Catherine Dale Owen

Catherine Dale Owen (July 28, 1900 – September 7, 1965) was an American actress who worked in both stage and film. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, she pursued her education at private schools in Philadelphia and Bronxville, New York, before enrolling at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.

Owen's entry into professional theater came through Laura MacGillivray, wife of Actors Equity president Frank Gillmore, who first recognized her potential. Her Broadway career spanned from 1921 to 1932 and encompassed a range of productions, including The Mountain Man, The Whole Town's Talking, Trelawny of the Wells, Happy Landing, Mr. Moneypenny, The Play's the Thing, The City, Canary Dutch, and The Love City, among others. In 1925, she was named one of the ten most beautiful women in the world.

Her transition to film began in 1929 with His Glorious Night, in which she played Princess Orsolini opposite John Gilbert's Captain Kovacs. The following year she appeared in The Rogue Song, which marked Lawrence Tibbett's film debut, and also co-starred with Edmund Lowe in Born Reckless. Her final film appearance came in 1931 with Defenders of the Law, and she retired from acting altogether in 1935. During her years in the theater world, caricaturist Alex Gard drew her likeness for display at Sardi's, the well-known New York City theater district restaurant; that caricature is now held in the collection of the New York Public Library.

In her personal life, Owen married Milton F. Davis Jr., son of Brigadier General Milton F. Davis, in 1934. The marriage ended in divorce in March 1937. On June 5, 1937, she married advertising executive Homer P. Metzger in New York City. The couple had one son, Robert Owen Metzger, born in October 1939.

On September 3, 1965, Owen suffered a stroke at her New York City home and was transported to Lenox Hill Hospital, where she fell into a coma. She died there on September 7, 1965, at the age of 65.