Kathryn Osterman (May 5, 1883 – August 29, 1956) was an American comic vaudeville actress on stage and in silent films.
Early life Kathryn Osterman was born in Toledo, Ohio, 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."Mrs. Maurice Kraus, a Retired Actress" New York Times (January 4, 1947): 25.
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."Kathryn Osterman, "Good-by to the 'Screen-Type'" Green Book (December 1915): 1093–1095. Her stage appearances, mostly in touring companies, included roles in The Girl in the Taxi, What Happened to Jones (1897),"What Happened to Jones" The Illustrated American (September 189, 1897): 370. Miss Petticoats (1903),"Miss Petticoats" Boston Globe (August 30, 1903): 27. via Newspapers.com Piff, Paff, Pouf (1905),"'Piff, Paff, Pouf' at the Boyd" Omaha Daily Bee (October 20, 1905): 2. via Newspapers.com The Girl Who Looks Like Me (1907),"Attractions Coming to the Bell" St. Joseph Daily Press (December 28, 1907): 4. via Newspapers.com The Night of the Play (1908–1909),"Grand — Kathryn Osterman" Kansas City Times (March 22, 1909): 5. via Newspapers.com and Modest Suzanne (1912). She also appeared in vaudeville."Kathryn Osterman in Vaudeville" San Francisco Call (February 16, 1900): 4. via California Digital Newspaper Collection
Screen She appeared in short silent films, including at least fourteen for the American Mutoscope and Biograph Co.: The Art of Making Up (1900), Strictly Fresh Eggs (1901), The Unfaithful Wife (1903)David Mayer, Stagestruck Filmmaker: D. W. Griffith and the American Theatre (University of Iowa Press 2009): 277. 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), Sweets for the Sweet (1903), and The Lost Child (1904).Kemp R. Niver, Motion Pictures From The Library of Congress Paper Print Collection 1894–1912 (University of California Press 1967): 22, 83, 107, 124, 335. In 1915 she joined the World Comedy Stars Film Corporation to make silent comedy short films,"Kathryn Osterman" Motography (March 13, 1915): 410. including Housekeeping Under Cover,"World" Motography (April 17, 1915): 634. and The Bludgeon (1915).
Legal issues In 1901, Osterman sued a tobacco company for using her likeness in a print advertisement, without permission."She Does Not Chew" Printers' Ink (September 4, 1901): 50. In 1903, actress Josephine Victor sued Osterman and her husband over a casting dispute."Didn't Want a Brunette Wife" Town Talk (August 22, 1903): 22.
Personal life Kathryn Osterman married theatrical manager Jacob J. Rosenthal in 1898. Their son Jack Osterman (1902–1939) was an actor.Anthony Slide, The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville (University Press of Mississippi 2012): 383. "Poems Written by Actor" Fourth Estate (October 5, 1918): 12. She also helped to raise her granddaughter, Kathryn Jacqueline Osterman."Miss K. J. Osterman Engaged to Marry" New York Times (December 14, 1952): 104. 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, in the Arnold Genthe Collection, Library of Congress.