Monday, March 11, 2024

Ina Claire

Ina Claire (Ina Fagan, 1893-1985) by De Mirjian Studio.


Starting as a chorus girl in OUR MISS GIBBS (1910), Miss Claire quickly ascended the theatrical ladder, reaching the ZIEGFELD FOLLIES in 1915 (and again in 1916); she made her film début in Cecil B. DeMille’s THE WILD GOOSE CHASE (1915) alongside DeMille’s stock company of actors.


Photo by Sir Cecil Beaton (1904-1980)


In 1922, she originated the role of Lucy Warriner in Arthur Richman’s THE AWFUL TRUTH on Broadway. Seven years later, she starred in the 1929 film version of THE AWFUL TRUTH opposite Henry Daniell’s Jerry Warriner. Her supporting part as Grand Duchess Swana in NINOTCHKA (1939) stole sections of the film from Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas, and remains her most famous role.


She was married three times; John Gilbert was her second husband, from 1929 until 1931. This relationship began shortly after the explosive end of Gilbert’s romance with Garbo.…


No comments:

Post a Comment