Claire Adams

Claire Adams (née Beryl Vere Nassau Adams; 24 September 1898 – 25 September 1978) was a silent film actress and benefactor. She was born in Canada, studied there and in England, and developed a movie career in Hollywood, marrying a producer.

For other people named Claire Adams, see Claire Adams (disambiguation).

Claire Adams
Adams in 1925
Born	Beryl Vere Nassau Adams (1898-09-24)24 September 1898 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Died	25 September 1978(1978-09-25) (aged 80) Melbourne, Australia
Years active	1912–1963
Spouse(s)	Benjamin B. Hampton ​ ( m. 1924; died 1932) Donald John Scobie Mackinnon ​ ( m. 1932; died 1974)

Early years

Beryl Vere Nassau Adams was born on 24 September 1898, in Winnipeg, Manitoba,[1] the daughter of Stanley Wells Adams, a Welsh-born accountant, and his Canadian wife, Lillian Adams (née Kennedy).[2] Educated in Canada and England,[1] her parents divorced when Adams was a child, but the family was reunited two decades later when Adams and her mother went to live with Adams' father and her stepmother.[2]

Adams worked briefly as a nurse with the Red Cross during World War I. The Salina Evening Journal reported 25 December 1920 that: "During the war she became a nurse in a Detroit hospital, training for the Red Cross, but at the end of a year her health was broken down and she was sent home."[3]

Film

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 40 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".[4]

Her best-known film was The Big Parade, the second-highest-grossing silent film in cinematic history. It was directed by King Vidor, and Adams had a major role, alongside John Gilbert and Renée Adorée. Perhaps her most memorable role was in the 1920 film The Penalty, in which she played Barbara, the artist who helps humanise the crippled crime boss played by Lon Chaney .

Personal life

Adams married Hampton, 21 years her senior, in Hollywood on 18 September 1924. They had no children. He died in 1932 leaving her very wealthy. In 1937, Adams met Donald John Scobie Mackinnon (always known as Scobie), the second son of wealthy Australian newspaper manager, grazier and racehorse owner, Lauchlan ("L.K.S.") Mackinnon, at a party in London, and three weeks later, on 1 April, they married in Mayfair.[5]

After a protracted honeymoon, Mackinnon brought Adams to Victoria, Australia in March 1938. The couple divided their time between Mooramong, their Western District grazing property, and their Melbourne townhouse at 220 Domain Road South Yarra. They entertained often at Mooramong, which they transformed from a staid Victorian homestead into a Jazz Age showpiece. On their frequent trips to Melbourne to attend the races and innumerable cocktail parties, they travelled in their Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. Adorned in smart hats and chic outfits, and often graced with diamonds, Adams was an exotic figure at Government House functions and at the racecourse.[5]

On his death in 1974, Scobie Mackinnon's estate, worth A$2,111,729, was left entirely to Adams. The marriage was childless.[5]

Death

Adams died on 25 September 1978, in Windsor, Victoria, aged 80, and was cremated.[1] After generous bequests to family, friends, and animal welfare bodies, she left the remainder of her estate to the National Trust of Victoria for the creation of a wildlife sanctuary and fauna and flora park at Mooramong.[5]

Legacy

She was a life governor of Skipton Hospital and vice president of Lort Smith Hospital for sick animals.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1934	What a Mother-in-Law!	Frances
1927	Combat	Wanda
	Married Alive	Viola Helmesley Duxbury
	The Lunatic
1926	The Sea Wolf	Maud Brewster
	The Combat
	Yellow Fingers	Nona Deering
1925	The Big Parade	Justyn Reed
	The Wheel	Kate O'Hara
	Souls for Sables	Helen Ralston[6]	Uncredited
	The Kiss Barrier	Marion Weston
	Men and Women	Agnes Prescott
	The Devil's Cargo	Martha Joyce
1924	The Brass Bowl	Sylvia
	The Fast Set	Fay Colleen
	The Painted Flapper	Eunice Whitney
	Helen's Babies	Helen Lawrence
	Oh, You Tony!	Betty Faine
	Honor Among Men	Patricia Carson
	The Girl in the Limousine	The Girl
	Missing Daughters	Claire Mathers
	The Night Hawk	Clia Milton
	Daddies	Bobette Audrey
1923	The Clean Up	Phyllis Andrews
	Legally Dead	Minnie O'Reilly
	Where the North Begins	Felice McTavish
	Stepping Fast	Helen Durant
	Brass Commandments	Ellen Bosworth
	The Scarlet Car	Beatrice Forbes
1922	Do and Dare	Juanita Sánchez
	Heart's Haven	Vivian Breed
	Just Tony	Marianne Jordan
	Golden Dreams	Mercedes McDonald
	When Romance Rides	Lucy Bostil
	The Gray Dawn	Nan Bennett
1921	The Mysterious Rider	Columbine
	Man of the Forest	Helen Raynor
	A Certain Rich Man	Molly Culpepper
	The Lure of Egypt	Margaret Lampton
	Black Beauty		Claire Adams is not in the Vitagraph film. She appeared in a competing rival version of the story produced by Eskay Harris Feature Film Company.[7]
	The Killer	Ruth Emory
	The Spenders	Avice Milbrey
1920	The Dwelling Place of Light	Janet Butler
	The Penalty	Barbara
	Riders of the Dawn	Lenore Anderson
	The White Dove	Ella De Fries	Credited as Clare Adams
	The Key to Power	Ann Blair
	The Money Changers	Lucy Hegan
	The Great Lover	Ethel
1919	The Invisible Bond	Leila Templeton	Also known as Should a Wife Forgive? (USA)
	A Misfit Earl	Phyllis Burton
	Speedy Meade	Alice Hall
	The End of the Road	Mary Lee
1918	The Spirit of the Red Cross	Ethel
	Adam and Some Eves
	The Man-Eater		Credited as Peggy Adams
1917	Nutty Knitters
	Faint Heart and Fair Lady
	Your Obedient Servant
	Chris and His Wonderful Lamp	Betty
1913	The Widow's Suitors		Credited as Clara Adams
	Boy Wanted		As Clara Adams
	A Shower of Slippers		As Clara Adams
	Aunt Elsa's Visit		As Clara Adams
	The Office Boy's Birthday		As Clara Adams
	Bragg's New Suit		As Clara Adams
1912	Kitty at Boarding School
	Revenge Is Sweet		As Clara Adams
	The Artist's Joke		As Clara Adams
	An Intelligent Camera
	Apple Pies		As Clara Adams
	Kitty's Holdup
	Eddie's Exploit		As Clara Adams
	Curing the Office Boy		As Clara Adams
	A Heroic Rescue		As Clara Adams

References

1. Katchmer, George A. (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses. McFarland. p. 2. ISBN 9781476609058. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
2. "Actress Plays Reuniting Role". Oakland Tribune. California, Oakland. 7 July 1932. p. 1. Retrieved 3 September 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Among the Movie Stars". The Salina Evening Journal. Kansas, Salina. 25 December 1920. p. 14. Retrieved 3 September 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
4. McCallum, Bonnie (1978). ales Untold: Memoirs of an ABC Publicity Officer. Melbourne: Hawthorn Press. p. 32.
5. Maxwell, Virginia. "Mackinnon, Donald John Scobie (1906–1974)". Austrailan Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
6. Souls for Sables Cast Information
7. Black Beauty (II) produced by Eskay Harris Feature Film Company..retrieved 16 June 2018

• Photoplay Dec,1924
• Film Index, No 3, 1970, p. 12
• Social History Report on Morramong, Skipton by D. Hellier (1989). National Trust of Australia, Victoria branch.

External links

Archival collections

• Guide to the Claire Adams Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.

Other

• Claire Adams on IMDb
• Profile and picture at Northern Stars
• Biography in the Australian Dictionary of Biography