O’Connor was born in Dayton, Ohio, to John O'Connor (a police officer) and Elizabeth Kinney.

[2] She graduated from high school and began working as a telephone operator in Toledo.

[3] After touring with a local stock company, she convinced her parents to let her go to Hollywood around 1917 to seek her fortune in the movies.

[4] Early on, she secured work as an extra in Mack Sennett comedies,[5] but she was soon discovered by Tom Mix and selected to be the cowboy's leading lady.

Reynolds committed suicide in front of Kathleen and a handful of guests at a dinner party in 1927.