Claire Trevor
Biography
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
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
Murder, She Wrote
1984
Wagon Train
1957
Dr. Kildare
1961
Climax!
1954
The Oscars
1953
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
Lux Video Theatre
1950
Lux Video Theatre
1950
Filmography
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self · 1962
The Merv Griffin Show
as Self · 1962
Murder, She Wrote
as Judith Harlan · 1984
Wagon Train
as C.L. Harding · 1957
Dr. Kildare
as Nurse Veronica Johnson · 1961
Climax!
as Phyllis Talbot · 1954
The Oscars
as Self · 1953
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Mary Prescott · 1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Mrs. Meade · 1955
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
· 1958
Lux Video Theatre
as Ellen Creed · 1950
Lux Video Theatre
as Mary Scott · 1950
The Investigators
as Kitty Harper · 1961
Stagecoach
as Dallas · 1939
General Electric Theater
as Cora Leslie · 1953
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
as Mary Hunter · 1951
The High and the Mighty
as May Holst · 1954
How to Murder Your Wife
as Edna · 1965
Man Without a Star
as Idonee · 1955
Key Largo
as Gaye Dawn · 1948
Dark Command
as Miss Mary McCloud · 1940
Murder, My Sweet
as Helen Grayle · 1944
Best of the Badmen
as Lily · 1951
The Stranger Wore a Gun
as Josie Sullivan · 1953
Two Weeks in Another Town
as Clara Kruger · 1962
The Desperadoes
as Countess Maletta · 1943
Dead End
as Francey · 1937
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse
as Jo Keller · 1938
The Mountain
as Marie · 1956
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
as Self (archive footage) · 2009
Marjorie Morningstar
as Rose Morgenstern · 1958
Honky Tonk
as "Gold Dust" Nelson · 1941
My Man and I
as Mrs. Elena Ames · 1952
Kiss Me Goodbye
as Charlotte · 1982
Raw Deal
as Pat Cameron · 1948
Allegheny Uprising
as Janie MacDougall · 1939
Baby Take a Bow
as Kay Ellison · 1934
Texas
as Michael 'Mike' King · 1941
The Velvet Touch
as Marian Webster · 1948
Born to Kill
as Helen Brent · 1947
The Adventures of Martin Eden
as Connie Dawson · 1942
Going Hollywood: The '30s
as (archive footage) · 1984
Hard, Fast and Beautiful!
as Millie Farley · 1951
To Mary - with Love
as Kitty Brant · 1936
Breaking Home Ties
as Grace Porter · 1987
Song and Dance Man
as Julia Carroll · 1936
The Bachelor's Daughters
as Cynthia Davis · 1946
Stop, You're Killing Me
as Nora Marko · 1952
The Babe Ruth Story
as Claire Hodgson Ruth · 1948
Valley of the Giants
as Lee Roberts · 1938
Five of a Kind
as Christine Nelson · 1938
Lucy Gallant
as Lady MacBeth · 1955
You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story
as Self · 2008
Time Out for Romance
as Barbara Blanchard · 1937
Crossroads
as Michelle Allaine · 1942
Borderline
as Madeleine Haley · 1950
I Stole a Million
as Laura Benson · 1939
The Cape Town Affair
as Sam Williams · 1967
A Star Is Born World Premiere
as Self · 1954
Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs
· 1936
The Mad Game
as Jane Lee · 1933
Crack-Up
as Terry Cordell · 1946
Johnny Angel
as Lilah 'Lily' Gustafson · 1945
My Marriage
as Carol Barton · 1936
The Lucky Stiff
as Marguerite Seaton · 1949
Hoodlum Empire
as Connie Williams · 1952
One Mile from Heaven
as Lucy 'Tex' Warren · 1937
The Woman of the Town
as Dora Hand · 1943
Life in the Raw
as Judy Halloway · 1933
Good Luck, Mr. Yates
as Ruth Jones · 1943
If You Knew Elizabeth
as Elizabeth Owen · 1957
Big Town Girl
as Fay Loring · 1937
Star for a Night
as Nina Lind · 1936
Wild Gold
as Jerry Jordan · 1934
15 Maiden Lane
as Jane Martin · 1936
Dante's Inferno
as Elizabeth "Betty" McWade Carter · 1935
The Stripper
as Helen Baird · 1963
Human Cargo
as Bonnie Brewster · 1936
Street of Chance
as Ruth Dillon · 1942
Walking Down Broadway
as Joan Bradley · 1938
Hold That Girl
as Tonie Bellamy · 1934
Navy Wife
as Vicky Blake · 1935
Elinor Norton
as Elinor Norton · 1934
King of Gamblers
as Dixie Moore · 1937
Black Sheep
as Janette Foster · 1935
Career Woman
as Carroll Aiken · 1936
Spring Tonic
as Betty Ingals · 1935
Jimmy and Sally
as Sally Johnson · 1933
The Last Trail
as Patricia Carter · 1933
Second Honeymoon
as Marcia · 1937