--- name: "Cathy O'Donnell" canonical: "https://film.one/person/cathy-odonnell" fi1m_id: "cathy-odonnell" imdb_id: "nm0640732" tmdb_id: 10023 wikidata_id: "Q524094" roles: ["Actor"] born: "6 July 1923" died: "11 April 1970" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 83 average_as: "actor" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-09-25T07:29:44.592657+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Cathy O'Donnell ## Identity Cathy O'Donnell - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/cathy-odonnell - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** cathy-odonnell - **IMDb ID:** nm0640732 - **TMDB ID:** 10023 - **Wikidata ID:** Q524094 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_O%27Donnell, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q524094, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0640732/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/10023 Actor. Born 6 July 1923 in Siluria, Alabama, USA. Died 11 April 1970. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 6 July 1923, Siluria, Alabama, USA - **Died:** 11 April 1970 - **Active:** 1946–1959 - **Also known as:** Ann Steely - **Frequently works with:** [William Wyler](https://film.one/person/william-wyler.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 83, as actor, over 3 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 90 (1), 1950s 79 (2) - **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 3 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 3, Adventure 1, History 1, Romance 1, War 1, Western 1 - **Screen time:** 8 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $188m across 2 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_O%27Donnell, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q524094, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0640732/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/10023 ## Streaming the US now - **Pluto TV:** [*The Best Years of Our Lives*](https://film.one/film/the-best-years-of-our-lives.md) (90) - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Man from Laramie*](https://film.one/film/the-man-from-laramie.md) (82) - **Tubi:** [*Ben-Hur*](https://film.one/film/ben-hur.md) (76) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Cathy O'Donnell > Cathy O'Donnell played the girl who waits, and never raised her voice doing it. In *The Best Years of Our Lives* (1946) and *They Live by Night* (1949) that quiet is the performance; Hollywood then spent a decade not knowing what to do with it. Watch what Cathy O'Donnell does when another actor is having the big moment. She keeps still, keeps her voice down and lets her face do the work. It is not a shortage of technique; Samuel Goldwyn paid for the technique, voice lessons included, and you can hear it. The restraint is the choice, and in the right film it is the best thing on screen. The right film came almost at once. After an uncredited walk-on in *Wonder Man* (1945), William Wyler cast her as Wilma Cameron in *The Best Years of Our Lives* (1946), the fiancée of a veteran who has come home disabled, a part that asks for nothing but loyalty and gives her nothing to hide behind. She plays it straight. We have seen the film more times than we can count and her scenes still get past our defences, because she shows a young woman deciding, calmly and without a speech, that she is staying. The film is one of the few we would tell a stranger to see, and she is part of the reason. The one fair complaint, and it has been made, is that the elocution shows; some of her lines land a shade too finished for a girl from a small town. Goldwyn loaned her to RKO, and Nicholas Ray put her opposite Farley Granger in *They Live by Night* (1949), his first film. Keechie is the performance most often praised: tough where Wilma was gentle, tender underneath, and still very quiet. We have not reviewed it, so we will say only that it is where the stillness stops looking like good manners and starts looking like a way of surviving. She and Granger paired again in *Side Street* (1950). Wyler used her a second time in *Detective Story* (1951), and she took a western lead opposite James Stewart in *The Man from Laramie* (1955). The trouble is what came around those films. Once she left Goldwyn the parts shrank to supporting turns and B-pictures, and the studios kept casting her as the loyal one, the girl next door, even in noir, as if quiet could only mean devoted. Her last film was *Ben-Hur* (1959), as Tirzah, the hero's sister, in a picture we like well enough for its chariot race and its two leading men and which has nothing much for a sister to do. She worked in television until 1964 and then stopped. It is a short list for an actor who could do all that with a look, and we think she was wasted; we are not the first to say so. Start with Wilma. Then find Keechie, and see how far the same stillness can travel. ## Biography Cathy O'Donnell, born Ann Steely, was an American actress. She made her film debut in an uncredited role in *Wonder Man* (1945) while under contract with Samuel Goldwyn. Her first major role came in *The Best Years of Our Lives* (1946) as Wilma Cameron. She appeared in several films noir, including *They Live by Night* (1949) as Keechie and *Detective Story* (1951) as Susan Carmichael. Other notable credits include *Side Street* (1950), *The Miniver Story* (1950) and *The Man from Laramie* (1955) as Barbara Waggoman. Her final film role was as Tirzah in *Ben-Hur* (1959). She was married to producer Robert Wyler from 1948 until her death. O'Donnell trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and had earlier stage experience. In the 1960s she appeared in television series such as *Perry Mason* and *Bonanza*, with her last screen credit in 1964. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) - *Ben-Hur* (1959), Fi1m 76, as Tirzah — [page](https://film.one/film/ben-hur.md) - *The Man from Laramie* (1955), Fi1m 82, as Barbara Waggoman — [page](https://film.one/film/the-man-from-laramie.md) - *The Best Years of Our Lives* (1946), Fi1m 90, as Wilma Cameron — [page](https://film.one/film/the-best-years-of-our-lives.md) ## Complete filmography (25) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Tate* (1960), series, Actor - *Ben-Hur* (1959), as Tirzah — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/ben-hur.md) - *The Detectives* (1959), series, Actor - *The Rebel* (1959), series, as Prudence Gant, Felicity Bowman - *My World Dies Screaming* (1958), as Sheila Wayne Tierney (as Kathy O'Donnell) - *The Story of Mankind* (1957), as Early Christian Woman - *Perry Mason* (1957), series, as Norma Brooks - *Sugarfoot* (1957), series, as Angel - *The Deerslayer* (1957), as Judith Hutter - *Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre* (1956), series, as Jennie Parsons - *Matinee Theater* (1955), series, Actor - *The Man from Laramie* (1955), as Barbara Waggoman — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/the-man-from-laramie.md) - *Mad at the World* (1955), as Anne Bennett - *Loves of Three Queens* (1954), as Enone (segment: The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships) - *Climax!* (1954), series, as Mona Herbert - *Eight O'Clock Walk* (1954), as Jill Manning - *The Woman's Angle* (1952), as Nina van Rhyne - *Detective Story* (1951), as Susan Carmichael - *Never Trust a Gambler* (1951), as Virginia Merrill - *The Miniver Story* (1950), as Judy Miniver - *Side Street* (1950), as Ellen Norson - *They Live by Night* (1949), as Catherine "Keechie" Mobley - *The Amazing Mr. X* (1948), as Janet Burke - *Bury Me Dead* (1947), as Rusty - *The Best Years of Our Lives* (1946), as Wilma Cameron — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/the-best-years-of-our-lives.md) ## Gallery - ![Cathy O'Donnell](https://film.one/media/person/105596/gallery-a8b123ca94c8.jpg) Cathy O'Donnell — Image via TMDB - ![Cathy O'Donnell](https://film.one/media/person/105596/gallery-dd8fbdcab076.jpg) Cathy O'Donnell — Image via TMDB - ![Cathy O'Donnell](https://film.one/media/person/105596/gallery-99b194a45420.jpg) Cathy O'Donnell — Image via TMDB - ![Cathy O'Donnell](https://film.one/media/person/105596/gallery-8f3a8ecea04a.jpg) Cathy O'Donnell — Image via TMDB - ![Cathy O'Donnell](https://film.one/media/person/105596/gallery-ecc36ba839fc.jpg) Cathy O'Donnell — Image via TMDB - ![Cathy O'Donnell](https://film.one/media/person/105596/gallery-55b3be503f49.jpg) Cathy O'Donnell — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/cathy-odonnell