Matinee Classics - Cathy O'Donnell Biography & Filmography

Cathy O'Donnell ACTOR

CATHY O'DONNELL BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Cathy O'Donnell was born on July 6th, 1923 in Siluria, Alabama with the birth name Ann Steely. Her parents divorced when she was a child and she spent 12 years living in Alabama before relocating to Oklahoma City. After graduating from high school in Oklahoma City she found part time work hoping to save up enough money to travel to Hollywood.

From a young age she had her goals set on a career as an actress and luckily she was given the chance when she received an offer for a contract under Samuel Goldwyn. She also enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts to work on her skills and soon she was appearing on such films as, "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) starring Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Virginia Mayo, Myrna Loy and Teresa Wright, "They Live By Night" (1949) starring with Farley Granger, Jay C. Flippen and Howard Da Silva, "Side Street" (1950) starring alongside Farley Granger, James Craig, Jean Hagen and Paul Kelly and "The Man From Laramie" (1955) starring James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp, Alex Nicol, Wallace Ford, Jack Elam and James Millican.

As her career was progressing well, she made a mistake in the industry when she married a man by the name of Robert Wyler who was the older brother of director, William Wyler. Apparently, Wyler and Goldwyn did not get along and therefore, Goldwyn cancelled O'Donnell's contract and from that point on, no one in Hollywood would offer her another contract.

She began doing freelance work and still added such film roles to her resume as, "Detective Story" (1951) starring Kirk Douglas, William Bendix and Eleanor Parker, "The Woman's Angle" (1952) sharring top billing with Edward Underdown and Lois Maxwell, "Mad at the World" (1955) co-starring Frank Lovejoy and Keefe Brasselle and "The Deerslayer" (1957) starring Lex Barker, Rita Moreno and Forrest Tucker. Her final film role was in "Ben-Hur" (1959) starring Charlton Heston and Stephen Boyd and an all star cast, where she played the title character's sister, Tirzah.

In addition to film roles she also appeared on such television series as, "Lights Out", "Climax!", "Best of Broadway", "The Californians", "Man Without a Gun", "The Detectives", "Tate", "Perry Mason" and her most recent appearances were on the series, "Sugarfoot" and "Bonanza".

Cathy O'Donnell remained married to Wyler but never had any children and after battling cancer for many years, O'Donnell passed away at the age of forty six, on April 11th, 1970 in Los Angeles, California.

Filmography