Claire Windsor (born Clara Viola Cronk; April 14, 1892 – October 24, 1972) was an American film actress of the silent screen era.
Early life Windsor was born Clara Viola Cronk (nicknamed "Ola") in 1892 in Marvin (later known as Glade), Kansas, to parents of Scandinavian descent, George Edwin Cronk and Ella Rose Fearing (later called "Rosella"), who married on October 21, 1885, in Davenport, Iowa. Their first child, a son, died shortly after birth.Silent Ladies and Gents, silentera.com. Accessed November 13, 2022. Her parents later moved to Cawker City, Kansas when she was two years old. At some point, Claire's sister, Nellie, was born. Claire attended Washburn Preparatory Academy in Topeka from 1906 to 1907. After a year at Broadway High School, Seattle, Washington, she returned as a student in the Fine Arts Department at Washburn College.
Intent on further refining her daughters' education and position in society, Rosella and her daughters returned to Seattle in the fall of 1910. On July 14, 1913, Claire ("Ola") was chosen for the role of Empress during the lavish musical production of Jappyland. While living in Seattle, Ola met David Willis Bowes and the intense relationship continued by correspondence after Mr. Bowes' return to Denver. Soon a June wedding was planned, but en route back to Kansas, Ola and Bowes wed secretly on May 13, 1914, in Denver, Colorado. The union resulted in the birth of a son, David Willis Bowes Jr., on September 9, 1916, but the couple soon went their separate ways. Bowes officially filed for divorce on September 14, 1920.
Ola moved to California to be reunited with her parents who had recently retired. Seeking a way to support herself and baby son, Ola took the advice of a friend and quickly found employment at the movie studios. Initially receiving only bit parts, she was soon spotted by Lois Weber, a highly regarded and influential director and producer of silent films for Paramount Pictures. Weber immediately signed Windsor to a contract."Silent Era People"; accessed September 2, 2021.
Career climb
Claire Windsor's film debut was in the 1920 release of Lois Weber's To Please One Woman which was only a modest success. To promote the nascent starlet, Paramount Pictures often paired Windsor with the newly divorced actor Charlie Chaplin in publicity photographs, leading the tabloid press to give mention to the young actress in print. In 1921, Windsor costarred with Louis Calhern in Weber's The Blot (1921).
The publicity paid off; in 1922 the newly formed Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers (WAMPAS) began their annual WAMPAS Baby Stars awards and she was named, along with Bessie Love, Lila Lee, Mary Philbin and Colleen Moore, as the year's most promising starlets. That same year Claire signed a contract with Goldwyn Pictures Corporation. She would appear in Broken Chains with fellow WAMPAS Baby Star Colleen Moore.
In 1923, the former Ola Cronk officially began using the more matinee-friendly Claire Windsor as a moniker. Throughout the 1920s, Windsor established herself as highly regarded leading lady in film. As her career progressed, she was often typecast as the "upscale society girl", often playing the part of a princess, or monied socialite. Critics lauded her elegant fashion sense, and Windsor became a noted trend-setter of 1920s fashion.
In 1924, Windsor was one of the top stars at the newly formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio. Later, at Tiffany Pictures, Souls for Sables (1925), co-starring Eugene O'Brien, was a box-office hit for Windsor.
Personal life and sound films Windsor was frequently romantically linked to her leading male co-stars. She reportedly had a well-publicized affair with actor Charles "Buddy" Rogers. In 1925 she married matinée idol Bert Lytell. The couple divorced in 1927. Windsor never remarried, but a few notable love affairs with men caused minor scandals in the press, including once being sued by the young wife of a Boston broker in an "Alienation of Affection" lawsuit, in which the broker's wife contended that Windsor had "stolen her husband".Claire Windsor: One Fan's Fond Remembrance by Al Bohrer. Classic Images.
By the late 1920s, Windsor (like so many of her acting peers) found it difficult to move into talkies. She made several talkies throughout the 1930s but could never recapture the success of her earlier years as a silent screen actress. She had a brief stint on a road tour with Al Jolson in the production of The Wonder Bar and occasionally took stage parts. In 1937 she performed at Harold Lloyd's Beverly Hills Little Theatre for Professionals. In her later years, Windsor devoted herself to painting.
On April 12, 1943, she legally changed her name to Claire Windsor, and her son took the name of William Willis Windsor.
Death Claire Windsor died of a heart attack on October 24, 1972, at the age of 80 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. She was buried at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park cemetery.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Claire Windsor was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.
Filmography Year Films Role Notes 1919 Eyes of Youth Guest at Party (uncredited) 1920 In the Heart of a Fool (uncredited) Lost Film 1920 To Please One Woman Alice Granville Lost Film 1921 What's Worth While? Phoebe Jay Morrison 1921 Too Wise Wives Marie, his wife 1921 The Blot His daughter, Amelia 1921 What Do Men Want? Hallie, The Girl 41 of 70 minutes extant 1921 Dr. Jim Helen Keene Lost Film 1921 The Raiders "Honey" Moore Lost Film 1922 Grand Larceny Kathleen Vaughn Lost Film 1922 One Clear Call Faith 1922 Fools First Ann Whittaker Lost Film 1922 Rich Men's Wives Gay Davenport Lost Film 1922 Brothers Under the Skin Dorothy Kirtland 4 of 6 reels extant 1922 The Strangers' Banquet Derith Keogh Lost Film 1922 Broken Chains Hortense Allen 1923 Souls For Sale Herself 1923 The Eternal Three Frances Walters 1923 Little Church Around the Corner Leila Morton 1923 Rupert of Hentzau Countess Helga Lost Film 1923 The Acquittal Madeline Ames 1924 Nellie, The Beautiful Cloak Model Nellie 1924 A Son of the Sahara Barbara Barbier Lost Film 1924 For Sale Eleanor Bates Lost Film 1924 Born Rich Chadyeane Fairfax 1924 The Dixie Handicap Virginia Lost Film 1925 The Denial Mildred 1925 The White Desert Robinette 1925 Just A Woman June Holton Lost Film 1925 Souls for Sables Alice Garlan 1926 Dance Madness May Anderson Lost Film 1926 Money Talks Phoebe Starling Lost Film 1926 Tin Hats Elsa von Bergen 6 of 7 reels extant 1927 A Little Journey Julia Rutherford Lost Film 1927 The Claw Dierdre Saurin 1927 The Bugle Call Alice Tremayne Lost Film 1927 Foreign Devils Lady Patricia Rutledge 1927 The Frontiersman Lucy Lost Film 1927 Blondes by Choice Bonnie Clinton 1927 The Opening Night Carol Chandler 1928 Satan and the Woman Judith Matheny Lost Film 1928 Nameless Men Mary Lost Film 1928 Fashion Madness Gloria Vane Lost Film 1928 The Grain of Dust Josephine Burroughs Lost Film 1928 Domestic Meddlers Claire Lost Film 1928 Show People Herself 1929 Captain Lash Cora Nevins 1929 Midstream Helene Craig 1932 Self Defense Alice 1932 Sister to Judas Annie Frayne 1933 The Constant Woman Marlene Underwood 1933 Kiss of Araby Mrs. Courtney 1934 Cross Streets Ann Clement Grattan 1938 Barefoot Boy Valerie Hale 1945 How Doooo You Do!!! Herself
References
Sources 1900 United States Census for Cawker, Mitchell County, Kansas, and 1910 United States Census for Kansas for Cawker, Mitchell County, Kansas Massillon Evening Independent, "Actress Asks To Keep Stage Name", April 12, 1943, p. 12. Philadelphia Inquirer, "Claire Windsor and Husband Former Denver Residents", February 2, 1922.
External links
Silent Era People - Claire Windsor Silent Ladies & Gents - Claire Windsor Gallery Classic Images - Claire Windsor
Photographs and literature