Cathy O'Donnell

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Cathy O'Donnell
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
​
(m. 1948)​

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]

Early life[edit]

O'Donnell was born Ann Steely in Siluria, Alabama. Her father, Grady Steely, was a schoolteacher and owned a local movie theater. Her family moved to Greensboro, Alabama when she was seven,[2] then to Oklahoma City when she was twelve. There she attended Harding Junior High School and Classen High School. She told a Boston Globe reporter in 1946 that she first became interested in acting at age fourteen after seeing Janet Gaynor in A Star Is Born.[3] After high school she worked in a U.S. Army induction center as a stenographer. She left that job to study acting at Oklahoma City University,[1] where she played Juliet in a college production of Romeo and Juliet.[3] She then saved money for a two-week trip to Hollywood, where she hoped to begin a movie career.

During her brief trip to Hollywood, an agent of Samuel Goldwyn spotted her at a drugstore. Although a screen test revealed her 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, after the female protagonist in Wuthering Heights. She then changed her last name to O'Donnell as recommended by Goldwyn's wife, who claimed that audiences loved actors with Irish last names.[3]

Career[edit]

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

Her first major film role was in 1946's 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). Farley Granger played her love interest. The film is on The Guardian's list of the top 10 noir films.[6] The two actors appeared together again in Side Street (1950).

Later she starred in The Miniver Story (also 1950) as Judy Miniver. She 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 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[edit]

In 1946, while acting in The Best Years of Our Lives, O'Donnell met director William Wyler's older brother Robert Wyler. On April 11, 1948, at age 24, she married 47-year-old Robert.[citation needed]

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

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

Filmography[edit]

Films[edit]

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[edit]

Year Show Episode Role Notes
1951 Lights Out To See Ourselves Season 4 Episode 4
1953 Orient Express 13th Spy Francine Gilman Season 1 Episode 13
1954 The Philip Morris Playhouse Up for Parole Season 1 Episode 19
1954 Orient Express The Human Bond Season ? Episode ?
1954 Center Stage Chivalry at Howling Creek Season 1 Episode 1
1954 The Motorola Television Hour Chivalry at Howling Creek Season 1 Episode 16
1955 The Best of Broadway The Best of Broadway Amy Fisher Season 1 Episode 6
1955 Climax! Flight 951 Mona Herbert Season 1 Episode 22
1956 Matinee Theater Greybeards and Witches Velna Season 1 Episode 130
1958 Zane Grey Theater Sundown at Bitter Creek Jennie Parsons Season 2 Episode 19
1958 The Californians Skeleton in the Closet Grace Adams Season 1 Episode 28
1958 Target Fateful Decision Season 1 Episode 22
1959 Man Without a Gun Accused Season 2 Episode 10
1960 The Detectives The Trap Laurie Dolan Season 1 Episode 17
1960 The Rebel You Steal My Eyes Prudence Gant Season 1 Episode 24
1960 Tate Quiet After the Storm Amy Season 1 Episode 12
1960 The Rebel The Hope Chest Felicity Bowman Season 2 Episode 15
1961 Perry Mason The Case of the Fickle Fortune Norma Brooks Season 4 Episode 15
1961 Sugarfoot Angel Angel Season 4 Episode 7
1964 Bonanza The Lila Conrad Story Sarah Knowles Season 5 Episode 14

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Story, David M. (June 2012). "Dream a Little Dream". The 405. Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  2. ^ Boultinghouse, Vivian (February 27, 1955). "Cathy From Alabama!". The Birmingham News. p. E1. Retrieved April 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d Hare, William (January 24, 2008). L.A. Noir: Nine Dark Visions of the City of Angels. McFarland. pp. 78–79. ISBN 978-0-7864-3740-5.
  4. ^ 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. p. 50. Retrieved December 4, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Top 10 film noir". The Guardian. London. November 29, 2013.
  7. ^ Wilson, Scott (August 19, 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3d ed.). McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-2599-7. Retrieved April 13, 2022.

External links[edit]

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