banner". In 1922, she was featured in Omar Khayyam (which was not released until 1925 as A Lover's Oath) and played a vampire in Where's My Wandering Boy Tonight. The same year she signed to play with Charles Buck Jones in Vamoos for Fox Film. In this role she wore the dress once worn by Sara Sothern in the stage production of Smilin' Through at the Majestic Theater in Los Angeles, California. Key spent a year in Australia as a leading woman in productions of Snow Baker around this time. Prior to making Vamoos, Kathleen starred with John Gilbert in St. Elmo, also for Fox. She was cast as an innocent young thing rather than playing her frequent vampire part. In 1923, as her career slowly progressed, she was selected one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars. In 1929, Key appeared in The Phantom of the North, which appeared to be her last film. However, she made three, very small and uncredited roles in 1930, 1935, and 1936, as a dance hall girl in Klondike Annie. After these minuscule appearances, Key retired from film altogether.
Key, Kathleen Filmography
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1936, role: actress , character name: Dance Hall Girl
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1936, role: actress , character name: Bit Role
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1935, role: actress , character name: Guest
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1930, role: actress
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1929, role: actress , character name: Colette
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1928, role: actress , character name: Ethel Dixon
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1928, role: actress , character name: The Wife
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1927, role: actress , character name: Emily Decker
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1927, role: actress , character name: Clarice
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1926, role: actress , character name: Louise
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1926, role: actress , character name: Vamp
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1926, role: actress , character name: Milly Leewis
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1926, role: actress , character name: Muriel Cooper
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1926, role: actress , character name: Lucretia
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1925, role: actress , character name: Herself
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1925, role: actress , character name: Sherin
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1925, role: actress , character name: Tirzah
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1925, role: actress , character name: Miss Apperson
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1924, role: actress , character name: Andalusian Slave Girl
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1924, role: actress , character name: Madonna
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1924, role: actress , character name: Nancy Brewster
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1923, role: actress , character name: Neenah
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1923, role: actress , character name: Varvara
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1923, role: actress , character name: Estelle McDonald
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1923, role: actress , character name: Mabel Grant
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1923, role: actress , character name: Yvette, the governess
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1922, role: actress , character name: Veronica Tyler
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1922, role: actress , character name: Florrie Engel
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1922, role: actress , character name: Señoria Gonzales
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1922, role: actress
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1921, role: actress , character name: Enid MacDonald
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1921, role: actress , character name: Georgette
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1920, role: actress , character name: Gloria
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1920, role: actress , character name: Edith MacDonald
