Claire Trevor
Claire Trevor (née Wemlinger; March 8, 1910 – April 8, 2000) was an American actress. She appeared in 65 feature films from 1933 to 1982, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Key Largo (1948), and received nominations for her roles in The High and the Mighty (1954) and Dead End (1937). Trevor received top billing, ahead of John Wayne, for Stagecoach (1939). Trevor's acting career spanned more than seven decades and included successes in stage, radio, television, and film. She often played the hard-boiled blonde, and every conceivable type of 'bad girl' role. She made her stage debut in the summer of 1929 with a repertory company in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She subsequently returned to New York, where she appeared in a number of Brooklyn-filmed Vitaphone short films and performed in summer stock theatre. In 1932, she starred on Broadway as the female lead in Whistling in the Dark. Trevor made her film debut in Jimmy and Sally (1933). From 1933 to 1938, Trevor starred in 29 films, often having either the lead role or the role of heroine. In 1937, she was the second lead actress (after top-billed Sylvia Sidney) in Dead End, with Humphrey Bogart, which led to her nomination for Best Supporting Actress. From 1937 to 1940, she appeared with Edward G. Robinson in the popular radio series Big Town, while continuing to make movies. In the early 1940s, she also was a regular on The Old Gold Don Ameche Show on the NBC Red Radio Network, starring with Ameche in presentations of plays by Mark Hellinger. In 1939, she was well established as a solid leading lady. One of her more memorable performances during this period includes the Western Stagecoach (1939). Two of Trevor's most memorable roles were opposite Dick Powell in Murder, My Sweet (1944) and with Lawrence Tierney in Born to Kill (1947). In Key Largo (1948), Trevor played Gaye Dawn, a washed-up, alcoholic nightclub singer and gangster's moll. For that role, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her third and final Oscar nomination was for her performance in The High and the Mighty (1954). In 1957, she won an Emmy for her role in the Producers' Showcase episode entitled "Dodsworth". Trevor moved into supporting roles in the 1950s, with her appearances becoming very rare after the mid-1960s. She played Charlotte, the mother of Kay (Sally Field) in Kiss Me Goodbye (1982). Her final television role was for the 1987 television film, Norman Rockwell's Breaking Home Ties. Trevor made a guest appearance at the 70th Academy Awards in 1998. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6933 Hollywood Boulevard. [biography (excerpted) from Wikipedia]
Known For
Credits
- 2009 · 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year as Self (archive footage)
- 2008 · You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story as Self
- 1987 · Breaking Home Ties as Grace Porter
- 1984 · Murder, She Wrote as Judith Harlan
- 1984 · Going Hollywood: The '30s as (archive footage)
- 1982 · Kiss Me Goodbye as Charlotte
- 1967 · The Cape Town Affair as Sam Williams
- 1965 · How to Murder Your Wife as Edna
- 1963 · The Stripper as Helen Baird
- 1962 · The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as Self
- 1962 · Two Weeks in Another Town as Clara Kruger
- 1961 · Dr. Kildare as Nurse Veronica Johnson
- 1958 · Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse as
- 1958 · Marjorie Morningstar as Rose Morgenstern
- 1957 · Wagon Train as C.L. Harding
- 1956 · The Mountain as Marie
- 1955 · Lucy Gallant as Lady MacBeth
- 1955 · Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Mary Prescott
- 1955 · Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Mrs. Meade
- 1955 · Man Without a Star as Idonee
- 1954 · Climax! as Phyllis Talbot
- 1954 · A Star Is Born World Premiere as Self
- 1954 · The High and the Mighty as May Holst
- 1953 · The Stranger Wore a Gun as Josie Sullivan
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self
- 1953 · General Electric Theater as Cora Leslie
- 1952 · Stop, You're Killing Me as Nora Marko
- 1952 · My Man and I as Mrs. Elena Ames
- 1952 · Hoodlum Empire as Connie Williams
- 1951 · Schlitz Playhouse of Stars as Mary Hunter
- 1951 · Best of the Badmen as Lily
- 1951 · Hard, Fast and Beautiful as Millie Farley
- 1950 · Lux Video Theatre as Ellen Creed
- 1950 · Lux Video Theatre as Mary Scott
- 1950 · Borderline as Madeleine Haley
- 1949 · The Lucky Stiff as Marguerite Seaton
- 1948 · The Babe Ruth Story as Claire Hodgson Ruth
- 1948 · Key Largo as Gaye Dawn
- 1948 · The Velvet Touch as Marian Webster
- 1948 · Raw Deal as Pat Cameron
- 1947 · Born to Kill as Helen Brent
- 1946 · Crack-Up as Terry Cordell
- 1946 · The Bachelor's Daughters as Cynthia Davis
- 1945 · Johnny Angel as Lilah 'Lily' Gustafson
- 1944 · Murder, My Sweet as Helen Grayle
- 1943 · The Woman of the Town as Dora Hand
- 1943 · Good Luck, Mr. Yates as Ruth Jones
- 1943 · The Desperadoes as Countess Maletta
- 1942 · Street of Chance as Ruth Dillon
- 1942 · Crossroads as Michelle Allaine
- 1942 · The Adventures of Martin Eden as Connie Dawson
- 1941 · Texas as Michael 'Mike' King
- 1941 · Honky Tonk as Pearl
- 1940 · Dark Command as Miss Mary McCloud
- 1939 · Allegheny Uprising as Janie MacDougall
- 1939 · I Stole a Million as Laura Benson
- 1939 · Stagecoach as Dallas
- 1938 · Five of a Kind as Christine Nelson
- 1938 · Valley of the Giants as Lee Roberts
- 1938 · The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse as Jo Keller
- 1938 · Walking Down Broadway as Joan Bradley
- 1937 · Big Town Girl as Fay Loring
- 1937 · Second Honeymoon as Marcia
- 1937 · Dead End as Francey
- 1937 · One Mile from Heaven as Lucy 'Tex' Warren
- 1937 · King of Gamblers as Dixie Moore
- 1937 · Time Out for Romance as Barbara Blanchard
- 1936 · Career Woman as Carroll Aiken
- 1936 · 15 Maiden Lane as Jane Martin
- 1936 · Star for a Night as Nina Lind
- 1936 · Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs as
- 1936 · To Mary - with Love as Kitty Brant
- 1936 · Human Cargo as Bonnie Brewster
- 1936 · Song and Dance Man as Julia Carroll
- 1936 · My Marriage as Carol Barton
- 1935 · Navy Wife as Vicky Blake
- 1935 · Dante's Inferno as Elizabeth "Betty" McWade Carter
- 1935 · Black Sheep as Janette Foster
- 1935 · Spring Tonic as Betty Ingals
- 1934 · Elinor Norton as Elinor Norton
- 1934 · Baby Take a Bow as Kay Ellison
- 1934 · Wild Gold as Jerry Jordan
- 1934 · Hold That Girl as Tonie Bellamy
- 1933 · Jimmy and Sally as Sally Johnson
- 1933 · The Mad Game as Jane Lee
- 1933 · The Last Trail as Patricia Carter
- 1933 · Life in the Raw as Judy Halloway