Claire Du Brey

Claire Du Brey
DuBrey in Who's Who on the Screen (1920)
Born	August 31, 1892 Bonner's Ferry, Idaho, U.S.
Died	August 1, 1993 (aged 100) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1916–1959
Spouse(s)	Mark G. Gates, M.D. (m. November 25, 1911–1920s; divorced)

Claire Du Brey (August 31, 1892 – August 1, 1993) was an American actress. She appeared in more than 200 films between 1916 and 1959.

Career

Du Brey was born to an ethnic Croat father from Dalmatia (who anglicised his name to Matthew Dubrey before his marriage), and an Irish-American mother, Lilly (née Henry), later Mrs. Richard Fugitt. Her parents married on November 9, 1891 in Pocatello, Bannock County, Idaho. She was raised Catholic and attended a convent school. Her screen career began with Universal Studios and she played at one time or another with almost all the larger companies. More notable films in which she appeared were Anything Once (1917), Social Briars (1918), The Devil's Trail (1919), What Every Woman Wants (1919) and Dangerous Hours (1919). Other films include The Wishing Ring Man, The Spite Bride, The World Aflame, and The Walk Offs. Her career declined with the sound era and she later played mostly small roles.

According to Who's Who on the Screen (1920), Du Brey was proficient in athletics, excelling in swimming, riding, golfing, tennis and motoring. She was five feet seven inches high, weighed 130 pounds and had auburn hair and brown eyes, and took a lively interest in horticulture.^[1]

Personal life

According to two biographies of Marie Dressler published in the late 1990s, Dressler and Du Brey had a long-term romantic relationship.^[2][3] However other sources indicate that Du Brey, who had trained as a nurse, was the elder actress's assistant and caregiver while Dressler was ill with terminal cancer.^[1]

Selected filmography

Advertisement (1919)

• The Piper's Price (1917)
• The Drifter (1917)
• The Fighting Gringo (1917)
• Hair-Trigger Burke (1917)
• The Honor of an Outlaw (1917)
• A 44-Calibre Mystery (1917)
• The Almost Good Man (1917)
• Six-Shooter Justice (1917)
• The Rescue (1917)
• Pay Me! (1917)
• Triumph (1917)
• Anything Once (1917)
• Social Briars (1918)
• The Border Raiders (1918)
• The Devil's Trail (1919)
• Dangerous Hours (1919)
• What Every Woman Wants (1919)
• The Wishing Ring Man (1919)
• That Girl Montana (1921)
• The Hole in the Wall (1921)
• The Ordeal (1922)
• The Voice from the Minaret (1923)
• Two Sisters (1929)
• Ramona (1936)
• The Affairs of Annabel (1938)
• The Baroness and the Butler (1938)
• Jesse James (1939)
• The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939)
• Juke Box Jenny (1942)
• Oh, What a Night (1944)
• Dakota (1945)
• Star in the Night (1945) short film
• The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
• The Bishop's Wife (1947)
• Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949)
• Cinderella (1950)
• Destination Big House (1950)
• Raiders of the Seven Seas (1953)

References

1. Charles Donald Fox & Milton L. Silver (1920). "Claire Du Brey". Who's Who on the Screen. New York City: Ross Publishing. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
2. Lee, Betty (1997). Marie Dressler: The Unlikeliest Star. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 186–187.
3. Kennedy, Matthew (2006). Marie Dressler: A Biography; with a Listing of Major Stage Performances, a Filmography and a Discography. Jefferson NC: McFarland. pp. 143–144.

Bibliography

• Kennedy, Matthew (1999). Marie Dressler: A Biography, With a Listing of Major Stage Performances, a Filmography And a Discography. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0520-1.
• Lee, Betty (1997). Marie Dressler: The Unlikeliest Star. University of Kentucky Press. ISBN 0-8131-2036-5.

External links

• Claire Du Brey at the Internet Movie Database