Claire McDowell (2 November 1877 – 23 October 1966) was an American actress. She appeared in 360 films between 1908 and 1945.
Still somewhat of a youthful beauty when she started in early silent films, McDowell appeared in numerous films, eventually graduating to playing character and mother types. She can be seen to good advantage in Douglas Fairbanks's 1920 The Mark of Zorro. McDowell appeared in two of the biggest films of the silent era, The Big Parade (1925) and Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925), both in which she played mothers.
She was married to silent screen character actor Charles Hill Mailes from 1906 to his 1937 death. The couple appeared in numerous silent films together, including The Mark of Zorro. They had two sons, Robert Mailes and Eugene Mailes.
Claire McDowell died, aged 88, in Hollywood, California.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Known For
It Happened One Night
(1934)
Mother on Bus (uncredited)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
(1925)
Princess of Hur
Hangmen Also Die!
(1943)
Counterwoman (uncredited)
The Big Parade
(1925)
Mrs. Apperson
This Land Is Mine
(1943)
Woman in Bathroom
Imitation of Life
(1934)
Teacher Outside Classroom (uncredited)
The Mark of Zorro
(1920)
Dona Catalina Pulido
The Big House
(1930)
Mrs. Marlowe
Three Comrades
(1938)
Landlady Frau Zalewski (uncredited)
Test Pilot
(1938)
Funeral Home Associate (uncredited)
Boys Town
(1938)
Nun (uncredited)
Full Filmography
Acting
The Devil
(1908)
The Planter's Wife
(1908)
Mrs. John Holland
His New Lid
(1910)
A Flash of Light
(1910)
At First Party
Rose o' Salem Town
(1910)
Love Among the Roses
(1910)
The Golden Supper
(1910)
Lady-in-Waiting
The Usurer
(1910)
Despairing Mother / One of the Third Debtors
Waiter No. 5
(1910)
The Chief of Police's Wife
A Mohawk's Way
(1910)
The Iconoclast
(1910)
Wilful Peggy
(1910)
Housemaid
The Oath and the Man
(1910)
Rebel
Muggsy Becomes a Hero
(1910)
One of the Sisters Frost
His Trust
(1911)
Col. Frazier's wife
What Shall We Do with Our Old?
(1911)
The Old Carpenter's Wife
A Country Cupid
(1911)
The Half-Wit's Mother
His Trust Fulfilled
(1911)
Mrs. Frazier
Swords and Hearts
(1911)
Irene Lambert
The Primal Call
(1911)
The Woman
The Manicure Lady
(1911)
Lunchroom Hostess
A Decree of Destiny
(1911)
A Nun
The Long Road
(1911)
Ned's Wife
The Adventures of Billy
(1911)
Rich Woman
Fisher Folks
(1911)
At Fair
A Woman Scorned
(1911)
The Doctor's Wife
The Squaw's Love
(1911)
Silver Fawn
Fate's Turning
(1911)
At Hotel/At Wedding
The Old Actor
(1912)
At Audition
The Sunbeam
(1912)
The Spinster
The School Teacher and the Waif
(1912)
The Street Fakir's Sweetheart
Man's Genesis
(1912)
Cave Woman
A Sailor’s Heart
(1912)
The Sailor's Third Sweetheart
Billy's Stratagem
(1912)
Billy's Mother
The Female of the Species
(1912)
The Miner's Wife
Lena and the Geese
(1912)
Lena's Mother
A Temporary Truce
(1912)
Mexican Jim's Wife
So Near, Yet So Far
(1912)
Rich Woman in Other Town
The God Within
(1912)
The Woodsman's Wife
The New York Hat
(1912)
The Main Gossip
When the Fire-Bells Rang
(1912)
An Actress
The Sands of Dee
(1912)
Artist's fiancee
Two Daughters of Eve
(1912)
The Mother
In the Aisles of the Wild
(1912)
The Elder Daughter
A Cry for Help
(1912)
The Thief's Wife - the Charity Patient
The Massacre
(1912)
Stephen's Belle - In Prologue
Under Burning Skies
(1912)
The Friend
The Baby and the Stork
(1912)
The Mother
The Strong Man's Burden
(1913)
Ida Glynn, The Nurse
The Unwelcome Guest
(1913)
The Wife
The Telephone Girl and the Lady
(1913)
The Lady
The Wanderer
(1913)
The Female Lover
Olaf—An Atom
(1913)
A Parent
The Stolen Bride
(1913)
The Wife
The House of Darkness
(1913)
The Doctor's Wife
A Tender-Hearted Crook
(1913)
Edith
The Switchtower
(1913)
The Switchman's Wife
A Misappropriated Turkey
(1913)
Mrs. Fallon / Widow Logan
The Wrong Bottle
(1913)
The Blind Sister
The Tenderfoot's Money
(1913)
The Prospector's Wife
The Stolen Loaf
(1913)
The Rich Woman
The Ranchero's Revenge
(1913)
The Schemer's Associate
The Well
(1913)
The Farmer's Wife
A Gamble with Death
(1913)
Kate
The Enemy's Baby
(1913)
Miller's Wife
A Gambler's Honor
(1913)
Beth
The Mirror
(1913)
Daisy
The Vengeance of Galora
(1913)
Galora
Under the Shadow of the Law
(1913)
John Haywood's Sister
I Was Meant for You
(1913)
Lavina
The Work Habit
(1913)
The Daughter in the City
The Crook and the Girl
(1913)
The Uncle's Adopted Daughter
The Stolen Treaty
(1913)
Olga
The Law and His Son
(1913)
Marguerite, Manning's Sister
The Van Nostrand Tiara
(1913)
Kate
The Stopped Clock
(1913)
The Antique Dealer's Daughter
The Detective's Stratagem
(1913)
Kate, the Bank Clerk's Sweetheart
All for Science
(1913)
Detective
For Her Government
(1913)
The Abandoned Well
(1913)
The Widow
The House of Discord
(1913)
The Sister-in-Law
The Fatal Wedding
(1914)
Concentration
(1914)
The Mother
Waifs
(1914)
His Fireman's Conscience
(1914)
Mrs. Daily
A Nest Unfeathered
(1914)
Kate
Her Father's Silent Partner
(1914)
Her Hand
(1914)
Olga
The Cracksman's Gratitude
(1914)
Men and Women
(1914)
Mrs. Stephen Rodman
The Sheriff's Dilemma
(1915)
Molly
The Miser's Legacy
(1915)
The Crook's Wife
The Gambler's I.O.U.
(1915)
Nell - Daddy Wilson's Daughter
A Day's Adventure
(1915)
Hogan's Moll
The Canceled Mortgage
(1915)
The Widowed Mother
Truth Stranger Than Fiction
(1915)
Crook
Her Dormant Love
(1915)
The Discontented Wife
The Way Out
(1915)
The Young School Teacher
Her Convert
(1915)
The Old Inventor's Daughter
Old Offenders
(1915)
Joe's Wife
As It Happened
(1915)
The Ranchman's Daughter
The Right to Be Happy
(1916)
Mrs. Cratchit
A Stranger from Somewhere
(1916)
Olga
Mixed Blood
(1916)
Nita Valyez
The Clean-Up
(1917)
Vera Vincent
The Storm Woman
(1917)
The Gates of Doom
(1917)
Indore / Agatha
The Bronze Bride
(1917)
A-Che-Chee
The White Raven
(1917)
Daisy
The Empty Gun
(1917)
Mary
Avarice
(1917)
The Miserly Old Woman
You Can't Believe Everything
(1918)
Grace Dardley
Captain of His Soul
(1918)
Heart o' the Hills
(1919)
Martha Hawn
Rosalind at Redgate
(1919)
The Follies Girl
(1919)
Nina
Prudence on Broadway
(1919)
Miss Grayson
The Feud
(1919)
Mary Lynch
The Mark of Zorro
(1920)
Dona Catalina Pulido
The Gift Supreme
(1920)
Lalia Graun
Something to Think About
(1920)
Housekeeper
The Jack-Knife Man
(1920)
Lize Merdin
The Woman in the Suitcase
(1920)
Mrs. James B. Moreland
Midsummer Madness
(1921)
Mrs. Osborne
Love Never Dies
(1921)
Liz Trott
What Every Woman Knows
(1921)
Comtesse de la Brière
Prisoners of Love
(1921)
Her Mother
Nice People
(1922)
Margaret Rainsford
Penrod
(1922)
Mrs. Schofield
Heart's Haven
(1922)
May Caroline
Rent Free
(1922)
Countess de Mourney
Quincy Adams Sawyer
(1922)
Mrs. Putnam
Ashes of Vengeance
(1923)
Margot's Aunt
Human Wreckage
(1923)
Mrs. Brown
Circus Days
(1923)
Martha
The West~Bound Limited
(1923)
Mrs. Bill Buckley
Ponjola
(1923)
Mrs. Hope
Secrets
(1924)
Elizabeth Channing
Thy Name Is Woman
(1924)
Juan's Mother
Judgment of the Storm
(1924)
Mrs. Heath
Those Who Dare
(1924)
Mrs. Rollins
The Big Parade
(1925)
Mrs. Apperson
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
(1925)
Princess of Hur
The Tower of Lies
(1925)
Katrina
Waking Up the Town
(1925)
Mrs. Joyce
The Midnight Flyer
(1925)
Liza Slater
The Shamrock Handicap
(1926)
Molly O'Shea
The Devil's Circus
(1926)
Mrs. Peterson
The Unknown Soldier
(1926)
John Phillips' sister
The Show Off
(1926)
Mom Fisher
The Flaming Forest
(1926)
Mrs. McTavish
Almost Human
(1927)
Mrs. Livingston
The Shield of Honor
(1927)
Mrs. MacDowell
A Little Journey
(1927)
Aunt Louise
The Auctioneer
(1927)
Mrs. Tim Eagan
The Taxi Dancer
(1927)
Aunt Mary
Tillie the Toiler
(1927)
Ma Jones
The Black Diamond Express
(1927)
Martha Foster
The Viking
(1928)
Lady Editha (as Claire MacDowell)
The Tragedy of Youth
(1928)
Mother
Don't Marry
(1928)
Aunt Abigail Bowen
The Flying Fleet
(1929)
Mrs. Hastings (uncredited)
The Quitter
(1929)
Mrs. Abbott
Silks and Saddles
(1929)
Mrs. Calhoun
The Big House
(1930)
Mrs. Marlowe
The Second Floor Mystery
(1930)
Aunt Hattie
Redemption
(1930)
Anna Pavlovna
Wild Company
(1930)
Mrs. Laura Grayson
Mothers Cry
(1930)
Mary's Mother
Young Desire
(1930)
Mrs. Spencer
Manhattan Parade
(1931)
Nancy - the Maid
An American Tragedy
(1931)
Mrs. Samuel Griffiths
The Phantom Express
(1932)
Ma Nolan
Under Eighteen
(1932)
Seamstress (uncredited)
The Famous Ferguson Case
(1932)
Brooks' Landlady (uncredited)
A Successful Calamity
(1932)
Struthers' Secretary (uncredited)
Lawyer Man
(1932)
Gilmurry's Secretary (uncredited)
Cornered
(1932)
Jane's Aunt
The Strange Love of Molly Louvain
(1932)
Ann Marie's Caregiver Mrs. Schiller (uncredited)
Union Depot
(1932)
Little Boy's Mother (uncredited)
Wild Boys of the Road
(1933)
Mrs. Smith
The Working Man
(1933)
Benjamin's Secretary
By Appointment Only
(1933)
Mrs. Mary Carroll
Central Airport
(1933)
Mrs. Blaine
Bedside
(1934)
Nurse
Two Heads on a Pillow
(1934)
Mrs. Helen Gorman
British Agent
(1934)
Woman Saying 'Lenin will Live' (uncredited)
Journal of a Crime
(1934)
Sister at Hospital (uncredited)
Dr. Monica
(1934)
Miss Bryerly (uncredited)
Imitation of Life
(1934)
Teacher Outside Classroom (uncredited)
It Happened One Night
(1934)
Mother on Bus (uncredited)
Murder by Television
(1935)
Mrs. Houghland
August Week End
(1936)
Alma Washburne
Small Town Girl
(1936)
Woman in Bed (uncredited)
A Night at the Movies
(1937)
Movie Patron (uncredited)
Two-Fisted Sheriff
(1937)
Miss Herrick - Molly's Aunt
Song of Revolt
(1937)
Artistocratic Dowager (uncredited)
Test Pilot
(1938)
Funeral Home Associate (uncredited)
Boys Town
(1938)
Nun (uncredited)
The Man on the Rock
(1938)
Napoleon's Mother (uncredited)
They're Always Caught
(1938)
Mrs. Fletcher (uncredited)
Three Comrades
(1938)
Landlady Frau Zalewski (uncredited)
Stand Up and Fight
(1939)
Woman
Idiot's Delight
(1939)
Crying Mother
Thunder Afloat
(1939)
Nurse (uncredited)
Miracles for Sale
(1939)
Jack of Diamonds Woman
Angel of Mercy
(1939)
Mother (uncredited)
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
(1939)
Gossiper
One Against the World
(1939)
Jane Todd Crawford (uncredited)
A Failure at Fifty
(1940)
Minor Role (uncredited)
Young Tom Edison
(1940)
Woman at Station
The Golden Fleecing
(1940)
Pedestrian (uncredited)
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
(1940)
Nurse for Mr. Winslow (uncredited)
Whispers
(1941)
Gossip (uncredited)
Lady Scarface
(1941)
Mrs. Tuckerman
Hangmen Also Die!
(1943)
Counterwoman (uncredited)
This Land Is Mine
(1943)
Woman in Bathroom
Presenting Lily Mars
(1943)
Dowager
Du Barry was a Lady
(1943)
Subway Passenger
Keeper of the Flame
(1943)
Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble
(1944)
Dr. Standish's Servant (uncredited)
Men on Her Mind
(1944)
Mother Goodwin
Adventure
(1945)
Woman in Library (uncredited)