Katherine DeMille
Actor · Died April 27, 1995, aged 83 · Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
A dark, exotic beauty, Katherine DeMille was a fascinating screen presence in the 1930s and 1940s. She was born in Canada to a Scottish schoolteacher, Edward Gabriel Lester, and his Italian-Swiss wife, Cecile Bianca Bertha (Colani) Lester. Her father was killed in France during World War I, and her mother, who was terminally ill, traveled to California to find Katherine's paternal grandparents and leave her with them. Mrs. Lester died before she could contact her in-laws and Katherine was placed in a Los Angeles orphanage. Constance Adams, the wife of Hollywood's top filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille, was a director of the orphanage. The DeMilles were moved by Katherine's misfortune and decided to adopt her. She became a member of a family that also included the DeMilles' only natural child, Cecilia de Mille; another adopted child, John de Mille; and Richard de Mille, who was actually DeMille's nephew. Katherine was educated at the Hollywood School for Girls and the Santa Barbara School for Girls. She loved acting in school plays and eventually found work as a movie extra, using the stage name Kay Marsh. DeMille, aware of his daughter's dream of becoming a star, hired her as a script supervisor for his film Four Frightened People (1934) and permitted her to visit the sets of his films and watch his editing process. She secretly auditioned for the role of Pancho Villa's wife, Rosita Morales, in the MGM production Viva Villa! (1934), starring Wallace Beery in the title role. She won the role and impressed the critics with her performance and beauty. Her portrayal of a Mexican maid in The Trumpet Blows (1934) earned her a contract with Paramount Pictures, and she was cast as the villain in Mae West's Belle of the Nineties (1934). Her ability to succeed in films on her own helped her gain her father's admiration as well as a featured role in his next epic, The Crusades (1935). She played Alice, Princess of France, and competed with Loretta Young's Berengaria for the love (and title as consort) of Richard the Lionheart (Henry Wilcoxon). The critics appreciated Katherine's talent and appearance in the lavish DeMille production. Her career was ascending. After her excellent work in the prestigious DeMille picture, Katherine was finally elevated to leading lady status. Paramount starred her in Drift Fence (1936) and Sky Parade (1936). She was also loaned out to MGM for an uncredited appearance as Romeo's first love, Rosaline, in Romeo and Juliet (1936). 20th Century-Fox cast her in a supporting role in the Barbara Stanwyck-Joel McCrea starrer Banjo on My Knee (1936) and gave her second billing in Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937). Katherine fell in love with Mexican actor Anthony Quinn and married him in 1937. She was billed third in The Californian (1937) and appeared in Love Under Fire (1937), a Spanish Civil War drama. At Columbia Pictures, she was billed second in the Jack Holt vehicle Under Suspicion (1937). This was followed by a small role in another Spanish Civil War drama, Blockade (1938), and a leading lady role in another Jack Holt vehicle, Trapped in the Sky (1939). Unfortunately, the big studios failed to showcase her talent in notable productions. Her next roles were featured in B movies: In Old Caliente (1939), Isle of Destiny (1940), Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940), and Dark Streets of Cairo (1940). She returned to Paramount for a role in the Technicolor film Aloma of the South Seas (1941). The Quinns had five children. She abandoned her film career after the tragic death of their firstborn, Christopher, in 1941. She made a comeback with a leading role in Black Gold (1947), co-starring her husband, and a supporting role as a Native American woman in her father's Unconquered (1947). She also starred in the film noir The Judge (1949). The Quinns divorced in 1965, and Katherine later moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she died of Alzheimer's disease in 1995.
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Biography from IMDb.
- June 29, 1911
- April 27, 1995 (aged 83)
- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Actor
- 14 on MovieCove · 32 credits in all
What are Katherine DeMille's films like?
Across their 12 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Bonds.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 12
A split, not a type: Light 7 · Serious 2 · Dark 3
A split, not a type: Grounded 7 · Stylized 4 · Heightened 1
Gentle 3 · Charged 8 · Intense 1
A split, not a type: Steady 6 · Shifting 5 · Whiplash 1
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 6 · Some laughs 5 · Funny 1
Slow burn 5 · Even-paced 6 · Relentless 1
Casual 8 · Engaged 4 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 11 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 0
Resolved 11 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Roles they play
Usually the Shadow: 2 of 4 analyzed roles.
- Shadowas Leota Long in Banjo on My Knee (1936)
- Shadowas Chata in The Californian (1937)
- Shapeshifteras Yvonne Roland in Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)
- Shapeshifteras Lucille Strang in The Judge (1949)
Moods and endings
- Happy10
- Bittersweet2
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Katherine DeMille's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 5 of their 14 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (5).
Subscription and free streaming for Katherine DeMille's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
32 credits, 14 with a MovieCove page.
The Judge(1949)
Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films
Unconquered(1947)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films
Black Gold (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1947)
Aloma of the South Seas(1941)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
Dark Streets of Cairo (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1940)
Ellery Queen, Master Detective (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1940)
Isle Of Destiny (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1940)
In Old Caliente(1939)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
Trapped in the Sky (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1939)
Blockade(1938)
Midcredits score: 26th percentile of all films
Under Suspicion (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1937)
Love Under Fire (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1937)
The Californian(1937)
Midcredits score: 12th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all films
Banjo on My Knee(1936)
Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all films
The Sky Parade (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1936)
Ramona (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1936)
Romeo and Juliet (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1936)
Drift Fence(1936)
Midcredits score: 34th percentile of all films
Hollywood Extra Girl (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)
The Crusades(1935)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films
Call of the Wild(1935)
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all films
The Black Room(1935)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
All the King's Horses (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)
Belle of the Nineties(1934)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
Viva Villa! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1934)
The Trumpet Blows (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1934)
Four Frightened People (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1934)
Girls About Town (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1931)
Son of India (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1931)
Madam Satan(1930)
Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films
Love Among the Millionaires (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1930)
Career shape
Star power in the 83rd percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 32 titles from 1930 to 1949.
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30.
How do Katherine DeMille's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 50th percentile, the median of all 14; across their 12 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 51st percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
- 50th to 74th4
- 25th to 49th4
- Below 25th3
Shape of the crowd
None of their 14 titles divides audiences: 6 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser6
- Broadly Agreed3
- Mixed4
Reviewers score the acting 65/100 in their films, across 12 reviewed titles; fans 74, detractors 37. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Katherine DeMille work with?
People who share at least 2 of Katherine DeMille's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Cecil B. DeMille shares the most, 2.
Directors
- Cecil B. DeMilleShared titles: Unconquered (1947), The Crusades (1935)See all 2 shared titles with Cecil B. DeMille
Actors
- Jonathan HaleShared titles: The Judge (1949), Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)See all 2 shared titles with Jonathan Hale
- Boris KarloffShared titles: Unconquered (1947), The Black Room (1935)See all 2 shared titles with Boris Karloff
- C. Aubrey SmithShared titles: Unconquered (1947), The Crusades (1935)See all 2 shared titles with C. Aubrey Smith
- Henry WilcoxonShared titles: Unconquered (1947), The Crusades (1935)See all 2 shared titles with Henry Wilcoxon
Cinematographers and editors
- Anne BauchensShared titles: Unconquered (1947), The Crusades (1935)See all 2 shared titles with Anne Bauchens
- Karl StrussShared titles: Aloma of the South Seas (1941), Belle of the Nineties (1934)See all 2 shared titles with Karl Struss
- Hanson T. FritchShared titles: Banjo on My Knee (1936), Call of the Wild (1935)See all 2 shared titles with Hanson T. Fritch
Producers
- Darryl F. ZanuckShared titles: Banjo on My Knee (1936), Call of the Wild (1935)See all 2 shared titles with Darryl F. Zanuck
- Henry HerzbrunShared titles: Drift Fence (1936), The Crusades (1935)See all 2 shared titles with Henry Herzbrun