Not to be confused with Katherine Crawford, a film and TV actress of the 1960s and 70s best known for co-starring in the series Gemini Man

Gemini Man

Gemini Man is an American action/adventure drama series that aired on NBC in 1976. This is the third of four weekly television series based on the H. G. Wells science fiction novel, The Invisible Man.-Synopsis:...

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Kathryn Crawford, also spelled Katherine Crawford, (October 5, 1908-December 7, 1980) was an American film actress of the 1920s and 1930s.

Born Katherine Moran in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania

Wellsboro, Pennsylvania

Wellsboro is a borough in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, 52 miles northwest of Williamsport. Early in the twentieth century, Wellsboro was the shipping point and trade center for a large area...

, Crawford had a somewhat tumultuous childhood. Her parents divorced when she was four years old; she and her sister stayed with her mother. But her mother took sick soon afterward and was hospitalized. The two girls went to live with their father, and Crawford never heard from her mother again. Soon after her mother fell ill, her father moved the family to Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

. She didn't get along with her stepmother, and at the age of 15, Crawford eloped with her sister's boyfriend to get out of the house. After a year and a half of marriage, the two separated. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19290511&id=8okLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fFQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6477,5085691

She worked as a shop assistant for some time but was determined to make use of her singing voice and decided to pursue musical comedy. She began performing in summer stock

Summer Stock

For the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...

 jobs across the Pacific Coast until she finally got her big break, as the ingenue in the play Hit the Deck. The play was successful and she attracted the attention of director Wesley Ruggles, who gave her a screen test that won her a contract with Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures

-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

. They would later marry. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19290511&id=8okLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fFQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6477,5085691

Crawford starred in her first film in 1929, when she appeared opposite Hoot Gibson

Hoot Gibson

Hoot Gibson was an American rodeo champion and a pioneer cowboy film actor, director and producer.-Early life and career:...

 in King of the Rodeo. She would star in seven films that year, and in 1930 she appeared in another six films, including Safety in Numbers alongside Carole Lombard

Carole Lombard

Carole Lombard was an American actress. She was particularly noted for her comedic roles in the screwball comedies of the 1930s...

 and up and coming actress and "WAMPAS Baby Star

WAMPAS Baby Stars

The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States which honored thirteen young women each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. They were selected from 1922 to 1934, and annual...

" Josephine Dunn

Josephine Dunn

Josephine Dunn was an early American film actress of the 1920s and 1930s.Born in New York City, Dunn began her career in Hollywood with a small role alongside Thelma Todd in the 1926 film Fascinating Youth. Dunn became associated with what would become known as the "Algonquin Round Table", which...

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Her only starring role on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 was in the Cole Porter

Cole Porter

Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...

 musical The New Yorkers

The New Yorkers

The New Yorkers is a musical written by Cole Porter and Herbert Fields . The musical premiered on Broadway in 1930. It is based on a story by cartoonist Peter Arno and E. Ray Goetz. The musical satirizes New York types, from high society matrons to con men, bootleggers, thieves and prostitutes...

in which she was the original singer of "Love for Sale".

However, by 1931 her career had cooled. She would star in only one film that year, and only three between 1932 and 1933, only one of which would be a starring lead role. She married Ralph M. Parson , with whom she would remain married until his death in 1974. She would have one more acting part, in 1941, when she was credited under the name "Katherine Crawford" in City of Missing Girls, and which starred H. B. Warner

H. B. Warner

H. B. Warner was a British actor.-Early life:He was born Henry Byron Charles Stewart Warner-Lickford in St John's Wood, London, England in 1875...

 and John Archer

John Archer

-People:*John Archer *John Archer *John Archer , British politician, first person of African descent elected to public office*John Archer , former U.S...

. She retired from acting after that film, and moved to Pasadena, California

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

, where she resided until her death in 1980, of cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

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