Claire Adams

Birthday: 1898-09-24
Deathday: 1978-09-25
Birthplace: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Gender: Female
Owned By: Unowned

From Wikipedia

Claire Adams (September 24, 1898 – September 25, 1978) was a Canadian silent film actress and benefactor. She was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as the daughter of Stanley Wells Adams, a Welsh-born accountant, and his Canadian wife, Lillian Adams (née Kennedy). Educated in Canada and England, Claire Adams worked briefly as a nurse with the Red Cross during World War I.

In 1920 Adams signed a five-year contract with Benjamin Bowles Hampton, a Hollywood producer and her future husband. She later moved to California where she acted in more than forty silent films, including melodramas, comedies and westerns.

Described as "patricianly beautiful", Adams worked with many of Hollywood's leading actors, including Adolphe Menjou, Tom Mix, Wallace Beery, and Lon Chaney. In 1923 she was Rin Tin Tin's leading lady in Where the North Begins, which was a huge success and is often credited with saving Warner Bros. from bankruptcy. She later maintained that Rin Tin Tin was her "favourite leading man".

Her best known film was The Big Parade, the second largest grossing silent film in cinematic history. It was directed by King Vidor and Adams starred alongside John Gilbert. Perhaps her most memorable role came in 1920 as Barbara, the artist who helps humanize the crippled crime boss played by Lon Chaney in The Penalty.

She married film producer Benjamin B. Hampton in Hollywood on September 18, 1924. They had no children. He died in 1932 leaving her very wealthy. Later that year Adams met Scobie Mackinnon, the second son of L.K.S. Mackinnon, at a party in London and three weeks later they married on April 1 in Mayfair. They remained childless. After a protracted honeymoon, in March 1938, Mackinnon brought Adams to Victoria, Australia.

On his death in 1974, Scobie Mackinnon's estate was worth A$2,111, 729, which was left entirely to Adams. She died on September 25, 1978, in Windsor, Victoria and was cremated.

Credits

Year Title Character
2009-03-13 Five Stars
1934-09-07 What a Mother-in-Law! Frances
1927-07-17 Married Alive Viola Helmesley Duxbury
1926-07-26 The Sea Wolf Maud Brewster
1926-03-21 Yellow Fingers Nona Deering
1925-11-05 The Big Parade Justyn Reed
1925-03-23 Men and Women Agnes Prescott
1925-02-02 The Devil's Cargo Martha Joyce
1925-01-01 Souls for Sables Helen Ralston
1924-11-06 The Brass Bowl Sylvia
1924-10-20 The Fast Set Fay Collen
1924-09-21 Oh, You Tony! Betty Faine
1924-09-08 Honor Among Men Patricia Carson
1924-07-20 The Girl in the Limousine The Girl
1924-02-17 The Night Hawk Clia Milton
1924-02-09 Daddies Bobette Audrey
1923-07-30 Legally Dead Minnie O'Reilly
1923-07-01 Where the North Begins Felice McTavish
1923-05-13 Stepping Fast Helen Durant
1923-01-28 Brass Commandments Ellen Bosworth
1922-10-01 Do and Dare Juanita Sánchez
1922-08-19 Just Tony Marianne Jordan
1922-08-08 Heart's Haven Vivian Breed
1922-06-11 Golden Dreams Mercedes McDonald
1922-03-16 When Romance Rides Lucy Bostil
1921-10-23 The Mysterious Rider Columbine
1921-06-01 The Man Of The Forest Helen Raynor
1921-01-30 The Killer Ruth Emory
1920-11-15 The Great Lover Ethel
1920-08-15 The Penalty Barbara Ferris
1920-05-01 Riders of the Dawn Lenore Anderson
1920-01-01 The Key to Power
1919-11-23 The Invisible Bond
1919-02-16 The End of the Road Mary Lee
1918-09-29 Romance and Brass Tacks
1917-08-10 Barnaby Lee Dorothy Van Swringen
1917-07-14 Chris and His Wonderful Lamp Betty
1912-07-16 Revenge Is Sweet One of the Office Girls