Closeteverest

Biography

Claire Trevor

Claire Trevor

11

Claire Trevor, a late American actress, worked in the American cinema industry for more than six decades. Trevor rose to fame with her work in Key Largo in 1948, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was also nominated for Oscars for her roles in The High and the Mighty and Dead End.

Early Years

Claire Trevor was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 8, 1910, as Claire Wemlinger. She was the only child of her parents, Noel and Benjamina Wemlinger. Her father was born in France and had German blood, while her mother was Irish. Mr. Wemlinger worked as a merchant tailor on Fifth Avenue.

Career

Trevor has been performing since she was a teenager. Her acting career lasted seven decades and includes appearances on stage, radio, and television. Her distinctive hard-boiled blonde personas have made her famous.

Trevor studied acting for six months at Columbia University and six months at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts after graduating from high school. In 1929, she made her stage debut in Michigan with a repertory group. She made her Broadway debut in 1932 as the female lead in Whistling in the Dark.

From 1937 through 1940, Trevor co-starred in the classic radio series Big Town with Edward G. Robinson. Trevor’s most well-known acting appearances were in 1944’s Murder, My Sweet, and 1947’s Born to Kill.

Trevor won an Academy Award for his performance as Gaye Dawn in Key Largo in 1948. She went on to win an Emmy Award for her role in the Producers’ Showcase episode Dodsworth in 1957.

Trevor had sporadic appearances in films and television series during the 1960s and 1970s. Norman Rockwell’s Breaking Home Ties was her final television performance, which she played in 1987. She remained out of the spotlight for years after that, until making a special appearance at the 70th Academy Awards in 1998.

Estimated Net Worth

Claire Trevor, who has appeared in over 60 films throughout the course of her six-decade playing career, has likely amassed a sizable fortune. Her net worth at the time of her death, however, has yet to be established. From the 1940s until the 1960s, Trevor’s profitable career as a television, film, and stage actress rewarded her well.

Though her net worth is unknown, we might assume it was in the millions.

Claire Trevor’s personal life includes two marriages. In 1938, she married her first husband, Clark Andrews. Her first spouse worked as a producer for a radio show. The pair split in 1942 after four years as husband and wife.

She married Navy lieutenant Cylos William Dunsmore a year later. With her second husband, Trevor gave birth to her sole child. She also divorced Dunsmore in 2005 following a five-year romance.

Trevor married for the third time a year after her second divorce. Then she married Milton Bren, a film producer who had two sons from a previous relationship. Following their wedding, they relocated to Newport Beach, California.

In 1978, Trevor’s son Charles Dunsmore died in an airplane tragedy. Bren, her husband, died of a brain tumor a year later. Trevor moved to Manhattan for a few years after being devastated, when she also took on some acting assignments. She later moved back to California and lived there the rest of her life.

Death

Claire Trevor died of respiratory failure on April 8, 2000, in Newport Beach, California, at the age of 90. Her two stepsons and several extended family members survived the actress.

Facts of Claire Trevor
NameClaire Trevor
Birth NameClaire Wemlinger
FatherNoel Wemlinger
MotherBenjamina Wimlinger
NationalityAmerican
Birth Place/CityBrooklyn, New York, U.S.
EthnicityMixed
ProfessionActor
MarriedClark Andrews (1938–1942; divorced) Cylos William Dunsmore (1943–1947; divorced) Milton H. Bren (1948–1979; his death)
Children1 (son Charles Dunsmore died: 1978)
EducationAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts, Columbia University
AwardsAcademy Award For Best Supporting Actress, Emmy Award