Katharine Alexander (sometimes Katherine; September 22, 1897 – January 10, 1981) was an American actress on stage and screen. She appeared in 44 films between 1930 and 1951.

Biography

Alexander was born on September 22, 1897, in

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the List of municipalities in Arkansas, third-most populous city in Arkansas, United States, and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County, Arkansas, Sebastian County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the pop ...

, the daughter of Joseph Hall "Josiah" Alexander and Susan Sophronia Duncan. She was an enrolled citizen of the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

, listed as 1/16th Cherokee on the Dawes Rolls. As a young woman, she planned to be a concert artist, but

Samuel Goldwyn Samuel Goldwyn (; born Szmuel Gelbfisz; ; July 1879 (most likely; claimed to be August 27, 1882) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer and pioneer in the American film industry, who produce ...

saw her giving a violin recital and gave her a chance on stage. She became one of

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

's leading ladies but went into films in 1930.

Theatrical productions

Katharine Alexander in After Office Hours trailer

Alexander debuted on stage in ''A Successful Calamity'' with

William Gillette William Hooker Gillette (July 24, 1853 – April 29, 1937) was an American actor-manager, playwright, and stage manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 191 ...

Katharine Alexander in Moonlight Murder trailer

Her Broadway credits included ''Time for Elizabeth'' (1948), ''Little Brown Jug'' (1946), ''Letters to Lucerne'' (1941), ''The Party's Over'' (1933), ''Honeymoon'' (1932), ''Best Years'' (1932), ''The Left Bank'' (1931), ''Stepdaughters of War'' (1930), ''Hotel Universe'' (1930), ''The Boundary Line'' (1930), ''Little Accident'' (1929), ''The Queen's Husband'' (1928), ''Hangman's House'' (1926), ''Gentle Grafters'' (1926), ''The Call of Life'' (1925), ''Arms and the Man'' (1925), ''It All Depends'' (1925), ''Ostriches'' (1925), ''The Stork'' (1925), ''That Awful Mrs. Eaton'' (1924), ''Leah Kleschna'' (1924), ''Chains'' (1923), ''Love Laughs'' (1919), ''Good Morning, Judge'' (1919), and ''A Successful Calamity'' (1917).

Personal life

On January 5, 1926, Alexander married producer William A. Brady Jr. in New York City. Brady was the son of

William A. Brady William Aloysius Brady (June 19, 1863 – January 6, 1950) was an American theater actor, producer, and sports promoter. Biography Brady was born to a newspaperman in 1863. His father kidnapped him from San Francisco and brought him to New York ...

a theatre actor, producer, and sports promoter; and the actress

Grace George Grace George (December 25, 1879 – May 19, 1961) was a prominent American stage actress, who had a long career on Broadway stage and also appeared in two films. Biography George was born on December 25, 1879. She married producer William A. ...

. They had a daughter, Barbara Alexander Brady, who became an actress.

Death

Alexander died in

Tryon, North Carolina Tryon is a town in Polk County, on the southwestern border of North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 1,562. Located in the escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains, today the area is affluent and a center ...

on January 10, 1981, aged 82. She was buried in the Fairmount addition to Forest Park Cemetery in her native Fort Smith.

Partial filmography

* '' Should Ladies Behave'' (1933) as Mrs. Winifred Lamont * ''

Death Takes a Holiday ''Death Takes a Holiday'' is a 1934 American pre-Code romantic drama starring Fredric March, Evelyn Venable and Guy Standing. It is based on the 1924 Italian play ''La morte in vacanza'' by Alberto Casella (1891–1957), as adapted in English ...

'' (1934) as Alda * ''

The Barretts of Wimpole Street ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' is a 1930 play by the Dutch/English dramatist Rudolf Besier, based on the romance between Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett, and her domineering father's unwillingness to allow them to marry. Presented f ...

'' (1934) as Arabel Barrett * ''

Operator 13 '' Operator 13'' is a 1934 American pre-Code romance film directed by Richard Boleslawski and starring Marion Davies, Gary Cooper, and Jean Parker. Based on stories written by Robert W. Chambers, the film is about a Union spy who impersonates ...

'' (1934) as Pauline * '' The Painted Veil'' (1934) as Mrs. Townsend * '' Enchanted April'' (1935) as Mrs. Rose Arbuthnot * ''

After Office Hours ''After Office Hours'' is a 1935 crime drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Clark Gable and Constance Bennett. The screenplay was written by Herman Mankiewicz. Plot Jim Branch (Clark Gable), a newspaper editor, falls for we ...

'' (1935) as Julia Patterson * ''

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

'' (1935) as Queen Anne * ''

Alias Mary Dow ''Alias Mary Dow'' is a 1935 American drama film directed by Kurt Neumann and starring Sally Eilers, Ray Milland and Henry O'Neill.Quinlan p.331 The film's sets were designed by the art director Ralph Berger. Plot In order to comfort his dyin ...

'' (1935) as Evelyn Dow * '' The Girl from 10th Avenue'' (1935) as Valentine French Marland * ''

Ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

'' (1935) as Mrs. Elizabeth Parker * ''

She Married Her Boss ''She Married Her Boss'' is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava and starring Claudette Colbert, Melvyn Douglas and Raymond Walburn. It was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures, who had enjoyed a major success the pr ...

'' (1935) as Gertrude Barclay * '' Splendor'' (1935) as Martha Lorrimore * ''

Sutter's Gold ''Sutter's Gold'' is a 1936 American Western film. It is a fictionalized version of the aftermath of the discovery of gold on Sutter's property, spurring the California Gold Rush of 1849. Edward Arnold plays John Sutter. The supporting cast in ...

'' (1936) as Anna Sutter * ''

Moonlight Murder ''Moonlight Murder'' is a 1936 American crime film directed by Edwin L. Marin and written by Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf. The film stars Chester Morris, Madge Evans, Leo Carrillo, Frank McHugh, Benita Hume, Grant Mitchell, Kath ...

'' (1936) as Louisa Chiltern * ''

The Devil Is a Sissy ''The Devil Is a Sissy'' is a 1936 American MGM comedy-drama film directed by W. S. Van Dyke and Rowland Brown. The film stars Freddie Bartholomew, Jackie Cooper and Mickey Rooney, three of the biggest child stars of the 1930s. The film pre ...

'' (1936) as Hilda Pierce * '' Reunion'' (1936) as Mrs. Crandall * '' As Good as Married'' (1937) as Alma Burnside * '' The Girl from Scotland Yard'' (1937) as Lady Helen Lavering * '' That Certain Woman'' (1937) as Mrs. Rogers * ''

Stage Door ''Stage Door'' is a 1937 American Tragicomedy, tragicomedy film directed by Gregory La Cava, and starring Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, Gail Patrick, Constance Collier, Andrea Leeds, Samuel S. Hinds, and Lucille Ball. Adapt ...

'' (1937) as Cast of Stage Play * '' Double Wedding'' (1937) as Claire Lodge * '' Rascals'' (1938) as Mrs. Agatha Adams * ''

The Great Man Votes ''The Great Man Votes'' is a 1939 American drama film starring John Barrymore as a widowed professor turned drunkard who has the deciding vote in an election for mayor. It was based on the short story of the same name by Gordon Malherbe Hillman ...

'' (1939) as Miss Billow * ''

Broadway Serenade ''Broadway Serenade'' (also known as ''Serenade'') is a 1939 musical drama film distributed by MGM, produced and directed by Robert Z. Leonard. The screenplay was written by Charles Lederer, based on a story by Lew Lipton, John Taintor Foote an ...

'' (1939) as Harriet Ingalls * ''

In Name Only ''In Name Only'' is a 1939 romantic film starring Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, and Kay Francis, directed by John Cromwell. It was based on the 1935 novel ''Memory of Love'' by Bessie Breuer. The fictional town where it is set, Bridgefield, Co ...

'' (1939) as Laura * ''

Three Sons ''Three Sons'' is a 1939 American drama film directed by Jack Hively using a screenplay by John Twist, based on the novel, ''Sweepings'' by Lester Cohen. Produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, and released on October 13, 1939, it is a r ...

'' (1939) as Abigail Pardway * '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (1939) as Madame de Lys * '' Anne of Windy Poplars'' (1940) as Ernestine Pringle * ''

Dance, Girl, Dance ''Dance, Girl, Dance'' is a 1940 American comedy-drama film directed by Dorothy Arzner and starring Maureen O'Hara, Louis Hayward, Lucille Ball, and Ralph Bellamy. The film follows two dancers who strive to preserve their own integrity while ...

'' (1940) as Miss Olmstead * '' Play Girl'' (1941) as Mrs. Dice * ''

Sis Hopkins Sis Hopkins may refer to: * Sis Hopkins (1919 film), a comedy film * Sis Hopkins (1941 film), an American comedy film {{dab ...

'' (1941) as Clara Hopkins * '' Angels with Broken Wings'' (1941) as Charlotte Lord * '' The Vanishing Virginian'' (1942) as Marcia Marshall * '' On the Sunny Side'' (1942) as Mrs. Mary Andrews * '' Small Town Deb'' (1942) as Mrs. Randall * ''

Now, Voyager ''Now, Voyager'' is a 1942 American drama (film and television), drama film starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains, and directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Casey Robinson is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Oli ...

'' (1942) as Miss Trask * '' The Human Comedy'' (1943) as Mrs. Steed * '' Kiss and Tell'' (1945) as Janet Archer * '' For the Love of Mary'' (1948) as Miss Harkness * '' John Loves Mary'' (1949) as Phyllis McKinley

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Katharine American film actresses 20th-century American actresses Cherokee Nation actresses Actresses from Arkansas Native American actresses People from Fort Smith, Arkansas 1897 births 1981 deaths Cherokee Nation people (1794–1907) Cherokee people on the Dawes Rolls Actors from Sebastian County, Arkansas Native American people from Arkansas