CELEBRITIES
MOVIES
TRAILERS
TV
PHOTOS
DVD
FANS
Get Movie Showtimes
Select a Movie
Select a Movie
Now Playing
2012
(PG-13)
A Single Man
(R)
Armored
(PG-13)
Avatar
(PG-13)
Brothers
(R)
Did You Hear About the Morgans?
(PG-13)
Disney's A Christmas Carol
(PG)
Everybody's Fine
(PG-13)
Fantastic Mr. Fox
(PG)
Invictus
(PG-13)
Lovely Bones, The
(PG-13)
Me & Orson Welles
(PG-13)
Messenger, The
(R)
New Moon
(PG-13)
Nine
(PG-13)
Ninja Assassin
(R)
Old Dogs
(PG)
Pirate Radio
(R)
Planet 51
(PG)
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
(R)
Princess and the Frog, The
(G)
Road, The
(R)
Up in the Air
(R)
Go to
More Movies
OR
Find Theaters
Search
Login
Register
Kathleen Key
MAIN
PHOTOS
VIDEOS
NEWS
CREDITS
BIOGRAPHY
AWARDS
FANSITES
FORUM
Recommend
(0)
•
Comments
(0)
BIRTHDAY
January 01, 1902
Buffalo, NY
DIED
January 01, 1954
RECENT CREDITS
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
(FILM)
Jan. 1, 1926
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
(FILM)
Mar. 6, 1921
View all
Kathleen Key Credits
BIOGRAPHY
A distant relative, her publicity insisted, of Francis Scott Key, dark-haired, exotic-looking Kathleen Key (née Lanahan) memorably played Tirzah to Ramon Novarro's Ben-Hur in the gigantic 1925 MGM production. Having....
Expand Full Bio
A distant relative, her publicity insisted, of Francis Scott Key, dark-haired, exotic-looking Kathleen Key (née Lanahan) memorably played Tirzah to Ramon Novarro's Ben-Hur in the gigantic 1925 MGM production. Having made her screen debut in, of all places, Australia, Key was picked by writer/producer/director Ferdiand Pinney Earle to play opposite a very young Novarro in a reportedly dazzling and imaginative screen adaptation of The Rubaiat of Omar Khayyam, which sat on a shelf for four years before enjoying a brief release in 1925 due to Novarro's newfound celebrity. (Sadly, the potentially interesting film, re-titled A Lover's Oath, apparently no longer exists.) Key was voted a 1923 Wampas Baby Star and went on to grace such popular films as the still extant The Sea Hawk and Revelation (both 1924), appearing as the Madonna in the latter. Ben-Hur should have made her a major star, but a highly public battle with comedian Buster Keaton -- he claimed she vandalized his dressing room after being refused a monetary loan -- virtually blacklisted her. Key played very minor roles in a couple of sound films, including a dance hall girl in Mae West's Klondike Annie (1936), but proved unable to pay a fine due to destitution when arrested for drunk driving in 1941. The former Wampas Baby spent her final years at the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA.
~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Collapse Full Bio
- Portions of Content Provided by
Rovi Data Solutions
© 2009 Rovi Data Solutions, Inc.
Comments
Name:
*
Displayed next to your comments.
E-mail:
*
Not displayed publicly.
Post as a guest
OR
login to track your comments using
Login
|
Add a Comment (Max 1000 characters):
*
Post this comment to Facebook too
*
Indicates Mandatory
Recently Worked With...
Ferdinand P. Earle
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Released: Jan. 1, 1926
Claire de Lorez
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Released: Mar. 6, 1921
Collapse
Fan Sites
Kathleen Key Fansites
No fan sites available. Create the first!
Are you the #1 Kathleen Key Fan? Sign Up To Create A Website Here.
Go
Build a Fan Site
Top 5 Celebrities
Michael Jackson
August 29, 1958
Gary, IN
Jenna Jameson
N/A
Angelina Jolie
June 04, 1975
Los Angeles, CA
Megan Fox
May 16, 1986
Tennessee
Robert Pattinson
May 13, 1986
London, England
Go to
Top 100 Celebs
Sponsored Links
Buy A Link Here