Cathy Downs Profile

Cathy Downs

	(Catherine M. Downs)
3 March 26	is born in Port Jefferson, Long Island, New York, to James N. and Edna E. Downs
December 46	is beaued by young actor Guy Madison on New Year’s Eve because his real heart, Gail Russell, is in New York / is seen around with young actor Guy Madison, who was going places with Gail Russell
February 47	is borrowed from Sam Goldwyn to play the feminine lead in an upcoming movie from a Louis Bromfield story
January 48	gets a trip to Florida, all expenses paid, just to parade around the swimming pool of a new hotel and look beautiful
October 48	is seen at La Rue with Joe Kirkwood, Jr., young champion golfer-turned-actor
June 49	dances with John Agar at a party given by Errol Flynn at his home
	she and Kirkwood are expected to altar-trek before the month’s out
August 49	scales 120 pounds for her five feet, six inches
8 October 49	marries Joe Kirkwood, Jr., at a hotel chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kirkwood’s the son of Joe Kirkwood, Sr., one of golf's greatest trick-shot artists. He’s 28: she’s 23. It’s the first marriage for each of the movie pair.
End October 49	she and Kirkwood attend the Press Photographer’s Ball. She’s made up as a dark-skinned beauty; he features a golfing cap.
April 50	her movie A Dog’s Life, starring Harold Lloyd, Jr., is held up by money tangles. All footage is completed, but a musical score is lacking, and the investors are in a deadlock.
May 50	is embarrassed about those stork rumors. "It isn’t true," she says. "What’s more I’m up for a new picture and I’m scared that I’ll lose the part. You know how producers are when they think an actress is - well, you know."
September 50	for publicity purposes, she and fellow actress Faith Domergue try the lightning-like, dangerous game of jai alai, absorbing instructions from Julio Perez, an expert
52	is crowned "Azalea Queen" at the Azalea Festival of Wilmington, North Carolina
May 52	is seen at the tennis court with Fernando Lamas, Argentina’s romantic actor and reportedly Lana Turner’s latest heartthrob
July 54	is seen at a Hollywood premiere with her husband, Kirkwood. She and Joe found that careers and marriage can mix.
10 October 54	she and Kirkwood separate after a marriage of five years
Mid-December 54	announces she plans to file divorce suit against Kirkwood in California in January, "because we are incompatible and we might as well get a divorce"
12 January 55	files for divorce from Kirkwood in Los Angeles on grounds of extreme mental cruelty. "I tried golf for his sake, but he just made fun of me."
February 55	gets her divorce from Kirkwood
May 55	Modern Screen thinks her marriage ended for a variety of reasons
November 55	she and Bob Brunson plan to marry in Mexico in November. "Before we do it, of course," says Bob, "Cathy will have to get another divorce from Joe Kirkwood, Jr., in Mexico. She’ll probably pick Juarez. Then we will be married and take a honeymoon in Texas and at Acapulco."
16 March 56	her abrogation becomes final. She probably will wed Brunson in May.
16 July 56	she and Robert M. Brunson, a Los Angeles electronics company executive and employee of Topp Industries, receive their marriage license at Santa Monica City Hall. They have known each other for eight years.
22 July 56	marries Brunson in the Beverly Hills Community Presbyterian Church. Only immediate family members attend the 4 p.m. service. He’s 34; she’s 29. It is the second marriage for each. They leave for a honeymoon to an undisclosed location.
?	the couple settles at Rancho Santa Fe, near San Diego, California
21 July 62	she and Brunson separate on their sixth wedding anniversary
24 January 63	sues Brunson in Los Angeles Superior Court for separate maintenance, charging cruelty. She asks for reasonable support, listing her expenses at $1,050 a month. She estimates Brunson’s income at $50,000 a year. A hearing is set for February 1.
29 July 63	says in court in Los Angeles that her husband was "an extreme perfectionist" and divorces him with testimony that he couldn’t stand it if an ashtray or a magazine was not in its proper place. He’s 41; she’s 36.
8 December 76	as Cathy M. Downs, she dies at age 50 in Los Angeles, California, of cancer
76	her ex-husband, Joe Kirkwood, Jr., was in the process of drawing up a trust fund for her when he learned of her death. They had been out of touch for years when he found out she was in dire financial circumstances.

Sources: Fast and Furious by Marc Thomas McGee, The New York Times, Waterloo Daily Courier, Statesville Daily Record, Syracuse Herald-Journal, The Era, Pottstown Mercury, Silver Screen, Nevada State Journal, Record-Eagle, Portland Press Herald, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, The Daily Register, The Great Bend Daily Tribune, Modern Screen, The Lethbridge Herald, The Independent, Burlington Daily Times-News, Indiana Evening Gazette, www.Ancestry.com
Recommended Books:
Links: Filmography Cathy Downs at Spooky's Nightmare Mansion