---
name: "Kathleen Key"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/kathleen-key"
fi1m_id: "kathleen-key"
imdb_id: "nm0450748"
tmdb_id: 29979
wikidata_id: "Q3194076"
roles: []
born: "1 April 1903"
died: "22 December 1954"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-25T06:17:35.858247+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."
---

# Kathleen Key

## Identity

Kathleen Key

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/kathleen-key
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** kathleen-key
- **IMDb ID:** nm0450748
- **TMDB ID:** 29979
- **Wikidata ID:** Q3194076
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Key, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3194076, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0450748/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/29979

Actor. Born 1 April 1903 in Buffalo, New York, USA. Died 22 December 1954.

## Details

- **Born:** 1 April 1903, Buffalo, New York, USA
- **Died:** 22 December 1954
- **Also known as:** Kitty Lanahan, Kathleen Keys
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Key, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3194076, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0450748/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/29979

## Streaming the US now

- **Tubi:** [*The Big Parade*](https://film.one/film/the-big-parade.md) (80)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Kathleen Key was an American actress known for her roles in silent films. Born Kitty Lanahan in Buffalo, New York, she made her screen debut in the 1920 Australian production *The Jackeroo of Coolabong* and appeared in supporting parts throughout the 1920s, including Georgette (uncredited) in *The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse* (1921) and Miss Apperson (uncredited) in *The Big Parade* (1925).

She is best remembered for playing Tirzah in the 1925 epic *Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ*. Key was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars of 1923 and continued working in films until 1936. She died in Woodland Hills, California, in 1954.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Big Parade* (1925), Fi1m 80, as Miss Apperson (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-big-parade.md)

## Complete filmography (29)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Klondike Annie* (1936), Actor
- *Thunder in the Night* (1935), as Party Guest
- *Sweeping Against the Winds* (1930), Actor
- *The Phantom of the North* (1929), as Colette
- *Golf Widows* (1928), as Ethel Dixon
- *Irish Hearts* (1927), as Clarice
- *Hey! Hey! Cowboy* (1927), as Emily Decker
- *The Desert's Toll* (1926), as Muriel Cooper
- *The Flaming Frontier* (1926), as Lucretia
- *Money Talks* (1926), as Vamp
- *Under Western Skies* (1926), as Milly Lewis
- *Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ* (1925), as Tirzah
- *The Big Parade* (1925), as Miss Apperson (uncredited) — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/the-big-parade.md)
- *A Lover's Oath* (1925), as Sherin
- *Revelation* (1924), as Madonna
- *The Sea Hawk* (1924), as Andalusian Slave Girl
- *The Trouble Shooter* (1924), as Nancy Brewster
- *The Man from Brodney's* (1923), as Neenah
- *Reno* (1923), as Yvette - The Governess
- *North of Hudson Bay* (1923), as Estelle MacDonald
- *The Rendezvous* (1923), as Varvara
- *Hell's Hole* (1923), as Mabel Grant
- *Bells of San Juan* (1922), as Florrie Engel
- *West of Chicago* (1922), as Señoria Gonzales
- *Where's My Wandering Boy Tonight?* (1922), Actor
- *The Fighting Breed* (1921), as Enid MacDonald (as Ethel Payton)
- *The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse* (1921), as Georgette (uncredited)
- *The Rookie's Return* (1920), as Gloria
- *The Jackeroo of Coolabong* (1920), as Edith MacDonald

## Gallery

- ![Kathleen Key as Tirzah in the film Ben-Hur. (1926)](https://film.one/media/person/3850153/gallery-3355c2721427.jpg) Kathleen Key as Tirzah in the film Ben-Hur. (1926) — Clarence Sinclair Bull, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Kathleen_Key_as_Tirzah_in_Ben-Hur.jpg/1280px-Kathleen_Key_as_Tirzah_in_Ben-Hur.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Kathleen Key](https://film.one/media/person/3850153/gallery-aaa11f07af5c.jpg) Kathleen Key — Apeda (Photography Studio), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Kathleen_Key%2C_film_actress_%28SAYRE_4132%29.jpg/1280px-Kathleen_Key%2C_film_actress_%28SAYRE_4132%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Kathleen Key, film actress, in the American drama film North of Hudson Bay (1924). Subjects: actresses, motion pictures](https://film.one/media/person/3850153/gallery-728fe9a507f7.jpg) Kathleen Key, film actress, in the American drama film North of Hudson Bay (1924). Subjects: actresses, motion pictures — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Kathleen_Key%2C_film_actress_%28SAYRE_4985%29.jpg/1280px-Kathleen_Key%2C_film_actress_%28SAYRE_4985%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Kathleen Key](https://film.one/media/person/3850153/gallery-96de59690901.jpg) Kathleen Key — 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/kathleen-key