Claire Adams
Claire Adams | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Adams in 1920 | |
| Born | Beryl Vere Nassau Adams 24 September 1898 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Died | 25 September 1978 (aged 80) Melbourne, Australia |
| Years active | 1912–1963 |
| Spouses |
|
Claire Adams (née Beryl Vere Nassau Adams; 24 September 1898 – 25 September 1978) was a silent film actress and benefactor. She was born in Canada, studied there and in England, and developed a movie career in Hollywood. She spent the second half of her life in Australia.[1][2][3][4]
Early years
Born in Winnipeg,[5] Adams was the daughter of operatic teacher and singer Stanley Adams and Lillian Adams.[6] She had a sister[5] and a brother.[7] She moved with her family to London, England, when she was seven years old. At age 13 she visited Canada and ended up staying with relatives there. At some point her parents moved to Toronto, and she rejoined them there.[8] Her education included St. Hilda's Academy in Calgary, Canada,[9] followed by a finishing school in England.[10]
Career
While Adams worked as a nurse in a Detroit hospital, the United States entered World War I. The Army had her portray a nurse in films that were shown in military camps.[8] Her flim debut came in The Spirit of the Red Cross (1919). She went on to become a star for B. B. Hampton productions and later made films for Goldwyn.[10] Early in Adams's career her performances lacked emotion. Even with experience she reached only a level that one newspaper article described as "giving interesting, delightful, but emotionally lukewarm performances".[11] That situation changed with her work in The Big Parade, which the same article called "the first truly emotional performance in Claire's career".[11] Her progress continued when she portrayed Maud Brewster in The Seal Wolf, leading to compliments for her performance in an "intensely emotional role".[11]
Personal life and death
Adams married Ben Hampton in Los Angeles in 1924.[5] She died on 25 September 1978, in Windsor, Victoria, aged 80, and was cremated.[12]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | What a Mother-in-Law! | Frances | |
| 1927 | Combat | Wanda | |
| Married Alive | Viola Helmesley Duxbury | ||
| The Lunatic | |||
| 1926 | The Sea Wolf | Maud Brewster | |
| Combat | Wanda | ||
| Yellow Fingers | Nona Deering | ||
| 1925 | The Big Parade | Justyn Reed | |
| The Wheel | Kate O'Hara | ||
| Souls for Sables | Helen Ralston[13] | Uncredited | |
| The Kiss Barrier | Marion Weston | ||
| Men and Women | Agnes Prescott | ||
| The Devil's Cargo | Martha Joyce | ||
| 1924 | The Brass Bowl | Sylvia | |
| The Fast Set | Fay Colleen | ||
| The Painted Flapper | Eunice Whitney | ||
| Helen's Babies | Helen Lawrence | ||
| Oh, You Tony! | Betty Faine | ||
| Honor Among Men | Patricia Carson | ||
| The Girl in the Limousine | The Girl | ||
| Missing Daughters | Claire Mathers | ||
| The Night Hawk | Clia Milton | ||
| Daddies | Bobette Audrey | ||
| 1923 | The Clean Up | Phyllis Andrews | |
| Legally Dead | Minnie O'Reilly | ||
| Where the North Begins | Felice McTavish | ||
| Stepping Fast | Helen Durant | ||
| Brass Commandments | Ellen Bosworth | ||
| The Scarlet Car | Beatrice Forbes | ||
| 1922 | Do and Dare | Juanita Sánchez | |
| Heart's Haven | Vivian Breed | ||
| Just Tony | Marianne Jordan | ||
| Golden Dreams | Mercedes McDonald | ||
| When Romance Rides | Lucy Bostil | ||
| The Gray Dawn | Nan Bennett | ||
| 1921 | The Mysterious Rider | Columbine | |
| The Man of the Forest | Helen Raynor | ||
| A Certain Rich Man | Molly Culpepper | ||
| The Lure of Egypt | Margaret Lampton | ||
| Black Beauty | Claire Adams is not in the Vitagraph film. She appeared in a competing rival version of the story produced by Eskay Harris Feature Film Company.[14] | ||
| The Killer | Ruth Emory | ||
| The Spenders | Avice Milbrey | ||
| 1920 | The Dwelling Place of Light | Janet Butler | |
| The Penalty | Barbara | ||
| Riders of the Dawn | Lenore Anderson | ||
| The White Dove | Ella De Fries | Credited as Clare Adams | |
| The Key to Power | Ann Blair | ||
| The Money Changers | Lucy Hegan | ||
| The Great Lover | Ethel | ||
| 1919 | The Invisible Bond | Leila Templeton | Also known as Should a Wife Forgive? (USA) |
| A Misfit Earl | Phyllis Burton | ||
| Speedy Meade | Alice Hall | ||
| The End of the Road | Mary Lee | ||
| 1918 | The Spirit of the Red Cross | Ethel | |
| Adam and Some Eves | |||
| The Man-Eater | Credited as Peggy Adams | ||
| 1917 | Nutty Knitters | ||
| Faint Heart and Fair Lady | |||
| Your Obedient Servant | |||
| Chris and His Wonderful Lamp | Betty | ||
| 1913 | The Widow's Suitors | Credited as Clara Adams | |
| Boy Wanted | As Clara Adams | ||
| A Shower of Slippers | As Clara Adams | ||
| Aunt Elsa's Visit | As Clara Adams | ||
| The Office Boy's Birthday | As Clara Adams | ||
| Bragg's New Suit | As Clara Adams | ||
| 1912 | Kitty at Boarding School | ||
| Revenge Is Sweet | As Clara Adams | ||
| The Artist's Joke | As Clara Adams | ||
| An Intelligent Camera | |||
| Apple Pies | As Clara Adams | ||
| Kitty's Holdup | |||
| Eddie's Exploit | As Clara Adams | ||
| Curing the Office Boy | As Clara Adams | ||
| A Heroic Rescue | As Clara Adams |
References
- ^ "Actress Plays Reuniting Role". Oakland Tribune. California, Oakland. 7 July 1932. p. 1. Retrieved 3 September 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Among the Movie Stars". The Salina Evening Journal. Kansas, Salina. 25 December 1920. p. 14. Retrieved 3 September 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ McCallum, Bonnie (1978). ales Untold: Memoirs of an ABC Publicity Officer. Melbourne: Hawthorn Press. p. 32.
- ^ Maxwell, Virginia. "Mackinnon, Donald John Scobie (1906–1974)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
- ^ a b c "Beryl Claire Adams Born in Winnipeg". Canadian Moving Picture Digest. 11 October 1924. p. 9. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
- ^ "Music Common Bond of Adams Family". The Spokesman-Review. Washington, Spokane. Associated Press. 17 July 1932. p. 4. Retrieved 25 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Claire Adams". Hollywood Filmograph. 1 April 1933. p. 1. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
- ^ a b "Claire Adams, Former Calgary Girl, Is Wed to Benj. Hampton". The Calgary Daily Herald. 20 September 1924. p. 13. Retrieved 26 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Fox, Charles Donald; Silver, Milton L. (1920). Who's who on the screen. New York City : Ross publishing co. p. 239.
- ^ a b Wing, Ruth (1924). The Blue Book of the Screen. Hollywood : The Blue Book of the Screen, Inc. p. 1.
- ^ a b c "Little Claire, who couldn't emote now rivals even firebrands of film". Illustrated Daily News. California, Los Angeles. 16 October 1925. p. 10. Retrieved 26 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Katchmer, George A. (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses. McFarland. p. 2. ISBN 9781476609058. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
- ^ Souls for Sables Cast Information
- ^ Black Beauty (II) produced by Eskay Harris Feature Film Company..retrieved 16 June 2018
- Photoplay Dec,1924
- Film Index, No 3, 1970, p. 12
- Social History Report on Morramong, Skipton by D. Hellier (1989). National Trust of Australia, Victoria branch.
External links
Archival collections
- Guide to the Claire Adams Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.