Kitty Gordon

Kitty Gordon (born Constance Minnie Blades; 22 April 1878 – 26 May 1974) was an English stage and silent film actress.

Career Constance Minnie Blades was born in Folkestone, Kent, to Col. Blades of the Royal Artillery. Her first professional stage appearance was at the Princes Theatre in Bristol in 1901 in the touring production of San Toy. She appeared in The Duchess of Dantzic in 1903, the operetta Véronique in 1904 and The Three Kisses in 1907. In 1909 she moved to New York City, where she became a regular on the New York stage.

On 19 October 1911, Gordon starred in the premiere of composer Victor Herbert's operetta The Enchantress at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. Herbert wrote the title role specifically for her. She remained with the production when it transferred to the New York Theatre on Broadway later that month and toured in the piece for two years, until she fell ill.

She made her first film appearance in 1916 in As in a Looking Glass. During the next three years she made twenty-one films. She continued her stage work from 1919 onwards. She also made television appearances. Her final appearance on television was in 1952 on the program Life Begins at Eighty. Kitty's child became Cynthia Vera Beresford, who became an actress. In 1932 Kitty married Ralph Ranlet. Kitty's daughter Vera died in 1945.

Kitty Gordon died in a nursing home in Brentwood, New York in 1974.

Filmography