Trivia

Howard Keel, her co-star in three movies, once described her in an interview as the most beautiful woman in the history of movies.

Though she and Mario Lanza did not get on very well, Kathryn did take his wife, Betty, and their children into her home for a time after Mario's untimely death.

Good friend of Ava Gardner.

Not long after signing her MGM contract, Kathryn was asked to make her operatic debut in Donizetti's "Lucia Lammermoor" at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Louis B. Mayer talked her out of it, believing that it would damage her long-term image as a film star.

In 1939, Sam Katz, the executive in charge of musicals at MGM, sought out a rival to Universal's popular Deanna Durbin and turned to Kathryn. She repeatedly turned him down at the time because she wanted an opera and not a movie career. She finally relented.

Was once engaged to Howard Hughes during the 1950s.

Both her younger sister, Frances Raeburn, and older brother, Michael Butler, were in the film, Seven Sweethearts (1942), along with Kathryn.

In 1968 she rejoined her Kiss Me Kate (1953) singing co-star, Howard Keel for several highly successful night club appearances in Las Vegas.

Discovered at age 11 by Frances Marshall, a Chicago Civic Light Opera singer, who trained her in voice.

Kathryn made her non-singing stage debut with 1982's "Night Watch".

The name "Kathryn Grayson" came from her middle name and her mother's maiden name.

In January 2019, she was honored as Turner Classic Movies Star of the Month.

Pursued a career on the operatic stage in her teenage years. She attended school at Manual Arts High in Los Angeles. Her solos at school and church eventually attracted the attention of Art Rush at RCA Redseal Records, who quickly signed her to a contract.

Remembrance tribute provided by critic Richard Corliss for "Time" magazine's Milestones section (Issue: March 8, 2010).

The third child of Charles and Lillian Hedrick, Kathryn was born in North Carolina but grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri, where her family moved in 1927. The entire family sang.

Was offered the title role in the movie Mother (1996) but turned it down saying she couldn't possibly do the part because the woman is "brain dead". Fellow MGM alumna Debbie Reynolds eventually played the part, to wonderful reviews.

She was under contract to MGM for 13 years.

Moved to California with her family when she was 15.

In 1954 Kathryn re-signed with RCA Records and recorded four songs with ex-husband Johnny Johnston. In the next year she made her night club debut at the Sahara in Las Vegas.

Mother, with Johnny Johnston, of daughter, Patricia Kathryn Johnston, born on October 7, 1948.

She was a staunch conservative Republican, and campaigned for Ronald Reagan three times during the course of his political career.

In honor of her 100th birthday on February 9, 2022, she was honored with a marathon of her film work on Turner Classic Movies.

Daughter of Clarence (1896-1969), born in the state of North Carolina, and Lillian (née Gray) Hendrick (1898-1954), born in the state of Virginia.

Aunt of Maryanne Grayson.

On August 11, 2021, she was honored with a day of her filmography during the Turner Classic Movies Summer Under the Stars.

In Italy, most of her films were dubbed by Renata Marini. She was occasionally dubbed by Dhia Cristiani, Lydia Simoneschi and Micaela Giustiniani.