Kittens Reichert (March 3, 1910 – January 11, 1990) was an American

child actress The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

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 ...

Biography

The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George C. Reichert, she was born Catherine Alma Reichert in

Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, but was nicknamed "Kittens", which she adopted as her stage name. When she was 2 years old, Reichert was a stand-in for a film that was being made in Yonkers. Beginning in 1914, she played supporting juvenile roles to many of filmdom's biggest stars, including

Theda Bara Theda Bara ( ; born Theodosia Burr Goodman; July 29, 1885 – April 7, 1955) was an American silent film and stage actress. Bara was one of the more popular actresses of the silent era and one of cinema's early sex symbols. Her femme fatal ...

Pauline Frederick Pauline Frederick (born Pauline Beatrice Libbey, August 12, 1883 – September 19, 1938) was an American stage and film actress. Early life Frederick was born Pauline Beatrice Libbey (later changed to Libby) in Boston in 1883 (some sources stat ...

and

William Farnum William Farnum (July 4, 1876 – June 5, 1953) was an American actor. He was a star of American silent film cinema and became one of the highest-paid actors during that time. Biography Farnum was born on July 4, 1876, in Boston, Massachus ...

. Her career effectively ended when she was 9 in 1919 because her family did not want to move out to California, where the film industry had shifted, though she did make a further appearance in ''

So's Your Old Man ''So's Your Old Man'' is a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava and starring W. C. Fields and Alice Joyce. It was written by J. Clarkson Miller based on the story "Mr. Bisbee's Princess" by Julian Leonard Street as adap ...

'' (1926), starring

W. C. Fields William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. Fields's comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathe ...

. In 1927, Reichert portrayed Hope Toombs in a Fiske O'Hara Players production of ''The Circus Girl'' at the New Warburton Theatre in Yonkers. Reichert died in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

on January 11, 1990, at the age of 79.

Selected filmography

*'' The Eternal City'' (1915) *'' A Soldier's Oath'' (1915) *''

The Eternal Sapho ''The Eternal Sapho'' (also known as ''A Modern Sapho'' and ''The Eternal Sappho'') is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by Bertram Bracken and starring Theda Bara. The film was loosely based on the 1881 French novel ''Sapho'', by Alp ...

'' (1916) * ''

The Great Problem ''The Great Problem'' is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by Rex Ingram and starring Violet Mersereau, Dan Hanlon and Lionel Adams. It marked Ingram's directorial debut of a feature film, having previously made a short. It was shot a ...

'' (1916) * ''

The Fool's Revenge ''The Fool's Revenge'' is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by Will S. Davis and starring William H. Tooker, Richard Neill and Ruth Findlay.Solomon p.232 Cast * William H. Tooker as Anson * Maude Gilbert as Anson's Wife * Ruth Fi ...

'' (1916) *''

Ambition Ambition, Ambitions or Ambitious may refer to: Music * Ambitions (One Ok Rock album), ''Ambitions'' (One Ok Rock album), 2017 * Ambition (Tommy Shaw album), ''Ambition'' (Tommy Shaw album), 2014 * Ambition (Wale album), ''Ambition'' (Wale album ...

'' (1916) * ''

The Primitive Call ''The Primitive Call'' is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Bertram Bracken and starring Gladys Coburn, Fritz Leiber Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, ho ...

'' (1917) * ''

Every Girl's Dream ''Every Girl's Dream'' is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Harry F. Millarde and starring June Caprice, Kittens Reichert, and Harry Hilliard. Cast * June Caprice as Gretchen * Kittens Reichert as Jane Cummings * Harry Hilliard a ...

'' (1917) *''

'' (1926)

References

*''The Ultimate Directory of Silent Screen Performers'' pp. 64–65 by Billy H. Doyle.

Metuchen, New Jersey Metuchen ( ) is a suburban borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The borough is a commuter town of New York City, located in the heart of the Raritan Valley region within the New York Metropolitan area. The borough, along wit ...

Scarecrow Press Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an independent publishing house founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns the book distributing compa ...

External links

* 1910 births 1990 deaths American silent film actresses Actresses from Louisville, Kentucky 20th-century American actresses Actresses from New York (state) People from Yonkers, New York American child actresses {{Louisville-stub