Kay Hughes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kay Hughes | |
| Birth name | Catherine Mary Rhoads |
| Born | 16 January 1914 Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Died | 4 April 1998 Palm Springs, California, USA |
| Other name(s) | Catherine Hughes |
| Years active | 1930s & 1940s |
| Notable roles | Gwen Andrews in the first Dick Tracy serial |
Kay Hughes (16 January 1914 - 4 April 1998) was an American actress with a brief career in the 1930s and 40s appearing mainly in westerns and serials.
Kay was born Catherine Mary Rhoads Los Angeles in 1914 but grew up in Ohio before returning to California to pursue her career.
She originally hoped to be a dancer but childhood sickness, including life threatening pleurisy at the age of six and a major illness at seventeen, prevented that. 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 1940 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.
Kay 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, California.
| “ | It was a thrill to know so many people remembered and still enjoyed the old westerns and serials | ” |
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— Following a film festival in Charlotte, North Carolina
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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 passed away a few months later on 4 April 1998 at the age of 84.
| “ | 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! | ” |
[edit] Annotated Filmography
Kay's career started typically with several uncredited and minor roles.
- Saturday's Millions {1933) as Student
- Men in Black {1934) as Nurse - A Three Stooges short film
- It's the Cats {1934)
- The Chases of Pimple Street {1934) as Clerk
- His Old Flame {1935)
- George White's 1935 Scandals {1935) as One of Do's Four Girls
- Slightly Static {1935) as Telephone Operator
- Fighting Youth {1935) as Sorority Girl
Kay had some larger roles in 1937.
- Strike Me Pink {1936) as Goldwyn Girl
- Every Saturday Night {1936) as Patty Newall
- The Robin Hood of El Dorado {1936) as Louise
More minor roles followed.
- Brides Are Like That {1936) as Mary Ann Coleridge
- Snowed Under {1936) as Miss Jones, Dumb Switchboard Operator
- The Singing Kid {1936) as Mary Lou
- Romance in the Air {1936)
In 1936 Kay signed with Republic and first used the screenname Kay Hughes.
- The Vigilantes Are Coming {1936) as Doris Colton - Serial with Robert Livingston
- The Three Mesquiteers {1936) as Marian Bryant - First of the popular Three Mesquiteers series of films with Robert Livingston
- Ride Ranger Ride {1936) as Dixie Summerall - With Gene Autry and Smiley Burnette
- Ghost-Town Gold {1936) as Sabina Thornton - Second of the popular Three Mesquiteers series of films with Robert Livingston
- The Big Show {1936) as Marion Hill - With Gene Autry and Smiley Burnette
- The Mandarin Mystery {1936) as Irene Kirk
- A Man Betrayed {1936) as Marjorie Norton
- Dick Tracy {1937) as Gwen Andrews - Serial with Ralph Byrd and Smiley Burnette. This was also re-edited into a feature film, which was released in the same year.
Encouraged by her agent, Kay moved to the bigger Universal Studios, where she used a new screenname, Catherine Hughes.
- Hollywood Screen Test {1937)
- Radio Patrol {1937) as Molly Selkirk - Another serial, for a different studio
- Trouble at Midnight {1938) as Catherine Benson
She then moved to Columbia Pictures where she starred in two films.
- Honolulu Lu {1941) as Nurse
- Riders of the Badlands {1941) as Celia Barton - Filmed while pregnant with her first child
Kay briefly retired to raise her family but soon returned to film two westerns for Producers Releasing Corporation.
She then retired from film to raise her family. She had one more screen credit, however, sixteen years later.
- The Aquanauts (1961) as Paula - In Episode 31 "The Scavenger Adventure"
[edit] References
- Kay Hughes at the Internet Movie Database
- Biography of Kay Hughes at Leading Ladies
- Kay Huges filmography at NY Times
