The Wonderful Katherine Kath
Katherine Kath Mini-Biography
Katherine Kath nee Lily Faess (Rose Marie Nelly Faess) was born in
Berck Plage, Picardy, France in 1920 and was the fifth child to
parents Adrien Faess and Alix Caserbo. Katherine, then known as
Lily was very ambitious as a child and worked very hard with the
support from her family to become the top ballet dancer in her
class and achieved stage recognition very quickly.
Lily trained seven hours a day for ten years to become a Prima
Ballerina at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, but due to an ankle
injury and with medical advice was forced to give up the ballet to
avoid permanent damage, much to Lily's disappointment.
As a result of the injury Katherine (Kath) moved into acting in the
theatre and created a short sketch role of ‘Irma La
Douce’ at the Caberet ‘’Chez Gilles’’ in Paris,
a production by Grenier and Husneau (later brought to the screen by
Billy Wilder starring Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon in
1963).
Katherine Kath had great success in the late 1940/50’s with a
string of plays written by the highly acclaimed French writer
Jean Anouilh (1910-1987), titles
included ‘Antigone’, ‘Invitasion
au Chateau’ (Ring Round The Moon), ‘Le Diner
De Famille’. These
theatre productions were a roaring success in Paris at the time, at
the Theatre Marigny and established Katherine Kath as an actress
and played to sold out houses every night. Other plays
included ‘La
Soif’ (1949) by Henry Bernstein (1876-1953)
starring Jean Gabin (1904-1976), Claude Dauphin (1904-1976).
Katherine took over the role that was created by Madeleine Robinson
(1916-2004), ‘La Petite
Lily’(1951) starring Edith Piaf
(1915-1963).
Amongst the French films that Katherine appeared in around this
time, were ‘Captain
Blomet’ 1947 starring
Fernand Gravey, Gaby Sylvis. ‘Le
Cavalier de
Croix-Mort’ 1948 starring Henri
Nassiet, Madeleine Robinson.‘L’armoire
Volante’ 1948 starring
Fernandel, ‘Toute
la Famille était
Là’ 1948 starring Jean
Parédès, Jean Tissier, André
Alerme. ‘Ainsi Finit la
nuit’ 1949 starring
Anne Vernon, Claude Dauphin, Henri
Guisol. ‘Le Rideau
Rouge’ 1952 starring Paul Barge,
Michel Barsacq.
In 1952 Katherine Kath was to land the unforgettable role as La
Goulue in John
Huston’s ‘Moulin Rouge’,
starring alongside José Ferrer (1912-1922), Zsa Zsa
Gabor(1917-), Suzanne Flon (1918-2005), Colette Marchand (1925-)
and Muriel Smith (1923-1985). John Huston’s Associate Producer on
Moulin Rouge was Jack Clayton (1921-1995) whom Katherine would
later marry.
After ‘Moulin Rouge’ Katherine
returned to Paris to star in ‘Le
Dortoir Des Grandes’ 1953 starring Jean
Marais (1913-1998) , ‘Oh No,
Mam’zelle’ 1954 starring Fernandel
(1903-1998), Pier Angeli
(1932-1971). ‘La Madone
des Sleepings’ 1955 starring
Giselle Pascal (1921-2007), Erich von Stroheim
(1885-1957).
Other films include ‘A Touch of the Sun’ 1956 starring Frankie Howerd, Dennis Price. ‘Anastasia’ ‘1956 starring Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner, Helen Hayes. ‘These Dangerous Years’ 1957 starring George Baker, Frankie Vaughan, Carole Lesley. ‘The Man Who Wouldn’t Talk’ 1958 starring Anna Neagle, Anthony Quayle, Zsa Zsa Gabor. ‘Subway in the Sky’ 1959 starring Van Johnson, Hildegard Neff. ‘Fury at Smugglers Bay’ 1961 starring Peter Cushing, John Fraser. ‘Gigot’ 1962 starring Jackie Gleason, directed by Gene Kelly. ‘Aliki My Love’ 1962 starring Aliki Vougiouklaki, Wilfred Hyde-White, Jess Conrad. ‘The Magnificent Showman’ (Circus World)1964 starring John Wayne, Rita Hayworth, Claudia Cardinale. ‘Mary Queen of Scots’ 1971 starring Vanessa Redgrave, Glenda Jackson.
Katherine Kath has also appeared in many television series
throughout her career, (these can be viewed on the'Films &
T.V. of Katherine Kath' page). One of
her most memorable T.V. appearances was playing the party host
Madame Engadine in the cult 1967 T.V. series 'The
Prisoner' (A,B and C) starring Patrick McGoohan
and Colin Gordon.
In 1983 Katherine Kath appeared in a stage production called ‘Little Lies’ written by Joseph George Caruso at the Wyndham’s Theatre, London starring John Mills. This play ran from July 1983 until February 1984, then the play moved to Canada for a period of time.
Katherine Kath retired in 1987, a great dancer and actress, her body of work speaks for itself . A true great, a true talent.
©N.Hall 2011
Sadly, Katherine Kath passed away on 17th
November 2012.
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