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.
Photos
Movies (30)

Klondike Annie
1936

Thunder in the Night
1935 · Party Guest
Sweeping Against the Winds
1930
The Phantom of the North
1929 · Colette

Golf Widows
1928 · Ethel Dixon

Irish Hearts
1927 · Clarice

Hey! Hey! Cowboy
1927 · Emily Decker

The Desert's Toll
1926 · Muriel Cooper

The Flaming Frontier
1926 · Lucretia

Money Talks
1926 · Vamp

Under Western Skies
1926 · Milly Lewis

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1925 · Tirzah

The Big Parade
1925 · Miss Apperson (uncredited)

A Lover's Oath
1925 · Sherin

1925 Studio Tour
1925 · Self

Revelation
1924 · Madonna

The Sea Hawk
1924 · Andalusian Slave Girl

The Trouble Shooter
1924 · Nancy Brewster

The Man from Brodney's
1923 · Neenah

Reno
1923 · Yvette - The Governess

North of Hudson Bay
1923 · Estelle MacDonald

The Rendezvous
1923 · Varvara

Hell's Hole
1923 · Mabel Grant

Bells of San Juan
1922 · Florrie Engel

West of Chicago
1922 · Señoria Gonzales
Where's My Wandering Boy Tonight?
1922
The Fighting Breed
1921 · Enid MacDonald (as Ethel Payton)

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
1921 · Georgette (uncredited)

The Rookie's Return
1920 · Gloria

The Jackeroo of Coolabong
1920 · Edith MacDonald
TV shows (0)
No credits available.

