Claire Trevor is an American actress who received the nickname "The Queen of Film Noir" in her homeland, that is, Hollywood crime dramas of the 1940s - 1950s, which capture an atmosphere of pessimism, mistrust, disappointment and cynicism.
Biography of the actress
Claire Trevor, real name Claire Wemlinger, was born in Brooklyn on March 8, 1910, in the family of a tailor and his wife. Her ancestors were immigrants from Ireland and France. In the late 1920s, after graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she began her theatrical career. Her first success came in 1932 on Broadway, and a year later she made her film debut. In the next five years, Claire Trevor starred in thirty films, and mostly in the lead roles. In 1937, she co-starred with Humphrey Bogart in Dead End, in which she received an Oscar nomination.
Since the late 1930s, the actress has often starred alongside John Wayne in Westerns, including Stagecoach (1939), which became classics of the genre, The Allegheny Rebellion (1939) and Black Team (1940). Other famous roles of her time include Mrs. Grale in This Is Murder, My Sweetheart (1944), starring Dick Powell, and Helen in Born to Kill (1947).
In 1949, Claire Trevor won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in Key Largo. All these numerous roles of "bad girls" in thrillers and westerns cemented her nickname "Queen of film noir". The actress was once again nominated for an Oscar in 1954 for her role in The Great and Mighty.
In 1957, Claire Trevor won an Emmy for her leading role in the television series Dadsworth. In the future, she continued to periodically act in films, at the same time appeared on television and in the theater. At this time, she no longer played "bandits", limiting herself to the roles of middle-aged women and mothers suitable for her. The last time in the movie Trevor appeared in 1982 in the film "Kiss Me Goodbye". In 1998, she appeared as a guest at the 70th Academy Awards.
Best movies with Claire Trevor
Stagecoach
In this film, Claire Trevor beats the Dallas prostitute, whose sexual adventures angered local women so much that they kicked her out of their not-so-high society, the small town of Tonto. Events unfold when several people leave for New Mexico on a stagecoach: Doc Boone, a drunkard who has long been expelled from the doctors' guild. Dallas, prostitutes, Hatfield, sharper, Henry Gatewood, banker.
Largo reef
Undoubtedly, Reef Largo is one of the best crime thrillers in the history of cinema. Despite his old age, he has not lost the former suspense and fascinating atmosphere that does not let him leave the screen. While watching, you are really interested to know what awaits this or that hero. However, the Oscar went to the supporting actress Claire Trevor, and, by the way, deservedly so. Her role, of course, is not as "clean" as Lauren: a dubious singer in the past, a "trophy" companion of a bandit in the present, of all the joys of life, only drinking and racing. All this despair breaks out in a single song "Moanin" Low ", sung a cappella at the mocking demand of the gangster. By the way, Claire Trevor herself is not a singer, and at first it was assumed that the phonogram would be used. Houston pulled to the last, postponing rehearsals, and then said something like: "We are shooting right now, there is not enough time, so we will not rehearse." Claire had to sing in front of the entire film crew, her voice trembling and breaking - as the script demanded. The songwriter himself was delighted with this performance, claiming that he saw a great example of the performance of a dramatic song in a completely non-musical film.
Dead end
The film was nominated for 4 Academy Awards: Film, Supporting Actress (Claire Trevor), Operator, Artist. The film tells the story of life in one of these neighborhoods, where the poor and live alongside the rich. In addition, the return of a gangster nicknamed Baby Face, who grew up in the slums, is shown to see his mother and ex-girlfriend, but no one is happy to meet him in his native land.
Selected filmography
Claire Trevor has acted in films since 1934. There are one hundred and seven films in total. The actress preferred the following genres: drama, comedy, crime. Her first film was released in 1933, the title "Jimmy and Sally". The last film was released in 1987, the title "Family Ties".
- Kiss Me Goodbye (1982) - Charlotte Banning
- How to Sew Your Wife (1965) - Edna
- Two Weeks in Another City (1962) - Clara Kruger
- Mountain (1956) - Mary
- The Great and Mighty (1954) - May Canvas
- Bandit Empire (1952) - Connie Williams
- Key Largo (1948) - Gay Down
- Dirty Deal (1948) - Pat Cameron
- A Touch of Velvet (1948) - Marianne Webster
- Born to Kill (1947) - Helen Brent
- Disaster (1946) - Terry Cordell
- Johnny Angel (1945) - Layla Gustafson
- Murder My Sweetheart (1944) - Mrs. Helen Grale
- Fortune Street (1942) - Ruth Dillon
- Crossroads (1942) - Michelle Allen
- Black Team (1940) - Miss Mary McClode
- The Allegheny Rebellion (1939) - Janie McDougal
- Stagecoach (1939) - Dallas
- The Amazing Doctor Clitterhouse (1938) - Joe Keller
- Dead End (1937) - Francie
- Bravo Baby (1934) - Kay Ellison
Awards and honors
- Emmy 1958 - Best Actress in a Miniseries (Dadsworth).
- Oscar 1948 - Best Supporting Actress (Key Largo).
- Claire Trevor received a Star on the Los Angeles Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to the film industry.
- The School of Art at the branch of the University of California, Irvine, to which the actress devoted much of her time, was named after her death in her honor.
Personal life of the actress
Claire Trevor married producer Clark Andrews in 1938, but they divorced four years later. In 1943, Saylos William became her husband, from whom she gave birth to a son, Charles. The second marriage also failed, and in 1947 the couple separated. A year later, she remarried producer Milton Breen and moved to live in California in Newport Beach. In 1978, her son Charles died in a plane crash, and the following year, her husband passed away, who died of a brain tumor.
Claire Trevor died on April 8, 2000 in the California city of Newport Beach (California. USA) from respiratory failure at the age of 90. She was cremated and her ashes scattered in the ocean.
