CINEFILER

Claire Trevor

Born
March 8, 1910
Died
April 8, 2000
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]
Academy Awards
Best Supporting Actress
Known For
Stagecoach
(1939)
Dallas
Dead End
(1937)
Francey
Dark Command
(1940)
Miss Mary McCloud
Key Largo
(1948)
Gaye Dawn
Man Without a Star
(1955)
Idonee
Murder, My Sweet
(1944)
Helen Grayle
How to Murder Your Wife
(1965)
Edna
The High and the Mighty
(1954)
May Holst
Honky Tonk
(1941)
Pearl
The Mountain
(1956)
Marie
Texas
(1941)
Michael 'Mike' King
Born to Kill
(1947)
Helen Brent
Crack-Up
(1946)
Terry Cordell
The Desperadoes
(1943)
Countess Maletta
Two Weeks in Another Town
(1962)
Clara Kruger
Raw Deal
(1948)
Pat Cameron
Full Filmography
Acting
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
Baby Take a Bow
(1934)
Kay Ellison
Wild Gold
(1934)
Jerry Jordan
Hold That Girl
(1934)
Tonie Bellamy
Elinor Norton
(1934)
Elinor Norton
Black Sheep
(1935)
Janette Foster
Spring Tonic
(1935)
Betty Ingals
Navy Wife
(1935)
Vicky Blake
Dante's Inferno
(1935)
Elizabeth "Betty" McWade Carter
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)
Dead End
(1937)
Francey
Second Honeymoon
(1937)
Marcia
Time Out for Romance
(1937)
Barbara Blanchard
One Mile from Heaven
(1937)
Lucy 'Tex' Warren
Big Town Girl
(1937)
Fay Loring
King of Gamblers
(1937)
Dixie Moore
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
Stagecoach
(1939)
Dallas
Allegheny Uprising
(1939)
Janie MacDougall
I Stole a Million
(1939)
Laura Benson
Dark Command
(1940)
Miss Mary McCloud
Texas
(1941)
Michael 'Mike' King
Honky Tonk
(1941)
Pearl
Street of Chance
(1942)
Ruth Dillon
Crossroads
(1942)
Michelle Allaine
The Adventures of Martin Eden
(1942)
Connie Dawson
The Desperadoes
(1943)
Countess Maletta
Good Luck, Mr. Yates
(1943)
Ruth Jones
The Woman of the Town
(1943)
Dora Hand
Murder, My Sweet
(1944)
Helen Grayle
Johnny Angel
(1945)
Lilah 'Lily' Gustafson
Crack-Up
(1946)
Terry Cordell
The Bachelor's Daughters
(1946)
Cynthia Davis
Born to Kill
(1947)
Helen Brent
Key Largo
(1948)
Gaye Dawn
Raw Deal
(1948)
Pat Cameron
The Velvet Touch
(1948)
Marian Webster
The Babe Ruth Story
(1948)
Claire Hodgson Ruth
The Lucky Stiff
(1949)
Marguerite Seaton
Borderline
(1950)
Madeleine Haley
Hard, Fast and Beautiful
(1951)
Millie Farley
Best of the Badmen
(1951)
Lily
Hoodlum Empire
(1952)
Connie Williams
Stop, You're Killing Me
(1952)
Nora Marko
My Man and I
(1952)
Mrs. Elena Ames
The Stranger Wore a Gun
(1953)
Josie Sullivan
The High and the Mighty
(1954)
May Holst
A Star Is Born World Premiere
(1954)
Self
Man Without a Star
(1955)
Idonee
Lucy Gallant
(1955)
Lady MacBeth
The Mountain
(1956)
Marie
Marjorie Morningstar
(1958)
Rose Morgenstern
Two Weeks in Another Town
(1962)
Clara Kruger
The Stripper
(1963)
Helen Baird
How to Murder Your Wife
(1965)
Edna
The Cape Town Affair
(1967)
Sam Williams
Kiss Me Goodbye
(1982)
Charlotte
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(1984)
(archive footage)
Breaking Home Ties
(1987)
Grace Porter
You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story
(2008)
Self
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
(2009)
Self (archive footage)
Data provided by TMDB