# Katherine MacDonald > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Katherine_MacDonald > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Katherine_MacDonald.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_MacDonald > Source revision: 1298548971 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American actress (1891–1956)}} {{for|the Canadian religious figure|Kay MacDonald}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}} {{Infobox person | image = Katherine MacDonald by Evans L.A.jpg | caption = MacDonald, c. 1922 | birth_date = {{birth date|1891|12|14}} | birth_place = [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania](/source/Pittsburgh%2C_Pennsylvania), U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1956|6|4|1891|12|14}} | death_place = [Santa Barbara, California](/source/Santa_Barbara%2C_California), U.S. | birth_name = Katherine Agnew MacDonald | spouse = Malcolm A. Strauss{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-american-beauty/150061450/ |title='American Beauty', of Silent Film Fame, Dies |newspaper=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) |pages=37, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-american-beauty/150061521/ 66] |date=1956-06-05 |access-date=2024-06-25 |via=Newspapers.com}}
(m. 1911; div. 1919)
Charles Schoen Johnson
(m. 1923; div. 1926); 1 son
[Christian R. Holmes](/source/Christian_R._Holmes)
(m. 1928; div. 1931); 1 daughter | relatives = [Mary MacLaren](/source/Mary_MacLaren) (sister, actress) |children = 2|awards = [Hollywood Walk of Fame](/source/Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame) |occupation = Actress, film producer, model |parents = }} '''Katherine Agnew MacDonald''' (December 14, 1891''The Ultimate Directory of the Silent Screen Performers: A Necrology of Births and Deaths and Essays on 50 Lost Players''; edited by Anthony Slide, Scarecrow Press, c.1995''The Ultimate Directory of Film Technicians; A Necrology of Dates and Places of Births and Deaths of More than 9,000 Producers, Screenwriters, Composers, Cinematographers, Art Directors, Costume Designers, Choreographers, Executives and Publicists''; Scarecrow Press, 1999 – June 4, 1956) was an American stage and film actress, film producer, and model. She was born in [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania](/source/Pittsburgh%2C_Pennsylvania) and was the older sister of actresses Miriam MacDonald and [Mary MacLaren](/source/Mary_MacLaren). == Career == Starting her career as a popular model in New York City in the 1910s, MacDonald moved to Los Angeles in 1917. She became one of the first women to produce films in [Hollywood](/source/Cinema_of_the_United_States), and produced nine features for her company, Katherine MacDonald Pictures, from 1919 to 1921.{{Cite web|title=Katherine MacDonald|url=http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/katherine-mac-donald/|access-date=2020-07-15|website=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)|language=en}} MacDonald was among the top ranks of actresses financially in 1920, earning about $50,000 per picture from a contract with [First National](/source/First_National_Pictures). She achieved the peak of her popularity between 1920 and 1923. From 1922 to 1925 she appeared in films produced by [B. P. Schulberg](/source/B._P._Schulberg).{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-miss-macdonald-again-is/150060559/ |title=Miss MacDonald Again is Most Beautiful |newspaper=[Oakland Tribune](/source/Oakland_Tribune) |page=41 |date=1922-01-08 |access-date=2024-06-25 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-bankruptcy-admitte/150061087/ |title=Bankruptcy Admitted by Schulberg |newspaper=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) |page=21 |date=1925-10-22 |access-date=2024-06-25 |via=Newspapers.com}} She was considered a minor talent in the film industry, but her curvaceous figure nevertheless resulted in the nickname given her of the "American Beauty".Larry Lee Holland, "Mary MacLaren and Katherine MacDonald" ''Films in Review'' (1985), pp. 221-27 Her first significant role was her lead role in ''Shark Monroe'' (1918) opposite [William S. Hart](/source/William_S._Hart).{{Cite web|title=Shark Monroe. 1918. Directed by William S. Hart {{!}} MoMA|url=https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/1684|access-date=2020-07-15|website=The Museum of Modern Art|language=en}} She was featured in a number of silent films, including ''[The Squaw Man](/source/The_Squaw_Man_(1918_film))'' (1918), ''[Mr. Fix-It](/source/Mr._Fix-It_(1918_film))'' (1918), ''[Passion's Playground](/source/Passion's_Playground)'' (1920) and ''[The Infidel](/source/The_Infidel_(1922_film))'' (1922). Her films typically were [romantic dramas](/source/Romantic_drama_film). MacDonald made only two pictures after 1923, one each in 1925 and 1926. == Personal life == While working as a model in New York City, Katherine met her first husband, the well-known artist and writer Malcolm Atherton Strauss. They married in New York in June 1911, but the union ended after eight years."Malcolm Strauss, Writer, Artist, Dies", ''The New York Times'', April 11, 1936, p. 15. ProQuest Historical Newspapers. In its May 17, 1919 issue, the New York-based trade journal ''Motion Picture World'' tersely announces, "Katherine MacDonald Strauss has been granted a decree of divorce by Judge Crail, of Los Angeles, from Malcolm A. Strauss, New York artist."[https://archive.org/stream/moving40chal#page/n485/mode/2up "Studio Shots"], ''Motion Picture World'' (New York, N.Y.), May 17, 1919, p. 1026. Internet Archive. Retrieved November 13, 2020. Four years later in [Atlantic City, New Jersey](/source/Atlantic_City%2C_New_Jersey), she married Charles Schoen Johnson, a young Chicago millionaire. That marriage also ended in divorce in 1926 but produced one son, Britt.{{cite magazine |title=Milestones |magazine=Time |date=June 4, 1923 |volume=I |issue=14 |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=adwLAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Katherine+MacDonald%22+actress&pg=RA5-PP3 |access-date=August 23, 2020}} After retiring from the movie industry MacDonald ran a successful cosmetics business in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In 1928 she married Christian Rasmus Holmes (1898-1944), an heir to the [Fleischmann's yeast](/source/Fleischmann's_yeast) company, but that marriage ended in a sensational divorce suit in 1931, one widely covered in the press."Millionaire Divorced by Ex-Actress: Katherine MacDonald of Screen Wins Suit Against Christian Holmes", ''Los Angeles Times'', July 26, 1931, p. 1. ProQuest. MacDonald claimed cruelty, alleging that her husband had fired a revolver at her through a locked door, had deliberately burnt her with lit cigarettes, and had sometimes locked her in a cage. Holmes counter-sued, claiming that MacDonald had embarrassed him by having affairs. MacDonald and Holmes had one daughter, Ann. ==Death== MacDonald later in life suffered from [diabetes](/source/diabetes), which in 1954 finally required the amputation of her right leg. Two years later, after a series of debilitating [stroke](/source/stroke)s, she died at St. Francis Hospital in [Santa Barbara, California](/source/Santa_Barbara%2C_California).{{cite book |last1=Katchmer |first1=George A. |title=A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses |date=May 20, 2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0905-8 |pages=223–224 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VnGeCQAAQBAJ&q=%22Katherine+MacDonald%22+actress&pg=PA223 |access-date=August 23, 2020 |language=en}} She is buried in the [Santa Barbara Cemetery](/source/Santa_Barbara_Cemetery) in California.{{Citation needed |date=April 2023}} ==Filmography== thumb|MacDonald on the cover of the ''Motion Picture Classic'', July 23, 1921. Cover art by Benjamin Eggleston (1867-1937).{{cite book |last=Platnick |first= Norman I.|date= February 2017|title= Lady of Mystery: A Collector's Guide to Edward Eggleston version 3.5|url= https://enchantmentink.com/edward.php|page= 5 |quote= those Motion Picture Classic covers, published from at least July, 1921 through August, 1922, were actually done by Benjamin Eggleston}} thumb|Another portrait of MacDonald featured in the January 1922 issue of ''Filmplay Journal'' *''[The Spirit of '17](/source/The_Spirit_of_'17)'' (1918) '''Lost''' *''[Headin' South](/source/Headin'_South)'' (1918) '''Lost''' *''[Mr. Fix-It](/source/Mr._Fix-It_(1918_film))'' (1918) '''Surviving''' *''[His Own Home Town](/source/His_Own_Home_Town)'' (1918) '''Lost''' *''[Shark Monroe](/source/Shark_Monroe)'' (1918) '''Surviving''' *''[Riddle Gawne](/source/Riddle_Gawne)'' (1918) '''Incomplete''' *''[Battling Jane](/source/Battling_Jane)'' (1918) '''Lost''' *''[The Squaw Man](/source/The_Squaw_Man_(1918_film))'' (1918) '''Incomplete''' *''[Speedy Meade](/source/Speedy_Meade)'' (1919) '''Lost''' *''[The Woman Thou Gavest Me](/source/The_Woman_Thou_Gavest_Me_(film))'' (1919) '''Lost''' *''[High Pockets](/source/High_Pockets_(film))'' (1919) '''Surviving''' * ''[The Thunderbolt](/source/The_Thunderbolt_(1919_film))'' (1919) '''Lost''' *''[The Beauty Market](/source/The_Beauty_Market)'' (1919) '''Lost''' *''[The Turning Point](/source/The_Turning_Point_(1920_film))'' (1920) '''Lost''' *''[Passion's Playground](/source/Passion's_Playground)'' (1920) '''Lost''' * ''[The Notorious Miss Lisle](/source/The_Notorious_Miss_Lisle)'' (1920) '''Lost''' * ''[Curtain](/source/Curtain_(1920_film))'' (1920) '''Lost''' *''[My Lady's Latchkey](/source/My_Lady's_Latchkey)'' (1921) '''Lost''' *''Stranger Than Fiction'' (1921) '''Lost''' *''[Her Social Value](/source/Her_Social_Value)'' (1921) '''Lost''' *''The Beautiful Liar'' (1921) '''Lost''' * ''[The Woman's Side](/source/The_Woman's_Side)'' (1922) '''Lost''' *''The Infidel'' (1922) '''Lost''' *''[Domestic Relations](/source/Domestic_Relations_(film))'' (1922)'''Lost''' * ''[Heroes and Husbands](/source/Heroes_and_Husbands)'' (1922) '''Lost''' *''[White Shoulders](/source/White_Shoulders_(1922_film))'' (1922) '''Lost''' *''[The Woman Conquers](/source/The_Woman_Conquers)'' (1922) '''Lost''' *''[Money! Money! Money!](/source/Money!_Money!_Money!)'' (1923) '''Lost''' * ''[Refuge](/source/Refuge_(1923_film))'' (1923) '''Lost''' *''[The Lonely Road](/source/The_Lonely_Road_(1923_film))'' (1923) '''Lost''' * ''[The Scarlet Lily](/source/The_Scarlet_Lily)'' (1923) '''Lost''' * ''[Chastity](/source/Chastity_(1923_film))'' (1923) '''Lost''' *''Trust Your Wife'' (1924) '''Lost''' * ''[The Unnamed Woman](/source/The_Unnamed_Woman)'' (1925) '''Lost''' *''[Old Loves and New](/source/Old_Loves_and_New)'' (1926) '''Lost''' ==References== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}} ==Further reading== * {{cite book | author=Michael G. Ankerich | author-link=Michael G. Ankerich | title=Hairpins and Dead Ends: The Perilous Journeys of 25 Actresses Through Early Hollywood| publisher=BearManor | year=2017 | isbn=978-1-62933-201-7}} ==External links== {{Commons category}} *{{IMDb name|id=0531806|name=Katherine MacDonald}} *[http://www.allmovie.com/artist/katherine-macdonald-p44156 AllMovie] *[http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/9276/katherine-macdonald Katherine MacDonald] at Virtual History *{{findagrave|8748946}} *[http://kinotv.com/page/bio.php?namecode=123098&q=0&l=en kinotv.com] {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Katherine}} Category:1891 births Category:1956 deaths Category:American film actresses Category:American silent film actresses Category:Film producers from Pennsylvania Category:Actresses from Pittsburgh Category:20th-century American actresses Category:American women film producers --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Katherine MacDonald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_MacDonald) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_MacDonald?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.