Kathleen Harrison

During the 1960s, Kathleen Harrison starred on television as Mrs Thursday, the charlady who inherited a fortune. The role was ultimately played in several Tarzan films by Maureen O'Sullivan. The Huggett family made their first appearance in Holiday Camp (1948). Hyams was the original choice to play Jane in Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), but turned it down. Harrison studied at RADA, then spent some years living in Argentina before making her UK professional debut during the 1920s. Before and during the Second World War, she played small parts in numerous British films, including, Night Must Fall (1937), The Ghost Train (1941), Oliver Twist (1948) and a small but scene-stealing role as Mrs. Dilber in Scrooge (1951) [aka Christmas Carol, A (1951) (USA)]. She was married to the agent Phil Berg from 1927 until her death in Bel Air, California. Kathleen Harrison (February 23, 1892, Blackburn, Lancashire, England - December 7, 1995, was a prolific British character actress, best remembered for her roles as Mrs Huggett in a series of British post-war comedies (playing opposite Jack Warner). After ten years and fifty films, Hyams retired from acting in 1936, but remained part of the Hollywood community for the rest of her life.

She also appeared in the controversial Jean Harlow film Red-Headed Woman (1932), the musical comedy The Big Broadcast (1932) with Bing Crosby, George Burns and Gracie Allen, and was widely praised for her comedic performance in Ruggles of Red Gap (1935). Although she succeeded in films that required her to play pretty ingenues, and developed into a capable dramatic actress in 1930s crime melodramas, she is perhaps best remembered for two early 1930s horror movies, as the wise-cracking but kind hearted circus performer in Freaks (1932), and as the heroine in Island of Lost Souls (1933). As Robert Montgomery's sister in the Chester Morris prison drama The Big House (1930), Hyams once again received positive reviews and the quality of her parts continued to improve. The following year she appeared in the popular murder mystery The Thirteenth Chair, a role that offered her the chance to display her dramatic abilities as a murder suspect.

By 1928 she was playing starring roles, achieving success in Alias Jimmy Valentine (1928). She proved herself capable of handling the small roles she was assigned, and over a period of time she came to be taken seriously as an actress. She made her first film in 1924, and with her blonde hair, delicate features, and good natured demeanour, was cast in a string of supporting roles, where she was required to do very little but smile and look pretty. This success led her to Hollywood.

As a teenager she worked as a model and become well known across the United States after appearing in a successful series of newspaper advertisements. Born in New York, New York to vaudeville comedy performers John Hyams and Leila McIntyre, Hyams appeared on-stage with her parents while still a child. Leila Hyams (May 1, 1905 – December 4, 1977) was an American film actress.