Kathryn Osterman (May 5, 1883 – August 29, 1956) was an American comic

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

actress on stage and in

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

Early life

Kathryn Osterman was born in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

, one of the six daughters of M. D. Osterman and Margarete O'Connor Osterman. Several of her sisters were also actresses, including Lillian Osterman and Anna Belmont.

Career

Stage

In a 1915 article for ''Green Book'' magazine, Osterman wrote, "I have been on the stage for years and years — so long I won't tell about it — and every succeeding season has opened up new and wonderful realms of knowledge to me, and has taught me how little I knew before." Her stage appearances, mostly in touring companies, included roles in ''The Girl in the Taxi'', '' What Happened to Jones'' (1897), ''Miss Petticoats'' (1903), ''Piff, Paff, Pouf'' (1905), ''The Girl Who Looks Like Me'' (1907), ''The Night of the Play'' (1908-1909), and '' Modest Suzanne'' (1912). She also appeared in vaudeville.

Screen

She appeared short silent films, including ''The Art of Making Up'' (1900), ''Strictly Fresh Eggs'' (1901), ''The Unfaithful Wife'' (1903) ''Making a Welsh Rabbit'' (1903), ''A Search for Evidence'' (1903), ''The Widow'' (1903), ''The Rose'' (1903), ''The Girl at the Window'' (1903), ''Lucky Kitten'' (1903), ''Chicks to Order'' (1903), ''In My Lady's Boudoir'' (1903), ''He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not'' (1903), and ''The Lost Child'' (1904). In 1915 she joined the World Comedy Stars Film Corporation to make silent comedy short films, including ''Housekeeping Under Cover'', and ''The Bludgeon'' (1915).

Legal issues

In 1901, Osterman sued a tobacco company for using her likeness in a print advertisement, without permission. In 1903, actress Josephine Victor sued Osterman and her husband over a casting dispute.

Personal life

Kathryn Osterman married theatrical manager

Jacob J. Rosenthal Jacob J. Rosenthal, also known as J.J. Rosenthal or Jake Rosenthal, was a theater manager best known for managing Cohan & Harris' Bronx Opera House. He was married to actress Kathryn Osterman with whom he had a son, the comedian Jack Osterman. He ...

in 1898. Their son Jack Osterman (1902-1939) was an actor. She also helped to raise her granddaughter, Kathryn Jacqueline Osterman."Miss K. J. Osterman Engaged to Marry" ''New York Times'' (December 14, 1952): 104. via

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

She was widowed in 1923, and lost her only son to pneumonia in 1939; she died in 1956, in New York City, aged 73 years.

References

External links

* * *
A 1912 photograph of Kathryn Osterman
in the J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, University of Washington Libraries.
A 1915 photograph of Kathryn Osterman
by

Arnold Genthe Arnold Genthe (8 January 1869 – 9 August 1942) was a German-American photographer, best known for his photographs of San Francisco's Chinatown, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and his portraits of noted people, from politicians and socialite ...

, in the Arnold Genthe Collection, Library of Congress. {{DEFAULTSORT:Osterman, Kathryn 1883 births 1956 deaths American actresses People from Toledo, Ohio