Claire Trevor

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]

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
2009
Self (archive footage)
You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story
2008
Self
Breaking Home Ties
1987
Grace Porter
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984
(archive footage)
Kiss Me Goodbye
1982
Charlotte
The Cape Town Affair
1967
Sam Williams
How to Murder Your Wife
1965
Edna
The Stripper
1963
Helen Baird
Two Weeks in Another Town
1962
Clara Kruger
Marjorie Morningstar
1958
Rose Morgenstern
The Mountain
1956
Marie
Man Without a Star
1955
Idonee
Lucy Gallant
1955
Lady MacBeth
The High and the Mighty
1954
May Holst
A Star Is Born World Premiere
1954
Self
The Stranger Wore a Gun
1953
Josie Sullivan
Hoodlum Empire
1952
Connie Williams
Stop, You're Killing Me
1952
Nora Marko
My Man and I
1952
Mrs. Elena Ames
Hard, Fast and Beautiful
1951
Millie Farley
Best of the Badmen
1951
Lily
Borderline
1950
Madeleine Haley
The Lucky Stiff
1949
Marguerite Seaton
Key Largo
1948
Gaye Dawn
Raw Deal
1948
Pat Cameron
The Velvet Touch
1948
Marian Webster
The Babe Ruth Story
1948
Claire Hodgson Ruth
Born to Kill
1947
Helen Brent
Crack-Up
1946
Terry Cordell
The Bachelor's Daughters
1946
Cynthia Davis
Johnny Angel
1945
Lilah 'Lily' Gustafson
Murder, My Sweet
1944
Helen Grayle
The Desperadoes
1943
Countess Maletta
Good Luck, Mr. Yates
1943
Ruth Jones
The Woman of the Town
1943
Dora Hand
Street of Chance
1942
Ruth Dillon
Crossroads
1942
Michelle Allaine
The Adventures of Martin Eden
1942
Connie Dawson
Texas
1941
Michael 'Mike' King
Honky Tonk
1941
"Gold Dust" Nelson
Dark Command
1940
Miss Mary McCloud
Stagecoach
1939
Dallas
Allegheny Uprising
1939
Janie MacDougall
I Stole a Million
1939
Laura Benson
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse
1938
Jo Keller
Valley of the Giants
1938
Lee Roberts
Five of a Kind
1938
Christine Nelson
Walking Down Broadway
1938
Joan Bradley
Dead End
1937
Francey
One Mile from Heaven
1937
Lucy 'Tex' Warren
Second Honeymoon
1937
Marcia
Time Out for Romance
1937
Barbara Blanchard
Big Town Girl
1937
Fay Loring
King of Gamblers
1937
Dixie Moore
Career Woman
1936
Carroll Aiken
15 Maiden Lane
1936
Jane Martin
Human Cargo
1936
Bonnie Brewster
To Mary - with Love
1936
Kitty Brant
Song and Dance Man
1936
Julia Carroll
Star for a Night
1936
Nina Lind
My Marriage
1936
Carol Barton
Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs
1936
Dante's Inferno
1935
Elizabeth "Betty" McWade Carter
Black Sheep
1935
Janette Foster
Spring Tonic
1935
Betty Ingals
Navy Wife
1935
Vicky Blake
Baby Take a Bow
1934
Kay Ellison
Wild Gold
1934
Jerry Jordan
Hold That Girl
1934
Tonie Bellamy
Elinor Norton
1934
Elinor Norton
The Mad Game
1933
Jane Lee
Life in the Raw
1933
Judy Halloway
The Last Trail
1933
Patricia Carter
Jimmy and Sally
1933
Sally Johnson