Katherine Lester DeMille (born Katherine Paula Lester; June 29, 1911 – April 27, 1995) was a Canadian-born American actress who played 25 credited film roles from the mid-1930s to the late 1940s.
DeMille continued her career at 20th Century Fox and other studios until 1941, when she retired to dedicate her time to her family. She returned to films with roles in Black Gold and Unconquered (both 1947) and starred in her final film, The Judge, in 1949. In his autobiography, her father wrote that she "has carried the name DeMille on for another generation in motion pictures as a talented actress."[2]
When she was eight years old, she was found in an orphanage by Constance Adams DeMille, the wife of producer and director Cecil B. DeMille.[1] The DeMilles adopted Katherine, their third child, in 1922.[5]
Career
DeMille gained experience on stage in 1930 "by acting as understudy for the feminine 'heavy' of the play Rebound" in San Francisco.[6] She wanted to begin an acting career on her own and used the stage name "Kay Marsh" whenever she worked as an extra.[7]
She played another Mexican woman, a maid named Lupe, in the Paramount production The Trumpet Blows (1934), and her performance earned her a contract with Paramount Pictures. Her next role was Molly Bryant, the nemesis of Mae West's character in Belle of the Nineties (1934). She played the second female role in All the King's Horses (1935) at Paramount, and was loaned to Columbia Pictures for The Black Room (1935) and to 20th Century Fox for Call of the Wild (1935).
The role of Princess Alice of France in The Crusades (1935) was a Christmas gift from her father, Cecil B. DeMille. Andre Sennwald of The New York Times wrote that the actors who gave "excellent performances" in the film included "that striking brunette, Katherine De Mille."[8]Hollywood also praised DeMille, who was "splendid as the jilted Princess Alice of France."[9]
She went to Columbia Pictures to co-star as Jack Holt's leading lady in Under Suspicion (1937). She had a minor supporting role in the Walter Wanger production Blockade (1938), a drama about the Spanish Civil War. Again at Columbia, she was cast in the leading female role in another Jack Holt vehicle, Trapped in the Sky (1939).
After a six-year absence, DeMille returned to the screen when she co-starred with her husband, Anthony Quinn, for the first and only time in the Allied Artists drama Black Gold (1947), directed by Phil Karlson. She received good notices from the critics. Motion Picture Daily opined that she deserved to share Quinn's "highest acting compliment . . . The tender byplay of their mutual understanding, respect and love provide the refreshingly different romance of the picture."[10]The Film Daily wrote: "Katherine DeMille does splendid work as Quinn's wife, who has had good schooling, but is a loyal, obedient helpmeet."[11]Harrison's Reports also commended the performances of the Quinns: "As to the acting, both Anthony Quinn and Katherine DeMille rise to the occasion."[12]
Her father cast her in a supporting role in his epic Unconquered (1947), starring Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard. The Film Daily noticed that, as the Native American wife of the antagonist portrayed by Howard Da Silva, "Miss DeMille is properly sullen and tragic."[13]
Her final credited role was Lucille Strang, the wife of Milburn Stone's character, in the film noirThe Judge (1949), a Film Classics release directed by Elmer Clifton. Showmen's Trade Review praised the work of both Stone and DeMille: "The two stars, Milburn Stone and Katherine DeMille, contribute excellent acting, keeping their characterizations consistently within the film's framework."[14]
Personal life
DeMille married actor Anthony Quinn on October 2, 1937 at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills.[15] They had five children: Christopher (1939-1941), Christina (born December 1, 1941), Catalina (born November 21, 1942), Duncan (born August 4, 1945), and Valentina (born December 26, 1952).[16] Their first child, Christopher, was found drowned in the lily pond of W.C. Fields' property at age two.[17]
DeMille became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1938.[18]
Quinn was not a faithful husband. He wanted a divorce so that he could be free to raise his illegitimate children by an Italian woman.[20] In December 1964, Quinn sued DeMille for divorce in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and "listed incompatibility in the suit as grounds for divorce."[21] They were divorced on January 21, 1965.[22] DeMille retained her married name.[23]
Her brother, Richard de Mille, later remembered: "I was wild about Katherine. She was extremely lovable and beautiful, a terrific combination. Was she ill-used by Quinn? Absolutely, but not in a way that she resented. She was always in love with him. Cecil had respected Constance and always treated her fairly; I don't think Quinn treated Katherine fairly."[24]
^"California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8VM-KNT : 8 December 2017), Anthony Quinn and Katherine L De Mille, 02 Oct 1937; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,114,153.
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