1910-03-08 Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
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]
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1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year | Self (archive footage) | 2009-07-02 |
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You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story | Self | 2008-05-15 |
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Breaking Home Ties | Grace Porter | 1987-11-26 |
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Going Hollywood: The '30s | (archive footage) | 1984-01-01 |
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Kiss Me Goodbye | Charlotte | 1982-12-22 |
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The Cape Town Affair | Sam Williams | 1967-09-19 |
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How to Murder Your Wife | Edna | 1965-01-26 |
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The Stripper | Helen Baird | 1963-06-19 |
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Two Weeks in Another Town | Clara Kruger | 1962-08-17 |
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Marjorie Morningstar | Rose Morgenstern | 1958-04-24 |
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The Mountain | Marie | 1956-05-31 |
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Man Without a Star | Idonee | 1955-03-24 |
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Lucy Gallant | Lady MacBeth | 1955-10-20 |
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A Star Is Born World Premiere | Self | 1954-09-28 |
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The High and the Mighty | May Holst | 1954-07-03 |
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The Stranger Wore a Gun | Josie Sullivan | 1953-07-30 |
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My Man and I | Mrs. Elena Ames | 1952-09-05 |
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Hoodlum Empire | Connie Williams | 1952-04-15 |
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Stop, You're Killing Me | Nora Marko | 1952-12-10 |
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Best of the Badmen | Lily | 1951-08-09 |
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Hard, Fast and Beautiful | Millie Farley | 1951-05-23 |
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Borderline | Madeleine Haley | 1950-03-01 |
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The Lucky Stiff | Marguerite Seaton | 1949-05-26 |
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Key Largo | Gaye Dawn | 1948-07-16 |
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Raw Deal | Pat Cameron | 1948-05-21 |
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The Velvet Touch | Marian Webster | 1948-07-13 |
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The Babe Ruth Story | Claire Hodgson Ruth | 1948-09-16 |
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Born to Kill | Helen Brent | 1947-04-30 |
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The Bachelor's Daughters | Cynthia Davis | 1946-08-06 |
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Crack-Up | Terry Cordell | 1946-09-06 |
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Johnny Angel | Lilah 'Lily' Gustafson | 1945-10-25 |
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Murder, My Sweet | Helen Grayle | 1944-12-14 |
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Good Luck, Mr. Yates | Ruth Jones | 1943-06-29 |
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The Woman of the Town | Dora Hand | 1943-12-31 |
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The Desperadoes | Countess Maletta | 1943-05-25 |
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Street of Chance | Ruth Dillon | 1942-10-03 |
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The Adventures of Martin Eden | Connie Dawson | 1942-02-26 |
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Crossroads | Michelle Allaine | 1942-07-23 |
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Texas | Michael 'Mike' King | 1941-10-09 |
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Honky Tonk | Pearl | 1941-10-01 |
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Dark Command | Miss Mary McCloud | 1940-04-15 |
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Allegheny Uprising | Janie MacDougall | 1939-11-10 |
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Stagecoach | Dallas | 1939-03-03 |
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I Stole a Million | Laura Benson | 1939-08-01 |
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Walking Down Broadway | Joan Bradley | 1938-03-11 |
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The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse | Jo Keller | 1938-07-20 |
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Five of a Kind | Christine Nelson | 1938-10-14 |
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Valley of the Giants | Lee Roberts | 1938-09-17 |
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Dead End | Francey | 1937-08-27 |
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One Mile from Heaven | Lucy 'Tex' Warren | 1937-08-18 |
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Big Town Girl | Fay Loring | 1937-12-03 |
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King of Gamblers | Dixie Moore | 1937-04-22 |
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Second Honeymoon | Marcia | 1937-11-13 |
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Time Out for Romance | Barbara Blanchard | 1937-02-10 |
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Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs | 1936-08-05 | |
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My Marriage | Carol Barton | 1936-01-31 |
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Star for a Night | Nina Lind | 1936-08-28 |
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Career Woman | Carroll Aiken | 1936-12-18 |
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15 Maiden Lane | Jane Martin | 1936-10-16 |
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To Mary - with Love | Kitty Brant | 1936-08-01 |
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Human Cargo | Bonnie Brewster | 1936-05-15 |
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Song and Dance Man | Julia Carroll | 1936-03-11 |
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Navy Wife | Vicky Blake | 1935-09-17 |
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Spring Tonic | Betty Ingals | 1935-06-27 |
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Black Sheep | Janette Foster | 1935-08-01 |
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Dante's Inferno | Elizabeth "Betty" McWade Carter | 1935-08-23 |
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Elinor Norton | Elinor Norton | 1934-11-02 |
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Hold That Girl | Tonie Bellamy | 1934-03-23 |
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Baby Take a Bow | Kay Ellison | 1934-06-30 |
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Wild Gold | Jerry Jordan | 1934-06-08 |
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Jimmy and Sally | Sally Johnson | 1933-11-04 |
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The Last Trail | Patricia Carter | 1933-08-25 |
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The Mad Game | Jane Lee | 1933-10-27 |
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Life in the Raw | Judy Halloway | 1933-07-07 |
