Cathy O'Donnell

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Cathy O'Donnell
Cathy O'Donnell 1959.JPG
O'Donnell in 1959
Born
Ann Steely

(1923-07-06)July 6, 1923
Siluria, Alabama, U.S.
DiedApril 11, 1970(1970-04-11) (aged 46)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Alma materOklahoma City University
OccupationActress
Years active1945–1964
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 1948)​

Cathy O'Donnell (born Ann Steely, July 6, 1923 – April 11, 1970) was an American actress, best remembered for her roles in The Best Years of Our Lives, Ben-Hur, and film noirs.

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.[1] At age 12 they moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 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,[2] 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 the 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.

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).

O'Donnell's 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.

Harold Russell and Cathy O'Donnell in The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946

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 O'Donnell starred in The Miniver Story (also 1950), as Judy Miniver and had a supporting role in Detective Story (1951). 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). She played the part of Tirzah, the sister to Judah Ben-Hur.

In the 1960s, she appeared in TV shows, appearing on shows such as Perry Mason, The Rebel and Man Without a Gun. Her last screen appearance was in 1964 in an episode of Bonanza.[2]

Personal life and death[]

Then 24-year-old O'Donnell married 47-year-old Robert Wyler, the elder brother of film director William Wyler, on April 11, 1948. She had met her husband two years earlier while being directed by his brother in The Best Years of Our Lives. He also directed her in Detective Story (co-written by Robert Wyler) and Ben-Hur. She died on her 22nd wedding anniversary, April 11, 1970, of a cancer-related cerebral hemorrhage following a long illness.[2] Her husband died nine months later. The couple had no children. 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[]

  1. ^ Boultinghouse, Vivian (February 27, 1955). "Cathy From Alabama!". The Birmingham News. pp. E1. Retrieved April 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Story, David M. (June 2012). "Dream a Little Dream". 405 magazine. Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Hare, William (2004). L.A. Noir: Nine Dark Visions of the City of Angels. McFarland. pp. 78–79. ISBN 9780786437405.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Adams, Marjory (December 17, 1946). "Cathy O'Donnell Believed, at 14, She'd Be a Movie Star, and She Is". The Boston Globe. p. 10. Retrieved April 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Nott, Robert (December 21, 2007). "Steely magnolia". The Santa Fe New Mexican. New Mexico, Santa Fe. p. 50. Retrieved December 4, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  6. ^ "Top 10 film noir". The Guardian. November 29, 2013.
  7. ^ Resting Places

External links[]

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