Biography for
Mae Clarke More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

16 August 1910, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Date of Death

29 April 1992, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA (cancer)

Birth Name

Violet Mary Klotz

Height

5' 2" (1.57 m)

Mini Biography

Vivacious, blonde Mae Clarke was exposed to cinema from an early age, her father being an organist in a motion picture theatre. Growing up in Atlantic City, she learned how to dance and, at the tender age of thirteen, was already performing in nightclubs and amateur theatricals. In 1924, she was one of 'May Dawson's Dancing Girls', a New York cabaret act, where she was 'discovered' by the producer Earl Lindsay and promptly cast in a minor part at the Strand Theatre on Times Square. She then performed as a dancer and burlesque artist at the Strand Roof nightclub, situated above the theatre (which was managed by Lindsay), and at the Everglades Club, earning $40 a week. While there, she struck up a lifelong friendship with fellow actress Ruby Stevens (who would later change her name to Barbara Stanwyck).

In 1926, Mae got her first chance, appearing on stage in the drama 'The Noose' with Stanwyck and Ed Wynn. This was followed by the musical comedy 'Manhattan Mary' (1927). After further vaudeville experience, Mae was screen tested by Fox and landed her first movie role in 1929. While she was top-billed in films like 'Nix on Dames', she was clearly headed for B-movie status and left Fox just over a year later. This resulted in better roles for her, though she was generally cast in 'hard-luck' roles. She played the prostitute Molly Malloy in the hugely successful Lewis Milestone-directed The Front Page (1931)) and, on the strength of this performance, was signed by Carl Laemmle Jr. at Universal and cast to star in Waterloo Bridge (1931)(as a ballerina turned streetwalker, a part made famous by Vivien Leigh in the MGM remake nine years later). Reviewer Mordaunt Hall described Mae's complex performance as 'capital' (New York Times,September 5,1931).

That same year, 1931, she had that tiny moment on screen with James Cagney pushing a grapefruit into her face (The Public Enemy (1931)), which, somewhat sadly, ensured her screen immortality. She later appeared with Cagney (a close friend in real life) in still more adversarial scenes, in the films Lady Killer (1933) and Great Guy (1936). Mae also had some feisty comedy roles in Three Wise Girls (1932) with Jean Harlow, and starring in_Parole Girl (1933)_. She was third-billed in James Whale's Frankenstein (1931), as Elizabeth, the title character's bride-to-be. Her best moment in the film, one of sheer terror, comes when she is confronted by the monster (Boris Karloff) in her own bedroom.

Mae's career suffered several major setbacks, beginning in 1932, from which it never fully recovered. She had a nervous breakdown in June that year (and another in 1934), probably caused by overwork and marital problems. This was followed by a serious car accident in March of 1933. In addition to that, her sexy screen personae became limited by the new, strict Hollywood production code. When she returned to the screen, it was to be in B-pictures. She had some rewarding parts in films for Republic, notably The House of a Thousand Candles (1936) and the civil war romance Hearts in Bondage (1936), with Lew Ayres. She had few opportunities to shine during the 1940's, except, perhaps, as leading lady in the Republic serial King of the Rocket Men (1949). By the beginning of the following decade, Mae was largely reduced to doing cameos and walk-ons, at best playing minor parts in westerns. She did, however, make several notable appearances on television, particularly on 'The Loretta Young Show'.

Mae Clarke, an undeniable star of pre-code Hollywood, fell on hard financial times towards the end of her life. After her final film appearance in Watermelon Man (1970), she retired to the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital and devoted her remaining years to her favorite hobby, abstract painting. She died there of cancer in April 1992.

IMDb Mini Biography By: I.S.Mowis

Spouse

Herbert Langdon	(1946 - ?) (divorced)
Stevens Bancroft	(1937 - ?) (divorced)
Lew Brice	(9 February 1928 - ?) (divorced)

Trivia

Immortal as the recipient of James Cagney's classic grapefruit-in-the-face in The Public Enemy (1931).

She was the model for Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953).

Interred at Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood, California, USA, section C, lot #2424.

First husband was Fanny Brice's brother, Lewis.

In her late seventies or so, she worked in the "Court of Miracles" show at the Universal Studios Tour in Hollywood, not far from where she had filmed her role as Dr. Frankenstein's wife in 1931.