fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Cathy O'Donnell (born Ann Steely, July 6, 1923 – April 11, 1970) was an American actress who appeared in The Best Years of Our Lives, Ben-Hur, and films noir such as Detective Story and They Live by Night.[1]

Cathy O'Donnell
O'Donnell in 1959
Born	Ann Steely (1923-07-06)July 6, 1923 Siluria, Alabama, U.S.
Died	April 11, 1970(1970-04-11) (aged 46) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Alma mater	Oklahoma City University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1945–1964
Spouse	Robert Wyler ​ (m. 1948)​

Early life

O'Donnell was born Ann Steely in Siluria, Alabama. Her father, Grady Steely, was a school teacher who also owned a local movie theater. At age 7, her family moved to Greensboro, Alabama.[2] At age 12 they moved to Oklahoma City, where she attended Harding Junior High School and Classen High School. She also worked in a U.S. Army induction center as a stenographer. She left that job to study acting at Oklahoma City University,[1] after watching the film Wuthering Heights, and saving money for a two-week trip to Hollywood, where she hoped to begin a movie career.[3] She told a Boston Globe reporter in 1946 that she first became interested in acting after seeing Janet Gaynor in A Star Is Born at age 14, and that she played Juliet in a college production of Romeo and Juliet.[4]

During her brief trip to Hollywood, she was spotted at a drugstore by a man who turned out to be an agent of Samuel Goldwyn. Although a screen test indicated a thick Southern accent, Goldwyn was impressed with her appearance and put her under contract. He sent her for acting and diction lessons, and had her cast in local plays, including a Pasadena Playhouse dramatization of Little Women.[3] She later changed her name to Cathy, which was the name of the female protagonist in Wuthering Heights. She then changed her last name to O'Donnell because it was recommended by Goldwyn's wife, who claimed that audiences loved actors and actresses with Irish last names.^{[citation needed]}

Career

O'Donnell appeared on stage in Boston in Life with Father in 1944,[4] and made her film début in an uncredited role as an extra in Wonder Man (1945).

Her first major film role was in 1946's highly acclaimed The Best Years of Our Lives,[5] playing Wilma Cameron, the high-school sweetheart of Navy veteran Homer Parrish. Homer was played by real-life World War II veteran and double amputee Harold Russell.

O'Donnell was loaned to RKO for They Live by Night (1948), one of her more memorable films. Farley Granger played her love interest. The film is widely considered a classic of the film noir genre, and is on The Guardian's list of the top 10 noir films.[6] The two actors were later re-teamed for Side Street (1950).

Later she starred in The Miniver Story (also 1950), as Judy Miniver and had a large supporting role in Detective Story (1951) with Kirk Douglas. She appeared as Barbara Waggoman, the love interest of James Stewart's character in the western The Man from Laramie (1955). Her final film role, and perhaps her most famous part, was in Ben-Hur (1959) playing the part of Tirzah, the sister to Judah Ben-Hur.

In the 1960s she appeared in TV shows such as Perry Mason, The Rebel and Man Without a Gun. Her last screen appearance was in 1964 in an episode of Bonanza.[1]

Personal life and death

In 1946, O'Donnell met Robert Wyler, the older brother of film director William Wyler, when the younger Wyler was directing The Best Years of Our Lives, in which O'Donnell co-starred. On April 11, 1948, 24-year-old O'Donnell and 47-year-old Robert were married.

On April 11, 1970, her 22nd wedding anniversary, O'Donnell died after a long battle with cancer.[1]

She is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.[7]

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Director	Role	Notes
1945	Wonder Man	H. Bruce Humberstone	Nightclub Extra	Uncredited
1946	The Best Years of Our Lives	William Wyler	Wilma Cameron
1947	Bury Me Dead	Bernard Vorhaus	Rusty
1948	The Amazing Mr. X	Bernard Vorhaus	Janet Burke
1948	They Live by Night	Nicholas Ray	Catherine "Keechie" Mobley
1950	Side Street	Anthony Mann	Ellen Norson
1950	The Miniver Story	H.C. Potter	Judy Miniver
1951	Never Trust a Gambler	Ralph Murphy	Virginia Merrill
1951	Detective Story	William Wyler	Susan Carmichael
1952	The Woman's Angle	Leslie Arliss	Nina Van Rhyne
1954	Eight O'Clock Walk	Lance Comfort	Jill Manning
1954	Loves of Three Queens	Edgar G. Ulmer	Enone	segment "The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships"
1955	Mad at the World	Harry Essex	Anne Bennett
1955	The Man from Laramie	Anthony Mann	Barbara Waggoman
1957	The Deerslayer	Kurt Neumann	Judith Hutter
1957	The Story of Mankind	Irwin Allen	Early Christian Woman
1958	My World Dies Screaming	Harold Daniels	Sheila Wayne Tierney	retitled Terror in the Haunted House
1959	Ben-Hur	William Wyler	Tirzah

Television

Year	Show	Episode	Role	Notes
1951	Lights Out	To See Ourselves
1952	Orient Express	13th Spy	Francine Gilman
1954	The Philip Morris Playhouse	Up for Parole
1954	Center Stage	Chivalry at Howling Creek
1955	The Best of Broadway	The Best of Broadway	Amy Fisher
1955	Climax!	Flight 951	Mona Herbert
1956	Matinee Theater	Greybeards and Witches	Velna
1958	Zane Grey Theater	Sundown at Bitter Creek	Jennie Parsons
1958	The Californians	Skeleton in the Closet	Grace Adams
1959	Man Without a Gun	Accused
1960	The Detectives	The Trap	Laurie Dolan
1960	The Rebel	You Steal My Eyes	Prudence Gant
1960	Tate	Quiet After the Storm	Amy
1960	The Rebel	The Hope Chest	Felicity Bowman
1961	Perry Mason	The Case of the Fickle Fortune	Norma Brooks
1961	Sugarfoot	Angel	Angel
1964	Bonanza	The Lila Conrad Story	Sarah Knowles

References

External links

• Cathy O'Donnell at IMDb
• Cathy O'Donnell at AllMovie
• Cathy O'Donnell at Find a Grave
• Cathy O'Donnell at Reel Classics

На других языках

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[de] Cathy O’Donnell

Cathy O’Donnell (Eigentlich: Ann Steely) (* 6. Juli 1923 in Siluria, Alabama; † 11. April 1970 in Los Angeles) war eine US-amerikanische Filmschauspielerin.

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- [en] Cathy O'Donnell

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[es] Cathy O'Donnell

Cathy O'Donnell, nacida Ann Steely (Siluria, 6 de julio de 1923 - Los Ángeles, 11 de abril de 1970), fue una actriz estadounidense.

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[ru] Кэти О’Доннелл

Кэ́ти О’До́ннелл (англ. Cathy O'Donnell, урожд. Энн Сти́ли (англ. Ann Steely); 6 июля 1923 (1923-07-06) — 11 апреля 1970) — американская актриса, пик популярности которой пришёлся на конец 1940-х и 1950-е годы. Известна образами романтических преданных героинь.

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