Katherine MacDonald

Katherine Agnew MacDonald (December 14, 1891 – June 4, 1956) was an American stage and film actress, film producer, and model. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was the older sister of actresses Miriam MacDonald and 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, and produced nine features for her company, Katherine MacDonald Pictures, from 1919 to 1921.

MacDonald was among the top ranks of actresses financially in 1920, earning about $50,000 per picture from a contract with First National. She achieved the peak of her popularity between 1920 and 1923. From 1922 to 1925 she appeared in films produced by B. P. Schulberg.

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".

Her first significant role was her lead role in Shark Monroe (1918) opposite William S. Hart. She was featured in a number of silent films, including The Squaw Man (1918), Mr. Fix-It (1918), Passion's Playground (1920) and The Infidel (1922). Her films typically were romantic dramas. 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. 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." Four years later in Atlantic City, New Jersey, she married Charles Schoen Johnson, a young Chicago millionaire. That marriage also ended in divorce in 1926 but produced one son, Britt.

After retiring from the movie industry MacDonald ran a successful cosmetics business in the late 1920s and early 1930s. 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. She is buried in the Santa Barbara Cemetery in California.

Filmography MacDonald on the cover of the Motion Picture Classic, July 23, 1921. Cover art by Benjamin Eggleston (1867-1937).

The Spirit of '17 (1918) Lost Headin' South (1918) Lost Mr. Fix-It (1918) Surviving His Own Home Town (1918) Lost Shark Monroe (1918) Surviving Riddle Gawne (1918) Incomplete Battling Jane (1918) Lost The Squaw Man (1918) Incomplete Speedy Meade (1919) Lost The Woman Thou Gavest Me (1919) Lost High Pockets (1919) Surviving The Thunderbolt (1919) Lost The Beauty Market (1919) Lost The Turning Point (1920) Lost Passion's Playground (1920) Lost The Notorious Miss Lisle (1920) Lost Curtain (1920) Lost My Lady's Latchkey (1921) Lost Stranger Than Fiction (1921) Lost Her Social Value (1921) Lost The Beautiful Liar (1921) Lost The Woman's Side (1922) Lost The Infidel (1922) Lost Domestic Relations (1922)Lost Heroes and Husbands (1922) Lost White Shoulders (1922) Lost The Woman Conquers (1922) Lost Money! Money! Money! (1923) Lost Refuge (1923) Lost The Lonely Road (1923) Lost The Scarlet Lily (1923) Lost Chastity (1923) Lost Trust Your Wife (1924) Lost The Unnamed Woman (1925) Lost Old Loves and New (1926) Lost