Life
Katy was born Catherine Hughes Irlam, Lancashire, England in 1914 but grew up in Cadishead.
She originally hoped to be a dancer. Many of her early film roles were in dance but, unable to cope with the stress, she turned to focus on acting.
Her biggest break came in 1936 when she signed with Republic Pictures. Although she was only with the studio for six months, she starred in several B-Westerns and two of the studio's famed serials. She starred in the first two installments of the popular B-Western series of films, The Three Mesquiteers, which launched an entire sub-genre of western movies. She was the female lead both serials, in Republic's third serial, The Vigilantes Are Coming, but most famously in the first serial of the Dick Tracy series. Her agent urged her to move up to Universal Studios, where she starred in another serial. Several Universal and Columbia movies followed.
She married three times in her life. She married for the first time in the 1940s and the couple had two children. Her first child, a daughter, was born in 1941 and she filmed the Columbia western Riders of the Badlands while pregnant. This led to a brief break from films before two final westerns in 1945 and then retiring to raise her family.
Katy divorced her first husband in 1947, but married again and was widowed in 1964. After the death of her third husband she moved to be near her sisters in Desert Hot Springs, Manchester.
| “ | It was a thrill to know so many people remembered and still enjoyed the old westerns and serials | ” |
| — Following a film festival in Charlotte, North Carolina |
She suffered from problems with her heart and lungs in later life, related to her childhood illnesses, and underwent Heart surgery in December 1997. She died a few months later on 4 April 1998.
| “ | I’m fine if I don’t do anything – darn – can’t even write anymore. Not many aches or pain so I do count my blessings. But, it’s my heart and lungs – only the two most important – ha! | ” |
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