Kathleen Key

From Wikipedia Kathleen Key April 1 1903 December 22 1954 was an American actress who achieved a brief period of fame during the silent era She is best remembered for playing Tirzah in the 1925 film BenHur Key was the greatgreat granddaughter of Francis Scott Key composer of The Star Spangled Banner and a distant cousin of author F Scott Fitzgerald Born Kitty Lanahan in Buffalo New York she debuted in films in 1920 in the film The Jackeroo of Coolabong playing a lead role From that point on to the end of the 1920s Kathleen Key sometimes credited as Kathleen Keys starred in several films but never really reached stardom and was never given much credit for the roles she had although there were some exceptions In the early 20s Key had a wellknown love affair with silentfilm actor Buster Keaton who was married at the time As told in Keatons biography the actor attempted to call off the relationship but Key flew into a jealous rage and ransacked his MGM dressing room which caused her to be virtually blacklisted afterward by the movie industry It is also stated that Keaton refused to give Key a monetary loan A telegram sent by one of Keatons friends who had heard about the argument comically read Congratulations Hear you are off Key After her retirement in 1936 Keys spent the rest of her days in moderate comfort at the Motion Picture Country House in Woodland Hills California where she died at the age of 51 in 1954 Her interment was located at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery