Occupation Actress, singer Role Actress | Name Mae Clarke Years active 1929-1970 | |
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Full Name Violet Mary Klotz Born August 16, 1910 ( 1910-08-16 ) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. Died April 29, 1992, Woodland Hills, California, United States Movies Frankenstein, The Public Enemy, Waterloo Bridge, Lady Killer, Great Guy Similar People James Whale, Lew Ayres, Carl Laemmle - Jr, William A Wellman, Roy Del Ruth | ||
James Cagney smashes a grapefruit into Mae Clarke's face
Mae Clarke (born Violet Mary Klotz; August 16, 1910 – April 29, 1992) was an American actress. She is best remembered for playing Henry Frankenstein's bride Elizabeth Lavenza, who is chased by Boris Karloff, in Frankenstein, and also, for having a grapefruit smashed into her face, by James Cagney in The Public Enemy. Both films were released in 1931.
Contents
- James Cagney smashes a grapefruit into Mae Clarkes face
- Mae clarke natural born actress
- Early life
- Career
- Personal life and death
- Short subjects
- Filmography
- References
Mae clarke natural born actress
Early life
Mae Clarke was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father was a theater organist. She studied dancing as a child and began on stage in vaudeville and also worked in night clubs.
Career
Mae Clarke started her professional career as a dancer in New York City, sharing a room with Barbara Stanwyck. She subsequently starred in many films for Universal Studios, including the original screen version of The Front Page (1931) and the first sound version of Frankenstein (1931) with Boris Karloff. Clarke played the role of Henry Frankenstein's fiancee, Elizabeth, who is attacked by the Monster (Karloff), on her wedding day.
The Public Enemy, released that same year, contained one of cinema's most famous (and frequently parodied) scenes, in which James Cagney pushes a half grapefruit into Clarke's face, then goes out to pick up Jean Harlow. The film was so popular that it ran 24 hours a day at a theater in Times Square upon its initial release; Clarke's ex-husband had the grapefruit scene timed and would frequently buy a ticket, enter the theater to again enjoy that sequence, then immediately leave the theater.
Clarke appeared as Myra Deauville in the 1931 pre-Code version of Waterloo Bridge. In the film she portrays a young American woman who is forced by circumstance into a life of prostitution in World War I London; both the film and Clarke's performance were well received by the critics.
Clarke also appeared in the modest pre-code Universal film Night World (1932), with Lew Ayres, Boris Karloff, Hedda Hopper, and George Raft.
By the mid-1930s, Clarke was no longer a leading lady and was featured in only small parts through to the 1960s. In the early 1930s Clarke's face had been left partially scarred as a result of a car crash, recounts G. Mank in his Frankenstein film saga book It's Alive. (He also writes that Mae would attend Frankenstein fan club events during her senior years.) In 1949 Clarke was the female lead of Republic Pictures' 12-chapter movie serial King of the Rocket Men that introduced their popular atomic rocket-powered hero.
On television, Clarke acted in the series Perry Mason and Batman (episode 48).
Personal life and death
Clarke was married and divorced three times: to Fanny Brice's brother Lew Brice, Stevens Bancroft, and Herbert Langdon. All the unions were childless. Early in her career, Clarke and Joan Crawford were roommates, and the two were identified as on-and off-lovers by Jerry Asher, Crawford's close friend and press agent.
Clarke died from cancer on April 29, 1992, at age 81, in Woodland Hills, California. She is buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery.