image of Kathleen Key
Birthday: Apr 01, 1903
Place of Birth: Buffalo, New York, USA

Kathleen Key

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
Movie Cast Year
The Big Parade Miss Apperson (uncredited) 1925
Sweeping Against the Winds 1930
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ Tirzah 1925
The Trouble Shooter Nancy Brewster 1924
The Flaming Frontier Lucretia 1926
The Rookie's Return Gloria 1920
Bells of San Juan Florrie Engel 1922
Hell's Hole Mabel Grant 1923
Under Western Skies Milly Lewis 1926
Revelation Madonna 1924
Hey! Hey! Cowboy Emily Decker 1927
Irish Hearts Clarice 1927
The Man from Brodney's Neenah 1923
The Sea Hawk Andalusian Slave Girl 1924
The Phantom of the North Colette 1929
Reno Yvette - The Governess 1923
Where's My Wandering Boy Tonight? 1922
Klondike Annie 1936
North of Hudson Bay Estelle MacDonald 1923
Thunder in the Night Party Guest 1935
1925 Studio Tour Self 1925
A Lover's Oath Sherin 1925
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Georgette (uncredited) 1921
Money Talks Vamp 1926
The Fighting Breed Enid MacDonald (as Ethel Payton) 1921
The Desert's Toll Muriel Cooper 1926
West of Chicago Señoria Gonzales 1922
The Rendezvous Varvara 1923
Series Cast Year
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