Kathleen O'Malley, a talented actress, was born to a family of thespians, with her father, Patrick H. O'Malley Jr., a silent film actor, and her mother, Lillian (Wilkes) O'Malley, an actress herself.
Kathleen's upbringing was immersed in the world of show business, as her two sisters, Sheila and Eileen, also pursued careers in the entertainment industry from a young age.
Her early foray into the film industry was in the 1926 production "My Old Dutch", where she played the role of Herbert Brown as a baby.
In this film, Kathleen's sister, Sheila, portrayed Herbert Brown at the tender age of three, while their father, Pat, took on the role of Joe Brown, Herbert's father.