Kathleen B. Burke (September 5, 1913 – April 9, 1980) was an American movie actress of the 1930s and former model.
Early years
Born in Hammond, Indiana, in 1913, Burke was a graduate of Hammond High School. She moved with her parents to Chicago when she was 15, and she acted in amateur productions there. She worked as a dental assistant in Chicago.
Career
Burke was a fashion model and acted on radio in Chicago before winning a talent contest sponsored by Paramount Pictures to play Lota the Panther Woman in Island of Lost Souls (1932), the first sound film adaptation of H.G. Wells's novel The Island of Dr. Moreau. The contest, announced in July 1932, reportedly had 60,000 applicants from around the country. Burke was announced as the winner on September 29.
This success led to more than a score of screen appearances over the following six years, most notably as the leading lady in The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) opposite Gary Cooper, and The Last Outpost with Cary Grant that same year. Her final film role was in 1938, whereupon she retired from screen acting at the age of 25.
