Claire Trevor
Born
March 8, 1910
Died
April 8, 2000 (90 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
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
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Self (archive footage)
2009
You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story
Self
2008
Breaking Home Ties
Grace Porter
1987
Murder, She Wrote
Judith Harlan · (1 episode)
1984
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
1984
Kiss Me Goodbye
Charlotte
1982
The Cape Town Affair
Sam Williams
1967
How to Murder Your Wife
Edna
1965
The Stripper
Helen Baird
1963
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self · (1 episode)
1962
The Merv Griffin Show
Self · (1 episode)
1962
Two Weeks in Another Town
Clara Kruger
1962
Dr. Kildare
Nurse Veronica Johnson · (1 episode)
1961
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
(1 episode)
1958
Marjorie Morningstar
Rose Morgenstern
1958
Wagon Train
C.L. Harding · (1 episode)
1957
The Mountain
Marie
1956
Lucy Gallant
Lady MacBeth
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Mary Prescott · (1 episode)
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Mrs. Meade · (1 episode)
1955
Man Without a Star
Idonee
1955
Climax!
Phyllis Talbot · (1 episode)
1954
A Star Is Born World Premiere
Self
1954
The High and the Mighty
May Holst
1954
The Stranger Wore a Gun
Josie Sullivan
1953
The Oscars
Self · (4 episodes)
1953
General Electric Theater
Cora Leslie · (1 episode)
1953
Stop, You're Killing Me
Nora Marko
1952
My Man and I
Mrs. Elena Ames
1952
Hoodlum Empire
Connie Williams
1952
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Mary Hunter · (1 episode)
1951
Best of the Badmen
Lily
1951
Hard, Fast and Beautiful
Millie Farley
1951
Lux Video Theatre
Ellen Creed · (1 episode)
1950
Lux Video Theatre
Mary Scott · (1 episode)
1950
Borderline
Madeleine Haley
1950
The Lucky Stiff
Marguerite Seaton
1949
The Babe Ruth Story
Claire Hodgson Ruth
1948
Key Largo
Gaye Dawn
1948
The Velvet Touch
Marian Webster
1948
Raw Deal
Pat Cameron
1948
Born to Kill
Helen Brent
1947
Crack-Up
Terry Cordell
1946
The Bachelor's Daughters
Cynthia Davis
1946
Johnny Angel
Lilah 'Lily' Gustafson
1945
Murder, My Sweet
Helen Grayle
1944
The Woman of the Town
Dora Hand
1943
Good Luck, Mr. Yates
Ruth Jones
1943
The Desperadoes
Countess Maletta
1943
Street of Chance
Ruth Dillon
1942
Crossroads
Michelle Allaine
1942
The Adventures of Martin Eden
Connie Dawson
1942
Texas
Michael 'Mike' King
1941
Honky Tonk
"Gold Dust" Nelson
1941
Dark Command
Miss Mary McCloud
1940
Allegheny Uprising
Janie MacDougall
1939
I Stole a Million
Laura Benson
1939
Stagecoach
Dallas
1939
Five of a Kind
Christine Nelson
1938
Valley of the Giants
Lee Roberts
1938
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse
Jo Keller
1938
Walking Down Broadway
Joan Bradley
1938
Big Town Girl
Fay Loring
1937
Second Honeymoon
Marcia
1937
Dead End
Francey
1937
One Mile from Heaven
Lucy 'Tex' Warren
1937
King of Gamblers
Dixie Moore
1937
Time Out for Romance
Barbara Blanchard
1937
Career Woman
Carroll Aiken
1936
15 Maiden Lane
Jane Martin
1936
Star for a Night
Nina Lind
1936
Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs
1936
To Mary - with Love
Kitty Brant
1936
Human Cargo
Bonnie Brewster
1936
Song and Dance Man
Julia Carroll
1936
My Marriage
Carol Barton
1936
Navy Wife
Vicky Blake
1935
Dante's Inferno
Elizabeth "Betty" McWade Carter
1935
Black Sheep
Janette Foster
1935
Spring Tonic
Betty Ingals
1935
Elinor Norton
Elinor Norton
1934
Baby Take a Bow
Kay Ellison
1934
Wild Gold
Jerry Jordan
1934
Hold That Girl
Tonie Bellamy
1934
Jimmy and Sally
Sally Johnson
1933
The Mad Game
Jane Lee
1933
The Last Trail
Patricia Carter
1933
Life in the Raw
Judy Halloway
1933