There was a time when Catherine Craig was known in Hollywood as a
promising and talented "B"-level actress as opposed to being simply
Mrs. Robert Preston. All in all,
she handled it with grace, poise and wifely dedication.
Born Catherine Jewel Feltus on January 18, 1915, in Bloomington,
Indiana, she was the daughter of a circus proprietor and cinema owner
who piqued her initial interest in the arts. Although she attended
school in the States (in her native Bloomington), she spoke Spanish
fluently as a result of her childhood trips with her family to South
America (including Santiago, Chile). Graduating from the University of
Indiana in 1936, she was a speech instructor's assistant for a time
while appearing on the local stage in Indiana.
Eventually relocating to Los Angeles in search of a professional
career, her well-modulated voice and crisp diction came in handy when
radio work came her way. She met actor Preston while both were fellow
students at the Pasadena Playhouse. The lovely blue-eyed,
chestnut-haired Catherine initially earned studio interest interest
after being spotted by a 20th Century Fox talent agent. She promptly
apprenticed with the films
Doomed to Die (1940),
Charlie Chan: Mord über New York (1940)
and
Manhattan Heartbeat (1940).
Catherine, however, earned a contract at her husband's studio,
Paramount, but remained relatively obscure with a trail of decorative
bit roles in such dubiously-titled "B" hokum as
Las Vegas Nights (1941),
West Point Widow (1941),
Parachute Nurse (1942),
Showboat Serenade (1944) and
The Bride Wore Boots (1946).
In the post-war years the blue-eyed, chestnut-haired beauty finally
began to earn more noticeable assignments such as her lifeboat survivor
in Seven Were Saved (1947), her
wealthy fiancé menaced by a conniving
Albert Dekker in the superb "B" crime
thriller The Pretender (1947), and
her innocent-eyed prairie flower opposite
Randolph Scott in
Der Rächer der Todesschlucht (1948).
Following a few stage endeavors (she appeared with Preston in the plays
"Girl of the Golden West" and "The Play's The Thing" in the late
1940s), she appeared in a few more films, the best being
The Pretender (1947). By 1950
Catherine had drifted back to minor status and retired from films after
a nothing part in
Entgleist (1950). From
then on she completely avoided the limelight in support of her
husband's career. Preston himself became disillusioned with films and
the couple moved to New York wherein he became a Tony-winning Broadway
performer of musicals and legit plays. Catherine appeared in an
occasional play such as "Bell, Book and Candle" and "Inherit the Wind".
After living in Greenwich, Connecticut, then Montecito, California,
Preston's film career was rejuvenated when he transferred his Harold
Hill success to the big screen in
Music Man (1962). He won an
Oscar nomination decades later with
Victor/Victoria (1982). Following
Preston's death from lung cancer in 1987, Catherine, along with former
theater co-stars Mary Martin and
Bernadette Peters, paid tribute to him
at the Tony Awards presentation that year. Catherine settled in Santa
Barbara and passed away at age 88 in 2004.
