Kathlyn Williams
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- May 30, 1879
- Died
- September 23, 1960
- Birthplace
- Butte, Montana, USA
Kathlyn Williams was born Kathleen Mabel Williams on May 31, 1879 in Butte, Montana, and the only child born to Joseph Edwin "Frank" Williams, a boarding house proprietor, and Mary C. Boe (1846–1908) of Welsh and Norwegian descent. Many biographies state her birth year as 1888; however, she is listed on the 1880 United States Census as being a year old. Williams displayed an early interest in becoming an actress in her youth which lead her to become a member of a community thespian group. She also joined the Woman's Relief Corps that allowed her to showcase her vocal prowess at local recitals. Williams began her career with Selig Polyscope Company in Chicago, Illinois and made her first film in 1908 under the direction of Francis Boggs. By 1910, she was transferred to the company's Los Angeles film studio. Williams played "Cherry Malotte" in the first movie based upon Rex Beach's 1906 novel The Spoilers in 1914, a role portrayed in subsequent versions by Betty Compson (1930), Marlene Dietrich (1942), and Anne Baxter (1955). In 1916, she starred in the thirteen episode adventure film serial, The Adventures of Kathlyn. She was busy throughout the silent film era but age and the advent of talkies saw her make only five sound films, the last in 1935. Kathlyn evolved from a comedian and serial player in silents to portraying character roles in the early 1930s. Williams was married three times. Although many biographies erroneously cite her first husband as being Victor Kainer, he was in fact named Otto H. "Harry" Kainer (1876–1952), who ran an import and export business on Wall Street in New York City. They were wed on October 2, 1903, and their son, Victor Hugo, was born in 1905. They supposedly divorced over Kainer's disapproval of his wife having an acting career, and Williams subsequently obtained a divorce from Kainer in 1909 in Nevada. On March 4, 1913, she married Frank R. Allen, also an actor, but the marriage was a failure from the start and lasted a little over a year. On June 30, 1914, she filed for divorce in Los Angeles and listed desertion as the reason as the failure of their marriage. She later married Paramount Pictures executive Charles Eyton on June 2, 1916, in Riverside, California. The Eytons eventually divorced in 1931. On December 29, 1949, Williams was involved in a deadly automobile accident, which claimed the life of her friend, Mrs. Mary E. Rose, while they were returning home from a social engagement in Las Vegas. As a result of the accident, Williams lost her right leg. On April 8, 1950, Williams sued the estate of Rose for $136,615, citing negligence and claiming that the automobile had inefficient brakes. In June 1951, Williams accepted the offer of $6,500 dollars from the Rose estate. Kathlyn Williams died of a heart attack in Hollywood, California in 1960. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Kathlyn Williams has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7038 Hollywood Blvd. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Filmography
Rendezvous at Midnight 1935
as Mrs. Arthur Dewey
Blood Money 1933
as Nightclub Woman Wearing Monocle (uncredited)
Unholy Love 1932
as Mrs. Bradford
Daddy Long Legs 1931
as Mrs. Paula Pendleton
Road to Paradise 1930
as Mrs. Wells
Wedding Rings 1929
as Agatha
The Single Standard 1929
as Mrs. Glendenning
- Her Husband's Women
Her Husband's Women 1929
Actor
A Single Man 1929
as Mrs. Cottrell
Our Dancing Daughters 1928
as Ann's Mother
We Americans 1928
as Mrs. Bradleigh
Honeymoon Flats 1928
as Mrs. Garland
Sally in Our Alley 1927
as Mrs. Gordon Mansfield
The Best People 1925
as Mrs. Lenox
The Wanderer 1925
as Huldah
Locked Doors 1925
as Laura Carter
The Painted Flapper 1924
as Isabel Whitney
The City That Never Sleeps 1924
as Mrs. Kendall
The Enemy Sex 1924
as Mrs. Massingale
Wanderer of the Wasteland 1924
as Magdalene Virey
Single Wives 1924
as Dorothy Van Clark
When a Girl Loves 1924
as Helen - Michael's Wife
The Spanish Dancer 1923
as Queen Isabel of Bourbon
Souls for Sale 1923
as Self - Celebrity Actress in Commisary
Trimmed in Scarlet 1923
as Cordelia Ebbing / Madame de laFleur
The World's Applause 1923
as Elsa Townsend
Broadway Gold 1923
as Jean Valjean
Clarence 1922
as Mrs. Wheeler
A Virginia Courtship 1921
as Constance Llewellyn
A Man's Home 1921
as Frances Osborn
Morals 1921
as Judith Mainwaring, Actor
A Private Scandal 1921
as Carol Lawton
Hush 1921
as Isabel Dane
Forbidden Fruit 1921
as Mrs. Mallory
Conrad in Quest of His Youth 1920
as Mrs. Adaile
The U.P. Trail 1920
as "Beauty" Stanton
The Prince Chap 1920
as Alice Travers
Just a Wife 1920
as Eleanor Lathrop
The Tree of Knowledge 1920
as Belle
A Girl Named Mary 1919
as Mrs. Jaffrey
Her Kingdom of Dreams 1919
as Penelope Warren
Her Purchase Price 1919
as Diana Vane
The Better Wife 1919
as Lady Beverly
We Can't Have Everything 1918
as Charity Coe Cheever
The Whispering Chorus 1918
as Jane Tremble
The Thing We Love 1918
as Margaret Kenwood
Lost in Transit 1917
Story
Big Timber 1917
as Stella Benton
The Highway of Hope 1917
as Lonely Lou
The Cost of Hatred 1917
as Elsie Graves / Sarita Graves
Out of the Wreck 1917
as Agnes Aldrich
Redeeming Love 1916
as Naomi Sterling
The Valiants of Virginia 1916
as Shirley Dandridge
Into the Primitive 1916
as Jennie Leslie
Thou Shalt Not Covet 1916
as My Neighbor's Wife
The Adventures of Kathlyn 1916
as Kathlyn Hare
- Sweet Alyssum
Sweet Alyssum 1915
as Daisy Brooks
- The Carpet from Bagdad
The Carpet from Bagdad 1915
as Fortune Chedsoye
Chip of the Flying U 1914
as Della Whitmore - the 'Little Doctor'
The Leopard's Foundling 1914
as Balu, Director, Writer
The King's Will 1914
as Kathlyn Hare
The Forged Parchment 1914
as Kathlyn Hare
The Warrior Maid 1914
as Kathlyn Hare
The Spellbound Multitude 1914
as Kathlyn Hare
The Spoilers 1914
as Cherry Malotte
The Cruel Crown 1914
as Kathlyn Hare
- The Garden of Brides
The Garden of Brides 1914
as Kathlyn Hare
Three Bags of Silver 1914
as Kathlyn Hare
A Colonel in Chains 1914
as Kathlyn Hare
The Royal Slave 1914
as Kathlyn Hare
The Two Ordeals 1914
as Kathlyn Hare
The Adventures of Kathlyn 1913
as Kathlyn Hare
The Unwelcome Throne 1913
as Kathlyn Hare
Thor, Lord of the Jungles 1913
as Gene Brant
The Flight of the Crow 1913
as Edwina Washburn
The House of His Master 1912
as Mrs. Robert Steem
The Girl at the Cupola 1912
as Jessie Wilson
Lost in the Jungle 1911
as Meta Kruga
The Two Orphans 1911
as Henriette
The Wheels of Justice 1911
as Alice Hazen
Dad's Girls 1911
as Rose
Life on the Border 1911
as The Pioneer Wife
Captain Kate 1911
as Captain Kate
The Rose of Old St. Augustine 1911
as Dolores, the Rose of St. Augustine
Back to the Primitive 1911
as Helen Wilton
In Old California When the Gringos Came 1911
Actor
The Witch of the Everglades 1911
as Dora - the Witch
- 1861
1861 1911
Actor
The Man from the East 1911
as Elsie Dean
Thou Shalt Not 1910
Actor
- Gold Is Not All
Gold Is Not All 1910
as Tom's Mistress
Lines of White on a Sullen Sea 1909
as Extra
Credits from TMDB.