Claire Trevor

Claire Wemlinger (Claire Trevor) was born in Brooklyn in 1910. Claire's acting career spanned more than seven decades and included role on stage, television, on the radio and in film. Her parts were often the "bad girl", floozy, salon madam or any other type of blond bombshell who was trouble. Claire studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and performed in stock in the 1920s. She starred on Broadway in 1932 and began appearing in Vitaphone shorts (commercials).

For the next five years Trevor would star in 29 films as either the lead or the heroine. She played opposite Humphrey Bogart in Dead End in 1937. Claire was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her part in Dead End. In 1939 Trevor played opposite John Wayne in Stagecoach, again with Wayne in Allegheny Uprising and in 1940 with John Wayne in Dark Command.

Key Largo earned Trevor an Academy Award for her portrayal as a washed-up nightclub singer and gangster's moll. She won an Emmy in 1957 for Producer's Showcase. Claire Trevor stepped out of the limelight in the 1960s and her last film was Kiss Me Goodbye (1982). She made a guest appearance at the 70th annual Academy Awards in 1998 and was honored for her contributions.

Claire was married three times and had one child. In 1978 her son Charles died in an airplane crash and her husband Milton Bren passed away in 1979 from cancer. Trevor, devastated by these deaths, returned to Manhattan and continued on with small acting roles and a busy social life. She eventually returned to California where she was a noted patron of the arts.

Clair died April 8, 2000 at the age of 90. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and The Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine was named for her. Her Oscar and Emmy are on display next to the theater that bears her name.