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Katherine MacDonald

Katherine MacDonald
Photo: Nelson Evans (1889-1923)

1881 - 1956

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The actress Katherine MacDonald began her film career as a model in New York City where she worked successfully in the 10's.
 
She went to Los Angeles in 1917 where she got a contract by Paramount, but in the next years she normally worked for First National.
 
To her first movies belong "The Spirit of '17" (18), "His Own Home Town" (18), "Shark Monroe" (18), "Battling Jane" (18), "The Squaw Man" (18), "The Woman Thou Gavest Me" (19) and "The Thunderbolt" (19).
 
Her most successful period followed at the beginning of the 20s and she belonged to the best paid actresses of her time with $ 50'000.- per movie.
To her most popular movies of those years belong "The Turning Point" (20), "Notorious Miss Lisle" (20), "Stranger Than Fiction" (21), "The Beautiful Liar" (21), "The Woman's Side" (22), "White Shoulders" (22), "The Woman Conquers" (22) and "The Scarlet Lily" (23).
 
Afterwards her film career came soon to an end. After only two more movies - "The Unnamed Woman" (25) and "Old Loves and New" (26) - she retired from the film business.
 
Katherine MacDonald was not only active as an actress but also belonged to the first women ever who also produced movies.
To these movies belong "The Turning Point" (20), "Notorious Miss Lisle" (20), "Curtain" (20), "Trust Your Wife" (21) and "Stranger Than Fiction" (21). In all these movies she also took part as an actress.
 
The media liked it to launch into the private life of Katherine MacDonald because she fought out a public feud with her sister, the actress Mary MacLaren. The newspapers also published rumors about her affair with the US president Woodrow Wilson. But the story seems to be unlikely because Woodrow Wilson was in poor health after a stroke in 1919.
 
Katherine MacDonald was married three times, all marriages were divorced. An especial interest for the media was the divorce from Christian R. Holmes. Katherine MacDonald gave testimony that her husband shot at her with a revolver through a closed door, mauled her with lit cigarettes and even locked her into a cage. Her husband accused her of adultery.
 
After her film career she ran a successful cosmetic business till to the beginning of the 30s.
 

Other movies with Katherine MacDonald:
Headin' South (18) Mr. Fix-It (18) Riddle Gawne (18) Speedy Meade (19) High Pockets (19) The Beauty Market (19) Passion's Playground (20) My Lady's Latchkey (21) Her Social Value (21) The Infidel (22) Domestic Relations (22) Heroes and Husbands (22) Money! Money! Money! (23) Refuge (23) The Lonely Road (23) Chastity (23) 


 
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