Biography for
Cathy O'Donnell (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

6 July 1923, Siluria, Alabama, USA

Date of Death

11 April 1970, Los Angeles, California, USA (cerebral hemorrhage brought on by cancer)

Birth Name

Ann Steely

Mini Biography

In Alabama until age 12, Ann Steely attended high school and college in Oklahoma City, then worked as a stenographer to finance a trip to Hollywood, where luck soon favored her with a contract under Samuel Goldwyn. Recognizing her talent and appeal through a thick Southern accent, Goldwyn arranged rigorous voice and theatrical training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and elsewhere, gave her an Irish-sounding stage name and cast her in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). This film's success boded well for Cathy's career, and soon she was starred in the now-classic They Live by Night (1948). However, her rise in films was checked when, at age 23, she married 48-year-old Robert Wyler, older brother of director William Wyler, with whom Goldwyn was feuding. The irate Goldwyn abruptly canceled her contract; thereafter she had no lasting association with any studio or producer. Her most memorable roles of the 1950s were in classic film-noir such as Detective Story (1951), which typifies her sincere, believable performances as a sweet girl-next-door whose radiant inner beauty shone through an exterior not quite fitting the Hollywood glamor mold. Her last film was Ben-Hur (1959), and she worked in TV into 1961. Belying Goldwyn's opinion, her marriage to Wyler proved happy though childless. Her death on their 22nd wedding anniversary followed a long struggle with cancer.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Rod Crawford

Spouse

Robert Wyler

(11 April 1948 - 11 April 1970) (her death)

Trivia

Most sources give her birth year as 1925, but some give 1923.

Cathy's ancestry was Irish.

Her parents separated when she was a child.

Her chief leisure pursuit was writing poetry.

Of Cathy's 17 films (all in starring or featured roles), 7 are film-noir or quasi-film-noir, making her a major contributor to the genre.

One secondary source gives her cause of death as cerebral hemorrhage, but all primary sources indicate cancer.

Sister-in-law of William Wyler, niece-in-law of Carl Laemmle, cousin-in-law of Carl Laemmle Jr.

Aunt of Catherine Wyler and Judy Wyler.

In 1947, she accepted the Oscar for "Best Actor in a Leading Role" on behalf of Fredric March, who was not present at the awards ceremony.

Samuel Goldwyn, who was feuding with director William Wyler after Wyler left the fold, insisted that Cathy divorce her husband Robert Wyler, William's brother. When she refused, she was let go by Goldwyn.

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