Mae Clarke
| Mae Clarke | |
|---|---|
 in Lady Killer (1933) |
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| Born | Violet Mary Klotz August 16, 1910 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Died | April 29, 1992 (aged 81) Woodland Hills, California, United States |
| Years active | 1929-1970 |
| Spouse | Lewis Brice (1928-divorced) Stevens Bancroft (1937-divorced) Herbert Langdon (1946-divorced) |
Mae Clarke (August 16, 1910 – April 29, 1992) was an American actress most noted for playing Frankenstein's bride, chased by Boris Karloff in Frankenstein, and having a grapefruit smashed into her face by James Cagney in The Public Enemy, both released in 1931.
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[edit] Early life and career
Clarke was born Violet Mary Klotz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] Her father was a theatre organist. She studied dancing as a child and began on stage in vaudeville and in night clubs.
She started her professional career as a dancer sharing a room with Barbara Stanwyck, and subsequently starred in many films for Universal Studios, including the original screen version of The Front Page (1931) and the first sound version of Frankenstein (1931) with Boris Karloff. Clarke played the role of Henry Frankenstein's fiancee Elizabeth in Frankenstein, who was attacked by the Monster (Karloff) on her wedding day.
The Public Enemy, released that same year, contained one of cinema's most famous (and frequently parodied) scenes, in which James Cagney pushed a half grapefruit into Clarke's face, then went out and picked up Jean Harlow. The film was so popular that it ran 24 hours a day at a theatre in Times Square upon its initial release, and Clarke's ex-husband had the grapefruit scene timed and would frequently buy a ticket, enter the theatre to enjoy that sequence, then leave the theatre.[2]
She appeared as Myra Deauville, in the 1931 Pre-Code version of Waterloo Bridge. In the film, she portrays a young American woman who is forced by circumstance into a life of prostitution in World War I London. Both the film and Clarke's performance were well received by the critics.
She also appeared in the modest pre-code Universal film Night World (1932), with Lew Ayres, Boris Karloff, and Hedda Hopper.
By the mid-1930s, Clarke was no longer a leading lady and was only featured in small parts through to the 1960s. In the early 1930s, Clark's face had been left scarred as a result of a car crash, recounts G Mank in his Frankenstein film saga book It's Alive. He also writes that Mae would attend Frankenstein fan club events during her senior years.
[edit] Personal life and death
Clarke was married and divorced three times, to Lewis Brice, Stevens Bancroft and Herbert Langdon. She did not have children.
She died on April 29, 1992, at age 81, from cancer, in Woodland Hills, California. She is buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery.
[edit] Selected filmography
[edit] Features
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[edit] Short subjects
- Screen Snapshots (1932)
- Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 7 (1937)
[edit] References
- ^ Mae Clarke at AllRovi
- ^ a story told in James Cagney's autobiography, Cagney by Cagney
[edit] Further reading
- Clarke, Mae. Featured Player - An Oral Autobiography of Mae Clarke. Edited With An Introduction by James Curtis. Santa Barbara/Lanham: Santa Teresa Press/Scarecrow Press, 1996.
- Halliwell's Filmgoers Companion
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mae Clarke |
- Mae Clarke at the Internet Movie Database
- Mae Clarke at AllRovi
- Mae Clarke at the TCM Movie Database
- Mae Clarke at Find a Grave
