Archive:Claire Whitney (1890-1969)
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Archives > Archive:Biographies > Claire Whitney (1890-1969)
Claire Whitney, silent movie star.
She was born 6 May 1890 in New York, NY, and died 27 Aug 1969, Los Angeles, CA.
The films she made were:
1. Dancing in the Dark (1949) (uncredited) .... Board Member 2. Roaring Westward (1949) .... Aunt Jessica Martin 3. Frontier Investigator (1949) .... Molly Bright ... aka Frontier Marshall (USA) 4. An Old-Fashioned Girl (1949) .... Miss Mills 5. The Snake Pit (1948) (uncredited) .... Inmate 6. The Strange Mrs. Crane (1948) .... Edna Emmerson 7. The Babe Ruth Story (1948) (uncredited) .... Mogther of Dying Boy 8. Cowboy Cavalier (1948) .... Mary Croft/Collins 9. California Firebrand (1948) (uncredited) .... Dresss shop woman 10. Oklahoma Badlands (1948) .... Agatha Scragg 11. Rocky (1948) .... Hortense 12. Dangerous Years (1947) (uncredited) .... Woman 13. Christmas Eve (1947) .... Dr. Bunyan's Wife ... aka Sinner's Holiday (USA: reissue title) 14. She Wrote the Book (1946) (uncredited) 15. The Haunted Mine (1946) .... Mrs, Durant 16. Smooth as Silk (1946) (uncredited) .... Woman 17. G.I. Honeymoon (1945) .... Mrs. Brown 18. A Guy, a Gal and a Pal (1945) (uncredited) .... Mrs. Smith 19. Keep Your Powder Dry (1945) (uncredited) .... WAC seamstress #1 20. Under Western Skies (1945) .... Mrs. Simms 21. She Gets Her Man (1945) (uncredited) .... Landlady 22. When Strangers Marry (1944) .... Middle-aged woman ... aka Betrayed (USA: reissue title) 23. Gypsy Wildcat (1944) (uncredited) .... Maid 24. The Mummy's Ghost (1944) .... Mrs. Ella Norman 25. Moon Over Las Vegas (1944) .... Grace's Mother 26. Hat Check Honey (1944) .... Mrs. Worthington 27. The Woman of the Town (1943) .... Mrs. Robert Wright 28. Tender Comrade (1943) (uncredited) .... Nurse 29. Wintertime (1943) (uncredited) .... Bridge player 30. So's Your Uncle (1943) .... Marta 31. Get Going (1943) (uncredited) 32. False Faces (1943) .... Agnes Harding ... aka The Attorney's Dilemma (UK) 33. Mister Big (1943) (uncredited) .... Member of theatrical party 34. Behind the Eight Ball (1942) (uncredited) .... Woman ... aka Off the Beaten Track 35. Silver Queen (1942) (uncredited) .... Mrs. Harriet Bailey 36. The Silver Bullet (1942) .... Emily Morgan 37. There's One Born Every Minute (1942) (uncredited) .... Mrs. Barstow 38. Lady in a Jam (1942) (uncredited) .... Woman 39. Saboteur (1942) (uncredited) .... Wife in movie audience 40. Frisco Lil (1942) .... Nell Brewster 41. Mob Town (1941) (uncredited) .... Mrs. Simpson 42. In the Navy (1941) (uncredited) .... Gushing mother ... aka Abbott and Costello In the Navy 43. The House of the Seven Gables (1940) (uncredited) .... Witness 44. Laugh It Off (1939) (uncredited) .... Miss Martin ... aka Lady Be Gay (USA) 45. Chip of the Flying U (1939) .... Miss Robinson 46. Tower of London (1939) (uncredited) .... Civilian Woman 47. When Tomorrow Comes (1939) (uncredited) .... Waitress 48. I Stole a Million (1939) (uncredited) .... Matron 49. The Forgotten Woman (1939) (uncredited) .... Woman reporter 50. Secrets of a Nurse (1938) (uncredited) .... Nurse 51. Letter of Introduction (1938) (uncredited) .... Nurse Ryan 52. Way Down East (1935) .... Quilting Party Woman 53. Enlighten Thy Daughter (1934) .... Alice Stevens ... aka Blind Fools (USA: reissue title) 54. A Free Soul (1931) (uncredited) .... Aunt Helen 55. Iron Man (1931) (uncredited) .... Louise Lewis 56. Innocent Love (1928) 57. The Great Gatsby (1926) .... Catherine 58. The Leech (1921) .... Dorothy 59. Fine Feathers (1921) .... Jane Reynolds 60. The Passionate Pilgrim (1921) .... Esther 61. Love, Honor and Obey (1920) .... Marion Holbury 62. A Common Level (1920) .... Marion Schuyler 63. Why Women Sin (1920) .... Baroness de Ville 64. The Chamber Mystery (1920) .... Kitty Parker 65. Mothers of Men (1920) .... Marie Helmar 66. You Never Know Your Luck (1919) 67. The Isle of Conquest (1919) .... Claire Wilson 68. The Career of Katherine Bush (1919) .... Lady Beatrice Strobridge 69. The Man Who Stayed at Home (1919) .... Molly Preston 70. Kaiser's Finish (1918) .... Emily Busch 71. Ruling Passions (1918) .... Louise Palmer 72. Moral Suicide (1918) .... Lucy Daniels 73. Shirley Kaye (1917) .... Daisy Magen 74. Thou Shalt Not Steal (1917) .... Madeleine 75. Camille (1917/I) .... Celeste Duval 76. Heart and Soul (1917) .... Bess 77. Tangled Lives (1917) .... Marion 78. The New York Peacock (1917) .... Billy's Wife 79. When False Tongues Speak (1917) .... Helen Lee 80. The Victim (1916) .... Edna Boulden 81. Jealousy (1916) 82. The Straight Way (1916) .... Nell Madison 83. Sporting Blood (1916) .... Bessie Riddle 84. Under Two Flags (1916) .... Venitia 85. East Lynne (1916) .... Barbara Hare 86. The Spider and the Fly (1916) 87. A Wife's Sacrifice (1916) .... Pauline de Moray 88. The Ruling Passion (1916) .... Claire Sherlock 89. The Galley Slave (1915) .... Cecil Blaine 90. Blindness of Devotion (1915) .... Bella 91. The Song of Hate (1915) .... Undetermined Role 92. Should a Mother Tell (1915) .... Baroness Gauntier 93. The Plunderer (1915) .... Joan Presby 94. The Nigger (1915) .... Georgiana Byrd ... aka The New Governor (alternative title) 95. The Girl I Left Behind Me (1915) .... The General's Daughter 96. The Idler (1914/II) .... Kate Merryweather 97. The Burglar and the Lady (1914) .... Norma 98. The Walls of Jericho (1914) .... Lady Althea 99. Life's Shop Window (1914) .... Lydia Wilton 100. The Lure (1914) 101. The Million Dollar Robbery (1914) .... Daphne Pell 102. The Woman of Mystery (1914) .... Norma 103. Fighting Death (1914) 104. The Dream Woman (1914) 105. Beneath the Czar (1914) .... Anna Pavlowa 106. Shadows of the Moulin Rouge (1913) 107. Ben Bolt (1913) .... Alice Lee 108. The Star of India (1913) .... Captain Kenneth's wife 109. The Paralytic (1912)
Broadway plays:
Productions Dates of Production Broadway Interlude [Original, Play, Comedy] Performer: Claire Whitney [Katherine Healy] Apr 19, 1934 - Apr 1934 Page Pygmalion [Original, Play, Comedy] Performer: Claire Whitney [Mrs. Brownell] Aug 3, 1932 - Aug 1932 An Innocent Idea [Original, Play, Farce] Performer: Claire Whitney [Bonnie Wing] May 25, 1920 - May 1920 The Net [Original, Play] Performer: Claire Whitney Feb 10, 1919 - Feb 1919
Claire Whitney was born in New York City on May 6, 1890. Her acting career first started out on the stage, but as time wore on, it was evident that films were taking the place of plays, at least for a while. Her first film was THE STAR OF INDIA in 1913 when she was 23. Claire did well enough in her first movie that she starred in many films, both the shorts and features. She remained very busy throughout the balance of the silent era. After THE LEECH in 1921, Claire left films until 1926 when she returned for only one film, that being THE GREAT GATSBY. Claire returned in 1931, to appear in an uncredited part in her first sound picture. Her roles for the remainder of her career were small ones. She was 59 when she appeared in her last film, ROARING WESTWARD in 1949. On August 27, 1969, Claire died in Los Angeles, California. She was 79.
A former stock company actress who had toured vaudeville with a popular "playlet," blonde, aristocratic-looking Claire Whitney entered films in 1909 with the Biograph company in New York City. By 1912, she was starring for Madame Alice Guy-Blaché at Solax in New Jersey and in 1914, appeared with Stuart Holmes in Life's Shop Window, the very first feature film to be released by Fox. Already a supporting actress by 1916, she appeared opposite Theda Bara in both East Lynne (1916} and Under Two Flags and then settled into a long career playing mostly professional women: lawyers, matrons, nurses, and so on. She retired in 1950. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
