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Cathy O'Donnell

Cathy O'Donnell

Birthday: 1923-07-06 | Place of Birth: Siluria, Alabama, USA

Cathy O'Donnell (July 6, 1923 – April 11, 1970) was an American actress, best known for her many roles in film-noir movies. While under contract with Samuel Goldwyn, O'Donnell made her debut in an uncredited role as a nightclub extra in Wonder Man (1945). Her first major role in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), playing Wilma Cameron, the high-school sweetheart of double amputatee Homer Parrish, played by real-life World War II veteran/amputee Harold Russell. She was loaned out to RKO for one of her most memorable films, They Live by Night (1949) starring with Farley Granger, widely considered a classic of the noir genre and on the Guardian's list of the top ten noir films. The film was directed by Nicholas Ray. The two actors later re-teamed for another movie, Side Street (1950). Later O'Donnell starred in The Miniver Story (also 1950), as Judy Miniver and also had a supporting role in Detective Story (1951). She appeared as Barbara Waggoman, the love interest of James Stewart's character in the western The Man from Laramie (1955). Her final film role was the title character's sister Tirzah in William Wyler's 1959 Academy Award winning Best Picture Ben-Hur (1959). In the 1960s, she appeared in TV shows, playing mostly bit parts on shows such as Perry Mason, The Rebel and Man Without a Gun. Her last screen appearance was in 1964, in an episode of Bonanza. Description above from the Wikipedia article Cathy O'Donnell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1959
Ben-Hur

as    Tirzah

1958
My World Dies Screaming

as    Sheila Wayne Tierney (as Kathy O'Donnell)

1957
The Deerslayer

as    Judith Hutter

1955
Mad at the World

as    Anne Bennett

1955
The Man from Laramie

as    Barbara Waggoman

1954
Eight O'Clock Walk

as    Jill Manning

1952
The Woman's Angle

as    Nina van Rhyne

1951
Detective Story

as    Susan Carmichael

1951
Never Trust a Gambler

as    Virginia Merrill

1950
Side Street

as    Ellen Norson

1949
They Live by Night

as    Catherine "Keechie" Mobley

1948
The Amazing Mr. X

as    Janet Burke

1946
The Best Years of Our Lives

as    Wilma Cameron