Claire Adams

Claire Adams

Born: September 24, 1898
Died: September 25, 1978
in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
From Wikipedia

Claire Adams (September 24, 1898 – September 25, 1978) was a Canadian silent film actress and benefactor. She was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as the daughter of Stanley Wells Adams, a Welsh-born accountant, and his Canadian wife, Lillian Adams (née Kennedy). Educated in Canada and England, Claire Adams worked briefly as a nurse with the Red Cross during World War I.

In 1920 Adams signed a five-year contract with Benjamin Bowles Hampton, a Hollywood producer and her future husband. She later moved to California where she acted in more than forty silent films, including melodramas, comedies and westerns.

Described as "patricianly beautiful", Adams worked with many of Hollywood's leading actors, including Adolphe Menjou, Tom Mix, Wallace Beery, and Lon Chaney. In 1923 she was Rin Tin Tin's leading lady in Where the North Begins, which was a huge success and is often credited with saving Warner Bros. from bankruptcy. She later maintained that Rin Tin Tin was her "favourite leading man".

Her best known film was The Big Parade, the second largest grossing silent film in cinematic history. It was directed by King Vidor and Adams starred alongside John Gilbert. Perhaps her most memorable role came in 1920 as Barbara, the artist who helps humanize the crippled crime boss played by Lon Chaney in The Penalty.

She married film producer Benjamin B. Hampton in Hollywood on September 18, 1924. They had no children. He died in 1932 leaving her very wealthy. Later that year Adams met Scobie Mackinnon, the second son of L.K.S. Mackinnon, at a party in London and three weeks later they married on April 1 in Mayfair. They remained childless. After a protracted honeymoon, in March 1938, Mackinnon brought Adams to Victoria, Australia.

On his death in 1974, Scobie Mackinnon's estate was worth A$2,111, 729, which was left entirely to Adams. She died on September 25, 1978, in Windsor, Victoria and was cremated.

Movies for Claire Adams...

Five Stars
Title: Five Stars
Released: March 13, 2009
Type: Movie
This unique collection of some of Andrew Blake's most memorable scenes stars five of the most recognizable women ever to work in the adult industry.
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What a Mother-in-Law!
Title: What a Mother-in-Law!
Character: Frances
Released: September 7, 1934
Type: Movie
Comedy Story
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Married Alive
Title: Married Alive
Character: Viola Helmesley Duxbury
Released: July 17, 1927
Type: Movie
James Duxbury (Lou Tellegen) is an exponent of polygamy, which may not be legal but certainly provides him with several evenings of entertainment. Professor Charles Orme (Matt Moore) falls in love with Duxbury's fourth wife Amy (Margaret Livingston). Things get dicey indeed as Orme tries to figure out whether Amy is still married to Duxbury or not -- in fact, Duxbury isn't sure either.
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The Sea Wolf
Title: The Sea Wolf
Character: Maud Brewster
Released: July 26, 1926
Type: Movie
Captain "Wolf" Larsen, the absolute master of a seal schooner, is a mystic and philosopher, though he rules his men with an iron hand. On a ferry going from San Francisco to Oakland, Van Weyden, a critic, and Maud Brewster, a novelist, meet in masquerade costumes and are forced overboard when their boat collides with a steamer. Humphrey, then Maud, are picked up by Larsen's crew. Because of her costume, Maud is taken for a boy and placed in the custody of Mugridge, the cook, who attempts to attack her upon discovering her identity. Larsen takes her under his protection and decides to marry her; but as the ceremony begins, the crew mutinies, and Larsen is stricken with blindness as he faces the rebels. The ship is set afire, and though Humphrey and Maud are rescued by another steamer, Larsen, deserted by his crew, refuses to quit his ship and is enveloped in flames.
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Yellow Fingers
Title: Yellow Fingers
Character: Nona Deering
Released: March 21, 1926
Type: Movie
Ralph Ince stars as Brute Shane, a South Pacific trader who has adopted native girl Saina (Olive Broden). When Shane rescues English lass Nona Deering (Claire Adams) from white slavers, the jealous Saina begins plotting Nona's demise.
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The Big Parade
Title: The Big Parade
Character: Justyn Reed
Released: November 5, 1925
Type: Movie
The story of an idle rich boy who joins the US Army's Rainbow Division and is sent to France to fight in World War I, becomes friends with two working class men, experiences the horrors of trench warfare, and finds love with a French girl.
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Men and Women
Title: Men and Women
Character: Agnes Prescott
Released: March 23, 1925
Type: Movie
Will Prescott (Richard Dix) is a bank cashier whose assistant, Ned Seabury (Neil Hamilton), has made a killing in the stock market. With his newfound riches, Seabury proceeds to woo Prescott's wife, Agnes (Claire Adams), by buying her luxurious items that her husband can not afford. Seabury makes no secret of his aim, and Prescott desperately steals some of the bank's bonds, hoping to make enough money to keep Agnes by his side.
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The Devil's Cargo
Title: The Devil's Cargo
Character: Martha Joyce
Released: February 2, 1925
Type: Movie
John Joyce arrives in Sacramento with his sister, Martha, and aunt to become the editor of a newspaper. He is determined to clear the town of the low-down mining camp types who are flaunting their freewheeling ways. When Joyce meets Faro Sampson, he falls in love, believing that she is the daughter of a minister. Actually she's the daughter of the man who runs a gambling den, "Square Deal" Sampson.
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Souls for Sables
Title: Souls for Sables
Released: January 1, 1925
Type: Movie
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The Brass Bowl
Title: The Brass Bowl
Character: Sylvia
Released: November 6, 1924
Type: Movie
After arriving unexpectedly at his country home, Dan Maitland discovers a young woman attempting to open his safe. She mistakes him for Anisty, a notorious thief who is Dan's double, and he gives her the jewels from the safe. Anisty appears, and there follow confusion and thrilling episodes in which Anisty is captured, escapes, and poses as Dan. Dan finally brings Anisty to justice and declares his love for Sylvia, who confesses she was searching Dan's safe to recover papers that might incriminate her father.
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The Fast Set
Title: The Fast Set
Character: Fay Collen
Released: October 20, 1924
Type: Movie
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Oh, You Tony!
Title: Oh, You Tony!
Character: Betty Faine
Released: September 21, 1924
Type: Movie
This silent Western features Tom Mix as a rancher who goes to Washington to affect better conditions for the anonymous man of the soil. Having lost his money to some scheming lobbyists, Mix, unaware that oil has been found on his property, stakes his possessions on wonder horse Tony winning the big race.
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The Girl in the Limousine
Title: The Girl in the Limousine
Released: July 20, 1924
Type: Movie
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The Night Hawk
Title: The Night Hawk
Character: Clia Milton
Released: February 17, 1924
Type: Movie
Our Western star begins this actioner rather improbably, as a New York City gangster. But soon enough he heads for the more comfortable expanse of the open spaces.
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Daddies
Title: Daddies
Character: Bobette Audrey
Released: February 9, 1924
Type: Movie
A group of confirmed bachelors finds their informal "anti-matrimony club" turned into a home for adopted orphans when six orphaned children are suddenly foisted on them.
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Legally Dead
Title: Legally Dead
Character: Minnie O'Reilly
Released: July 30, 1923
Type: Movie
A man faces being hanged for a crime he didn't commit
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Where the North Begins
Title: Where the North Begins
Character: Felice McTavish
Released: July 1, 1923
Type: Movie
A German Shepherd puppy is "adopted" by a wolf pack in the snowy and frozen Great North and raised by them as one of their own. A few years later he comes upon a fur trapper and saves the man from certain death, and begins to feel a kinship with him that is stronger than the one he has with his adopted pack.
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Stepping Fast
Title: Stepping Fast
Character: Helen Durant
Released: May 13, 1923
Type: Movie
Mix is Grant Malvern, a rancher who befriends scientist Quentin Durant (Tom S. Guise) after rescuing him from a trio of Chinese crooks. The crooks want to find Durant's Arizona gold mine, and the map to the location is contained in a pair of rings. After the crooks track down Durant and kill him, one of the rings winds up with Durant's daughter, Helen (Adams), and the other falls into Malvern's hands.
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Brass Commandments
Title: Brass Commandments
Character: Ellen Bosworth
Released: January 28, 1923
Type: Movie
"Flash" Lanning returns to Bozzam City from the East to put an end to cattle rustling. Gloria Hallowell, who has known him by reputation, falls in love with Lanning but believes that he loves Ellen Bosworth, an eastern "lady." Campan, the leader of the rustlers, hoping to lure Lanning into a trap, kidnaps both girls. Lanning rescues the girls, punishes Campan, and indicates to Gloria that she is the girl for him.
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Do and Dare
Title: Do and Dare
Character: Juanita Sánchez
Released: October 1, 1922
Type: Movie
When Henry Boone hears his grandfather's stories of his youth as a pioneer and scout, he is gripped by the fires of romance and decides to hunt adventure. Boone finds himself in an airplane carrying a military message to a leader of a revolution in a South American country. He is arrested as a spy but escapes and saves the ruler's daughter from the revolutionaries.
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Just Tony
Title: Just Tony
Character: Marianne Jordan
Released: August 19, 1922
Type: Movie
A cowboy seeks revenge against the man who shot him in a bar-room brawl. While searching for him, he comes across a wild stallion that he is determined to capture and break, and unknowingly falls in love with the daughter of the man who shot him.
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Heart's Haven
Title: Heart's Haven
Character: Vivian Breed
Released: August 8, 1922
Type: Movie
A fine cast brings depth to this melodrama of a crippled boy, an unhappy marriage, an injured young lady and the miracle of faith.
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Golden Dreams
Title: Golden Dreams
Character: Mercedes McDonald
Released: June 11, 1922
Type: Movie
Oil is discovered on the Countess de Elberca's estate in a mythical Spanish American country. Mercedes McDonald, her niece, falls in love with Sandy Buchanan, a young Scotch engineer hired by the countess. Don Felipe, a neighbor in need of money to avoid arrest for embezzlement, conspires with his nephew, the Duke of Othomo, for the latter to wed Mercedes. The aunt approves the suit. Felipe and Othomo attempt to kill Mercedes' sweetheart, but Buchanan, with the aid of her brother and a traveling American circus, foils their plans. Felipe and Othomo are killed by the circus animals, and the aunt consents to Mercedes' marriage to Buchanan.
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When Romance Rides
Title: When Romance Rides
Character: Lucy Bostil
Released: March 16, 1922
Type: Movie
Lucy Bostil, daughter of a Colorado ranch owner, is led by a dog to his master, Lin Slone, who is exhausted from a struggle to capture a wild horse; she revives Lin and they christen the horse "Wildfire." The Bostils have entered Sage King in a race, but Lucy agrees to tame and train the wild horse, since Buckles, her favorite colt, has been stolen. When Joel Creech, a half-witted stable hand, is discharged, he becomes a tool of the Cordtses--who also have entered a horse (Buckles) in the race--in drugging Sage King. Lin and Lucy enter Wildfire under the Bostil colors, and she rides him to victory, When Cordts is disgraced and discovered to be a horse thief, he persuades Joel to abduct Lucy. Joel does so, but first he kills Cordts. Warned by his dog of Lucy's danger, Lin pursues and rescues the girl.
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The Mysterious Rider
Title: The Mysterious Rider
Character: Columbine
Released: October 23, 1921
Type: Movie
Hell Bent Wade is the victim of an attack in which is wife is killed and daughter kidnapped. A couple of decades later, he is a sheriff known only as the "mysterious rider," because of his nighttime prowls in search of cattle rustlers.
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The Man Of The Forest
Title: The Man Of The Forest
Character: Helen Raynor
Released: June 1, 1921
Type: Movie
Ailing ranch owner Al Auchincloss (Harry Lorraine) sends for his two nieces, Helen and Bo Raynor (Claire Adams and Charlotte Pierce), who are his heirs. Milt Dale, who lives in the forest (Gantvoort), comes down to help round up the cattle, and a romance springs up between him and Helen. This does not please Harvey Riggs (McKim), who is trying to get control of the ranch.
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The Killer
Title: The Killer
Character: Ruth Emory
Released: January 30, 1921
Type: Movie
Claire Adams as a girl forced to marry the man she suspects killed her father. When she refuses, she is virtually kept a prisoner along with kid-brother Frankie Lee until a handsome stranger (Jack Conway) rescues them.
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The Great Lover
Title: The Great Lover
Character: Ethel
Released: November 15, 1920
Type: Movie
Ethel Warren returns from studying in Europe to make her debut in New York with the opera company in which Jean Paurel, world-famous baritone, is the star. Carlo Sonino, also a member of the company, falls in love with Ethel and warns her against becoming infatuated with the amorous singer.
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The Penalty
Title: The Penalty
Character: Barbara Ferris
Released: August 15, 1920
Type: Movie
Blizzard, deranged from a childhood operation in which both his legs were needlessly amputated after an accident, becomes a vicious criminal, and eventually mob leader of the San Francisco underworld.
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Riders of the Dawn
Title: Riders of the Dawn
Character: Lenore Anderson
Released: May 1, 1920
Type: Movie
A young soldier returns from the war to find his western homeland despoiled by conflict between the wheat farmers and a crooked lawyer.
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The Invisible Bond
Title: The Invisible Bond
Released: November 23, 1919
Type: Movie
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The End of the Road
Title: The End of the Road
Character: Mary Lee
Released: February 16, 1919
Type: Movie
Childhood friends Mary Lee and Vera receive two different versions of the 'birds and the bees' from their mothers. Mary Lee gets the facts, while Vera gets a prudish fairytale version. Their lives separate after graduation, Mary Lee becomes a nurse who falls in proper love with a Doctor, whereas Vera follows her mother's advice and seeks to marry a rich man, but falls for the unlawful and syphilitic charms of a wealthy cad. Mary Lee and her Doctor rescue Vera and help her get proper care after a series of revelations showing actual patients of the loathsome disease. Finally, Mary Lee and her new husband volunteer to help our boys fighting the Huns in France.
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Romance and Brass Tacks
Title: Romance and Brass Tacks
Released: September 29, 1918
Type: Movie
Romance and Brass Tacks is a silent short.
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Barnaby Lee
Title: Barnaby Lee
Character: Dorothy Van Swringen
Released: August 10, 1917
Type: Movie
Pirate melodrama.
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Chris and His Wonderful Lamp
Title: Chris and His Wonderful Lamp
Character: Betty
Released: July 14, 1917
Type: Movie
A young man buys an Aladdin’s lamp at an auction and employs the genie to help him see his love.
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Revenge Is Sweet
Title: Revenge Is Sweet
Character: One of the Office Girls
Released: July 16, 1912
Type: Movie
A short comedy in which the newest employee is teased by the office girls, but he retaliates by putting black polish in a powder-box. Ultimately the girls use the resulting black powder on the young employee himself.