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IMDbPro

Katherine DeMille(1911-1995)

  • Actress
  • Script and Continuity Department
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Katherine DeMille
A dark, exotic beauty, Katherine DeMille was a fascinating screen presence in the 1930s and 1940s. She was born in Canada to a Scottish schoolteacher, Edward Gabriel Lester, and his Italian-Swiss wife, Cecile Bianca Bertha (Colani) Lester. Her father was killed in France during World War I, and her mother, who was terminally ill, traveled to California to find Katherine's paternal grandparents and leave her with them. Mrs. Lester died before she could contact her in-laws and Katherine was placed in a Los Angeles orphanage. Constance Adams, the wife of Hollywood's top filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille, was a director of the orphanage. The DeMilles were moved by Katherine's misfortune and decided to adopt her. She became a member of a family that also included the DeMilles' only natural child, Cecilia de Mille; another adopted child, John de Mille; and Richard de Mille, who was actually DeMille's nephew.

Katherine was educated at the Hollywood School for Girls and the Santa Barbara School for Girls. She loved acting in school plays and eventually found work as a movie extra, using the stage name Kay Marsh. DeMille, aware of his daughter's dream of becoming a star, hired her as a script supervisor for his film Four Frightened People (1934) and permitted her to visit the sets of his films and watch his editing process. She secretly auditioned for the role of Pancho Villa's wife, Rosita Morales, in the MGM production Viva Villa! (1934), starring Wallace Beery in the title role. She won the role and impressed the critics with her performance and beauty. Her portrayal of a Mexican maid in The Trumpet Blows (1934) earned her a contract with Paramount Pictures, and she was cast as the villain in Mae West's Belle of the Nineties (1934). Her ability to succeed in films on her own helped her gain her father's admiration as well as a featured role in his next epic, The Crusades (1935). She played Alice, Princess of France, and competed with Loretta Young's Berengaria for the love (and title as consort) of Richard the Lionheart (Henry Wilcoxon). The critics appreciated Katherine's talent and appearance in the lavish DeMille production. Her career was ascending.

After her excellent work in the prestigious DeMille picture, Katherine was finally elevated to leading lady status. Paramount starred her in Drift Fence (1936) and Sky Parade (1936). She was also loaned out to MGM for an uncredited appearance as Romeo's first love, Rosaline, in Romeo and Juliet (1936). 20th Century-Fox cast her in a supporting role in the Barbara Stanwyck-Joel McCrea starrer Banjo on My Knee (1936) and gave her second billing in Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937). Katherine fell in love with Mexican actor Anthony Quinn and married him in 1937. She was billed third in The Californian (1937) and appeared in Love Under Fire (1937), a Spanish Civil War drama. At Columbia Pictures, she was billed second in the Jack Holt vehicle Under Suspicion (1937). This was followed by a small role in another Spanish Civil War drama, Blockade (1938), and a leading lady role in another Jack Holt vehicle, Trapped in the Sky (1939). Unfortunately, the big studios failed to showcase her talent in notable productions. Her next roles were featured in B movies: In Old Caliente (1939), Isle of Destiny (1940), Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940), and Dark Streets of Cairo (1940). She returned to Paramount for a role in the Technicolor film Aloma of the South Seas (1941).

The Quinns had five children. She abandoned her film career after the tragic death of their firstborn, Christopher, in 1941. She made a comeback with a leading role in Black Gold (1947), co-starring her husband, and a supporting role as a Native American woman in her father's Unconquered (1947). She also starred in the film noir The Judge (1949). The Quinns divorced in 1965, and Katherine later moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she died of Alzheimer's disease in 1995.
BornJune 29, 1911
DiedApril 27, 1995(83)
BornJune 29, 1911
DiedApril 27, 1995(83)
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Photos57

Boris Karloff and Katherine DeMille in The Black Room (1935)
Boris Karloff, Katherine DeMille, Marian Marsh, and Von the Dog in The Black Room (1935)
Buster Crabbe, Katherine DeMille, and Tom Keene in Drift Fence (1936)
Katherine DeMille in Call of the Wild (1935)
Katherine DeMille and LeRoy Mason in Call of the Wild (1935)
Katherine DeMille in The Black Room (1935)
Katherine DeMille and Phillip Reed in Aloma of the South Seas (1941)
Boris Karloff and Katherine DeMille in The Black Room (1935)
Katherine DeMille and Milburn Stone in The Judge (1949)
Katherine DeMille, Milburn Stone, and Stanley Waxman in The Judge (1949)
Boris Karloff, Katherine DeMille, and Von the Dog in The Black Room (1935)
Katherine DeMille and Stanley Waxman in The Judge (1949)

Known for

Anthony Quinn, Katherine DeMille, Elyse Knox, and 'Ducky' Louie in Black Gold (1947)
Black Gold
6.1
  • Sarah Eagle
  • 1947
Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard in Unconquered (1947)
Unconquered
6.8
  • Hannah
  • 1947
Paul Guilfoyle, Katherine DeMille, Milburn Stone, and Stanley Waxman in The Judge (1949)
The Judge
6.0
  • Lucille Strang
  • 1949
Boris Karloff, Katherine DeMille, and Marian Marsh in The Black Room (1935)
The Black Room
6.9
  • Mashka(as Katherine de Mille)
  • 1935

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • Man from Del Rio (1956)
    Man from Del Rio
    • (uncredited)
  • Paul Guilfoyle, Katherine DeMille, Milburn Stone, and Stanley Waxman in The Judge (1949)
    The Judge
  • Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard in Unconquered (1947)
    Unconquered
  • Anthony Quinn, Katherine DeMille, Elyse Knox, and 'Ducky' Louie in Black Gold (1947)
    Black Gold
  • Jon Hall, Dorothy Lamour, and Phillip Reed in Aloma of the South Seas (1941)
    Aloma of the South Seas
    • (as Katherine deMille)
  • Ralph Byrd, Katherine DeMille, Sigrid Gurie, Rod La Rocque, Eddie Quillan, and George Zucco in Dark Streets of Cairo (1940)
    Dark Streets of Cairo
  • Ralph Bellamy, James Burke, Charley Grapewin, and Margaret Lindsay in Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940)
    Ellery Queen, Master Detective
  • Katherine DeMille, Wallace Ford, William Gargan, June Lang, and Gilbert Roland in Isle of Destiny (1940)
    Isle of Destiny
  • Roy Rogers, George 'Gabby' Hayes, and Lynne Roberts in In Old Caliente (1939)
    In Old Caliente
  • Katherine DeMille and Jack Holt in Trapped in the Sky (1939)
    Trapped in the Sky
  • Henry Fonda, Leo Carrillo, and Madeleine Carroll in Blockade (1938)
    Blockade
  • Katherine DeMille and Jack Holt in Under Suspicion (1937)
    Under Suspicion
  • Don Ameche, John Carradine, Walter Catlett, and Loretta Young in Love Under Fire (1937)
    Love Under Fire
    • (as Katherine De Mille)
  • Ricardo Cortez in The Californian (1937)
    The Californian
  • Katherine DeMille, C. Henry Gordon, Warner Oland, and Andrew Tombes in Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)
    Charlie Chan at the Olympics

Script and Continuity Department

  • Claudette Colbert and William Gargan in Four Frightened People (1934)
    Four Frightened People
    • (uncredited)

Personal details

Edit
    • June 29, 1911
    • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    • April 27, 1995
    • Tucson, Arizona, USA(Alzheimer's disease)
    • Anthony QuinnOctober 3, 1937 - January 21, 1965 (divorced, 5 children)
    • Constance Adams(Adoptive Parent)
  • Publicity listings
    • 4 Articles
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    One son drowned at 3 in W.C. Fields pool.
  • Quotes
    It is only natural that I should have turned to pictures. Raised in a family that revolves around the picture business, and where, when reading newspapers, each member invariably jumps on the most dramatic incidents and reads them aloud, well, what else could I do?

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