Kathlyn Williams

Kathlyn Williams was born Kathleen Mabel Williams on May 31, 1879 in Butte, Montana, and the only child born to Joseph Edwin "Frank" Williams, a boarding house proprietor, and Mary C. Boe (1846–1908) of Welsh and Norwegian descent. Many biographies state her birth year as 1888; however, she is listed on the 1880 United States Census as being a year old. Williams displayed an early interest in becoming an actress in her youth which lead her to become a member of a community thespian group. She also joined the Woman's Relief Corps that allowed her to showcase her vocal prowess at local recitals. Williams began her career with Selig Polyscope Company in Chicago, Illinois and made her first film in 1908 under the direction of Francis Boggs. By 1910, she was transferred to the company's Los Angeles film studio. Williams played "Cherry Malotte" in the first movie based upon Rex Beach's 1906 novel The Spoilers in 1914, a role portrayed in subsequent versions by Betty Compson (1930), Marlene Dietrich (1942), and Anne Baxter (1955). In 1916, she starred in the thirteen episode adventure film serial, The Adventures of Kathlyn. She was busy throughout the silent film era but age and the advent of talkies saw her make only five sound films, the last in 1935. Kathlyn evolved from a comedian and serial player in silents to portraying character roles in the early 1930s. Williams was married three times. Although many biographies erroneously cite her first husband as being Victor Kainer, he was in fact named Otto H. "Harry" Kainer (1876–1952), who ran an import and export business on Wall Street in New York City. They were wed on October 2, 1903, and their son, Victor Hugo, was born in 1905. They supposedly divorced over Kainer's disapproval of his wife having an acting career, and Williams subsequently obtained a divorce from Kainer in 1909 in Nevada. On March 4, 1913, she married Frank R. Allen, also an actor, but the marriage was a failure from the start and lasted a little over a year. On June 30, 1914, she filed for divorce in Los Angeles and listed desertion as the reason as the failure of their marriage. She later married Paramount Pictures executive Charles Eyton on June 2, 1916, in Riverside, California. The Eytons eventually divorced in 1931. On December 29, 1949, Williams was involved in a deadly automobile accident, which claimed the life of her friend, Mrs. Mary E. Rose, while they were returning home from a social engagement in Las Vegas. As a result of the accident, Williams lost her right leg. On April 8, 1950, Williams sued the estate of Rose for $136,615, citing negligence and claiming that the automobile had inefficient brakes. In June 1951, Williams accepted the offer of $6,500 dollars from the Rose estate. Kathlyn Williams died of a heart attack in Hollywood, California in 1960. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Kathlyn Williams has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7038 Hollywood Blvd. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Known For	Acting
Most Rating	2.933
Birthday	1879-05-30
Place of Birth	Butte, Montana, USA
Also Known As	Kathleen Mabel Williams,

Our Dancing Daughters

The Witch of the Everglades

The Single Standard

The Whispering Chorus

Unholy Love

Daddy Long Legs

Conrad in Quest of His Youth

The Adventures of Kathlyn

Road to Paradise

The World's Applause

Blood Money

Big Timber

Souls for Sale

Wanderer of the Wasteland

A Private Scandal

Rendezvous at Midnight

Forbidden Fruit

Back to the Primitive

The Spanish Dancer

The Rose of Old St. Augustine

The Two Orphans

The Girl at the Cupola

Lost in the Jungle

The Spoilers

Captain Kate

Thor, Lord of the Jungles

Hush

The Wanderer

The Enemy Sex

Her Kingdom of Dreams

Life on the Border

1861

Sally in Our Alley

Morals

Thou Shalt Not

Just a Wife

Chip of the Flying U

Sweet Alyssum

We Americans

A Man's Home

The Leopard's Foundling

The Valiants of Virginia

Wedding Rings

Morals

We Can't Have Everything

The Cost of Hatred

Three Bags of Silver

The Flight of the Crow

Dad's Girls

The Wheels of Justice

In Old California When the Gringos Came

The Man from the East

Thou Shalt Not Covet

The Best People

The Thing We Love

Clarence

Redeeming Love

Locked Doors

A Single Man

Honeymoon Flats

The House of His Master

The Unwelcome Throne

The Two Ordeals

The Royal Slave

A Colonel in Chains

The Garden of Brides

The Cruel Crown

The Spellbound Multitude

The Warrior Maid

The Forged Parchment

The King's Will

Into the Primitive

The Adventures of Kathlyn

The U.P. Trail

Trimmed in Scarlet

Broadway Gold