Biography
Kathleen Howard (27 July 1884 – 15 April 1956) was a Canadian-born American opera singer, magazine editor and character actress. She began her operatic career in Europe, making her debut in 1907 at Metz and later performing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York from 1916 to 1928, where she created the role of Zita in the world premiere of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi (1918). She also served as fashion editor of Harper’s Bazaar.
Howard made her film debut in Death Takes a Holiday (1934) and appeared in numerous Hollywood productions through the 1940s and early 1950s. She is noted for roles in It’s a Gift (1934), Ball of Fire (1941), Blossoms in the Dust (1941), You Were Never Lovelier (1942), Laura (1944) and Born to Be Bad (1950). She spent her childhood in Buffalo, New York, and is buried there in Forest Lawn Cemetery.
