Kathleen Freeman Biography

(Actress)

Birthday: February 17, 1919 (Aquarius)

Born In: Chicago, Illinois, United States

Kathleen Freeman was an American character actress, best remembered for her role as a voice teacher in the 1952 film ‘Singing in the Rain’. In a career spanning five decades, she appeared in around 100 movies, the most successful of which were with Jerry Lewis. She also worked in numerous television shows and stage productions. Throughout her career, she played the roles of maids, secretaries, teachers, nuns, nurses, prying neighbors and relatives, invariably giving a comic touch to each of her characters. Although she was never considered for a lead role, she did not regret working as a supporting cast. In an interview in January 2001, barely months before her death from lung cancer, she summed up her feelings, saying: “I'm a living example of the fact that you don't have to be in every inch of a film or play (the lead) to be important to it.”
7
Quick Facts

Died At Age: 82

Actresses Voice Actresses

Height: 5'8" (173 cm), 5'8" Females

Died on: August 23, 2001

place of death: New York, United States

City: Chicago, Illinois

Cause of Death: Lung Cancer

U.S. State: Illinois

More Facts

education: University Of California, Los Angeles

Childhood & Early Years
Kathleen Freeman was born on February 17, 1919 in Chicago, Illinois. Both her parents were professional vaudevillians, but her mother was also an opera artist. Kathleen was her parents’ only child.
She first appeared on stage when she was only two years old, participating in her parents’ vaudeville song and dance act ‘Dixon and Freeman’. At that time, vaudeville had started to lose its charm, and when its popularity hit rock bottom, the Freemans moved to Los Angeles to try their luck in Hollywood.
Not much is known about her childhood years except that she began to take piano lessons early in her life, as her parents wanted her to become a musician. Her mother was very particular about her formal education; therefore, Kathleen attended a regular school, where she also performed in plays, getting laughs for her comic acts.
After school, she enrolled in the ‘University of California’ to study music. One night, she was accompanying her college’s production team, which was going to perform the play ‘Pygmalion’. When one of the actresses failed to turn up, Kathleen was asked to take up her place. She never had to look back ever since.
Continue Reading Below
Career
After graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles, Kathleen Freeman began her professional acting career and worked with various stock and repertory companies. In 1946, she joined some UCLA students to form a new group called ‘The Circle’, which was later renamed ‘El Centro Theatre’.
The Circle’s first performance was held at a converted grocery store, where they produced ‘Ethan Frome’, with Kathleen depicting the role of Zenobia Frome. A Hollywood talent scout spotted her while she was performing in ‘Ethan Frome’ and offered her a movie role.
In 1948, she debuted in films with an un-credited role in ‘Naked City’, in which she had just one line, "Didja read about the bathtub murder?" Later in the same year, she appeared in three other movies, ‘Casbah', 'Behind Locked Doors' and 'The Saxon Charm', all of which were un-credited roles.
Kathleen got her first film credit in 1949 when she played the role of Annie Swenson in ‘Annie Was a Wonder’. It was followed by a number of films, in which she depicted a variety of characters like sharp and sarcastic maids, nosy neighbors and dominating nurses. She was known for injecting a comic effect in all her movie characters.
By the early 1950s, she was acting in almost 11 films and television productions a year, many of which were un-credited roles. For example, she was Phoebe Dinsmore in ‘Singing in the Rain’, a party guest in ‘House by the River’, a spectator in ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’.
Playing the role of a maid in the 1953-1954 sitcom ‘Toppers’ and a custard-pie gag victim in the 1954 film '3 Ring Circus’ were her other important works of the early 1950s. Her popularity further increased when she appeared as a guest star in the children’s series ‘Buckskin’ in 1958.
After ‘Buckskin’, Kathleen went on to appear on numerous television shows, including ‘Mister Ed’, ‘Laramie’, ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’, ‘I Dream of Jeannie’, ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E’, etc. Concurrently, she also continued to appear in films.
She remained active in movie productions throughout the 1960s. Beginning the decade with ‘North to Alaska’, ‘The Errand Boy’, ‘The Disorderly Orderly’, ‘Support Your Local Sheriff’ and most notably, ‘The Nutty Professor’, were some of her major works of this period.
Kathleen began the 1970s with the comedy movie 'Myra Breckinridge’, playing the role of Bobby Dean Loner. At the age of 59, she made her Broadway debut in Georges Feydeau's 1978 play ‘13 Rue de l'Amour’, appearing as Madame Spritzer.
In spite of her advancing age, she continued to work in movies, appearing as Sister Mary Stigmata in the 1980 film ‘The Blues Brother’. In 1998, she reprised the role in its sequel, ‘Blues Brothers 2000’. Concurrently, she continued to be seen in Broadway productions.
In 2001, Kathleen made her last Broadway appearance as Jeanette Burmeister in ‘The Full Monty’, a role that earned her a Tony award nomination for Best Actress. Her last screen credits were for the animated TV series ‘As Told by Ginger’, in which she dubbed the voice for Mrs. Gordon; and ‘Shrek’, in which she was the voice of an old woman.
Major Works
Kathleen Freeman is best remembered for her films with Jerry Lewis. She first appeared with him in the 1954 film '3 Ring Circus’. Soon, she became one of his favorite co-stars, resulting in 11 more films with him. The most prominent among them were ‘The Disorderly Orderly’, ‘The Errand Boy’ and ‘The Nutty Professor’.
Family & Personal Life
Kathleen Freeman never married and had no children. However, some sources claim that she was a lesbian and Helen Ramsey was her long-time companion.
On 23 August 2001, five days after leaving the cast of ‘The Full Monty’, she died of lung cancer. Her remains were cremated and her ashes interred in a niche at ‘Hollywood Forever Cemetery’.

See the events in life of Kathleen Freeman in Chronological Order

How To Cite

Article Title
- Kathleen Freeman Biography
Author
- Editors, TheFamousPeople.com
Website
- TheFamousPeople.com
URL
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/kathleen-freeman-44371.php

People Also Viewed

Sydney Sweeney Biography
Sydney Sweeney
(American)
 
Emma Stone Biography
Emma Stone
(American)
 
Jodie Foster Biography
Jodie Foster
(American)
 
Dakota Johnson Biography
Dakota Johnson
(American)
 
Julia Roberts Biography
Julia Roberts
(American)
 
Priscilla Presley Biography
Priscilla Presley
(American)
 
Cherilyn Sarkisian Biography
Cherilyn Sarkisian
(American)
 
Brenda Song Biography
Brenda Song
(American)