Katherine DeMille

Katherine Lester DeMille (born Katherine Paula Lester; June 29, 1911 – April 27, 1995) was a Canadian-born American actress who played 25 credited film roles from the mid-1930s to the late 1940s. The adopted daughter of director Cecil B. DeMille, she was considered Hollywood royalty and was noted for her dark beauty. Her first credited role was featured in Viva Villa! (1934). She signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and portrayed Princess Alice of France in her father's epic The Crusades (1935) and also starred in The Sky Parade (1936). DeMille continued her career at 20th Century Fox and other studios until 1941, when she retired to dedicate her time to her family. She returned to films with roles in Black Gold and Unconquered (both 1947) and starred in her final film, The Judge, in 1949. In his autobiography, her father wrote that she "has carried the name deMille on for another generation in motion pictures as a talented actress." Early years DeMille was born Katherine Paula Lester on June 29, 1911 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Her biological father, Edward Gabriel Lester, was a Scottish-born English schoolteacher who served as a lieutenant in the 102nd Battalion, CEF during World War I and died at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917 and was the grandson of Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Parkinson Lester. Her birth mother, Cecile Bianca Bertha Colani, was of Italian descent and died in a Los Angeles hospital. She was a paternal granddaughter of Reverend John Moore Lester, rector of Litchborough, Northamptonshire, England. Her maternal grandfather, Johann Colani, was an architect.