From Wikipedia
Kathlyn Williams was born Kathleen Mabel Williams on May 31,
1879 in Butte, Montana, and the only child born to Joseph
Edwin"Frank" Williams, a boarding house proprietor, and Mary C. Boe
(1846–1908) of Welsh and Norwegian descent. Many biographies state her birth
year as 1888; however,she is listed on the 1880 United States Census as being a
year old. Williams displayed an early interest in becoming an actress in her
youth which lead her to become a member of a community thespian group. She also
joined the Woman's Relief Corps that allowed her to showcase her vocal prowess
at local recitals.
Williams began her career with Selig Polyscope Company in
Chicago, Illinois and made her first film in 1908 under the direction of
Francis Boggs. By 1910, she was transferred to the company's Los Angeles film
studio. Williams played "Cherry Malotte" in the first movie based
upon Rex Beach's 1906 novel The Spoilers in 1914, a role portrayed in
subsequent versions by Betty Compson (1930), Marlene Dietrich (1942), and Anne
Baxter (1955). In 1916, she starred in the thirteen episode adventure film
serial, The Adventures of Kathlyn. She was busy throughout the silent film era
but age and the advent of talkies saw her make only five sound films, the last
in 1935. Kathlyn evolved from a comedian and serial player in silents to
portraying character roles in the early 1930s.
Williams was married three times. Although many biographies
erroneously cite her first husband as being Victor Kainer, he was in fact named
Otto H. "Harry" Kainer (1876–1952), who ran an import and export
business on Wall Street in New York City. They were wed on October 2, 1903, and
their son, Victor Hugo, was born in 1905. They supposedly divorced over Kainer's disapproval of his
wife having an acting career,and Williams subsequently obtained a divorce from
Kainer in 1909 in Nevada. On March 4, 1913, she married Frank R. Allen, also an
actor, but the marriage was a failure from the start and lasted a little over a
year. On June 30, 1914, she filed for divorce in Los Angeles and listed
desertion as the reason as the failure of their marriage
She later married Paramount Pictures executive Charles Eyton
on June 2, 1916, in Riverside, California. The Eytons eventually divorced in
1931.
On December 29, 1949, Williams was involved in a deadly
automobile accident, which claimed the life of her friend, Mrs. Mary E. Rose,
while they were returning home from a social engagement in Las Vegas. As a
result of the accident, Williams lost her right leg. On April 8, 1950, Williams
sued the estate of Rose for $136,615, citing negligence and claiming that the
automobile had inefficient brakes. In June 1951, Williams accepted the offer of
$6,500 dollars from the Rose estate. Kathlyn Williams died of a heart attack in
Hollywood, California in 1960.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Kathlyn
Williams has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7038 Hollywood Blvd.
