Kathleen Key

Born: 1903-04-01

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.


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Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

as Tirzah
Released: 1925-12-25

Erstwhile childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with...

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The Big Parade

as Miss Apperson (uncredited)
Released: 1925-11-05

The story of an idle rich boy who joins the US Army's Rainbow Division and is sent to France to...

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The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

as Georgette (uncredited)
Released: 1921-03-06

Set in the years before and during World War I, this epic tale tells the story of a rich...

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Money Talks

as Vamp
Released: 1926-05-10

Sam Starling (Owen Moore) is deep in debt, his wife Phoebe (Claire Windsor) is leaving him and...

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Thunder in the Night

as Party Guest
Released: 1935-09-16

Officer Karl Torok's best friend, Count Alvinczy, is elected president of the Hungarian cabinet....

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Hell's Hole

as Mabel Grant
Released: 1923-09-23

Cowboy Tod Musgrave and his pal Del Hawkins steal a ride on a train after being kicked out of a...

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Revelation

as Madonna
Released: 1924-06-23

Paul Granville becomes a famous painter for his portraits of great women as modeled by the...

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Klondike Annie

as uncredited
Released: 1936-02-21

A San Francisco singer flees Chinatown on murder charges and poses as a missionary in Alaska.

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Reno

as Yvette - The Governess
Released: 1923-12-09

After obtaining a divorce from his second wife Emily, Roy Tappan marries Dora Carson, who has...

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The Desert's Toll

as Muriel Cooper
Released: 1926-11-14

Frank Darwin needs to convince Muriel he didn't kill her Father, as claimed by Jasper and Oneta.

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Irish Hearts

as Clarice
Released: 1927-05-21

Sheila, a feisty Irish girl, loves Emmett, a somewhat shady Irish boy. When Emmett goes to...

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The Flaming Frontier

as Lucretia
Released: 1926-09-11

Bob Langdon, a young Pony Express rider, is given an appointment to West Point, but is forced to...

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The Rookie's Return

as Gloria
Released: 1920-12-26

A young soldier is discharged from the service and has trouble making a living. However, when he...

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A Lover's Oath

as Sherin
Released: 1925-09-29

"The plot introduces Omar as a leader of his people but deals rather with the love of his...

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1925 Studio Tour

as Self
Released: 1925-04-09

A tour of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio in 1925 shows the people who make the movies there, and...

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Under Western Skies

as Milly Lewis
Released: 1926-02-07

Bob Erskine, the son of a wealthy New York banker, falls in love with Ella Parkhurst, the...

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Hey! Hey! Cowboy

as Emily Decker
Released: 1927-04-03

A longstanding friendship between Julius Decker and Joe Billings, neighboring ranchers, is...

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Bells of San Juan

as Florrie Engel
Released: 1922-10-15

Rod Norton is a lawman searching for his father's killer. Norton suspects saloon owner Jim...

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Where's my Wandering Boy Tonight?

as uncredited
Released: 1922-02-05

Garry Beecher, forgetting his mother and sweetheart, Lorna, falls in love with Veronica, a...

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North of Hudson Bay

as Estelle MacDonald
Released: 1923-11-18

On a steamboat heading North, where his brother has struck gold, Mike Dane falls in love with...

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The Sea Hawk

as Andalusian Slave Girl
Released: 1924-06-14

The adventures of Oliver Tressilian, who goes from English gentry to galley slave to captain of...

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West of Chicago

as Señoria Gonzales
Released: 1922-09-03

West of Chicago is a 1922 American silent western film directed by Scott R. Dunlap and starring...

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The Man from Brodney's

as Neenah
Released: 1923-12-16

A drama of the India Seas that has Hollingsworth Chance, a young American, tangled in court...

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The Trouble Shooter

as Nancy Brewster
Released: 1924-05-04

Tom Mix, the most popular screen cowboy of his era, played a lineman for a power company in this...

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