Italian postcard by Foto Ebany, no. 151.
French postcard in the Les vedettes de cinéma series by A.N., Paris, no. 214. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Production. Claire Windsor in Dance Madness (Robert Z. Leonard, 1926).
French postcard in the Les vedettes de cinéma series by A.N., Paris, no. 215. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Production. Collection: Marlene Pilaete. Please note the exquisite jewelry: a cameo necklace with matching earrings and ring.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1306/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Loew Goldwyn Mayer.
The muse of Lois Weber
Claire Windsor was born Clara Viola Cronk in Marvin (present day Glade), in Phillips County, Kansas, in 1892. Claire was the younger of two children of merchant George Edwin and Rosella Fearing Cronk. Their first child, a son, died shortly after birth. From 1895, Clara grew up in the community of Cawker City, where the family ran a shop called Cronk and Fearing. She graduated from high school in Topeka in 1907, then attended Broadway High School in Seattle, before she returned as a student in the Fine Arts Department at Washburn College.
In 1910, the wealthy family moved to Seattle. There, Cronk played her first stage role in the lavish musical 'Jappyland' in 1913. During this time, she met her future husband, Willis Bowes from Denver, whom she married in 1914. Their son, David Willis Bowes junior, was born in 1916. They divorced in 1920, and from then on, Clara and her child lived with her parents again. On advice from a friend, she moved to Hollywood.
Initially, she got only extra roles, but Lois Weber, a major director and producer at Paramount Pictures, noticed her. She adopted the more matinee-friendly name Claire Windsor when she signed with Weber. Her first leading role was in To Please One Woman (Lois Weber, 1920), which was only a modest success but became her breakthrough. Weber offered her leading roles in the dramas What's Worth While? (Lois Weber, 1920), Too Wise Wives (Lois Weber, 1921) and The Blot (Lois Weber, 1921), all with Louis Calhern.
Paramount declined to distribute What Do Men Want? (Lois Weber, 1921), possibly due to its subject matter involving an unwed mother and suicide. As part of the deal to distribute Weber's film The Blot (1921), F.B. Warren also released What Do Men Want? Paramount Pictures saw a star in Windsor and often had her pose for publicity photos with the newly divorced actor Charlie Chaplin, leading the tabloid press to give mention to the young actress in print. On Tuesday 12 July 1921, Windsor took a horseride near Cahuenga Pass in Hollywood and mysteriously disappeared. Her vanishing made headline news. It was reported that the horse had been found with the bridle dragging. In the evening of 13 July, Claire reappeared and explained that all she remembered was a fall from her horse. Decades later, she admitted that it was a publicity stunt masterminded by Lois Weber, who wanted to give extra exposure to her new star.
She gained even more publicity when she was named one of the 1922 WAMPAS Baby Stars, the year's most promising starlets, alongside Bessie Love, Lila Lee, Mary Philbin and Colleen Moore. That same year, Windsor got a contract with Goldwyn Pictures Corporation. Claire was peripherally involved in the famous William Desmond Taylor murder case in 1922. She and director Taylor had a dinner date the night before he was found murdered in his house. Although the case has never been officially solved, one theory is that Desmond was killed by a jealous lover who saw Claire at his house that night and, when she left, sneaked into the house and killed him. She was questioned by the police the next day and eventually cleared of any involvement in the murder.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 905/1, 1925-1926. Photo: Transocean-Film-Co. Berlin.
Italian postcard by Ebany. Photo: MGM. Conrad Nagel and Claire Windsor in Dance Madness (Robert Z. Leonard, MGM 1926).
Italian postcard, no. 149. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1306/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Loew-Metro-Goldwyn.
A highly regarded leading lady in film
Throughout the 1920s, Claire Windsor established herself as a highly regarded leading lady in film. As her career progressed, she was often typecast as the 'upscale society girl', often playing a princess or socialite. In 1924, Windsor was one of the top stars at the newly formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio.
Later, at Tiffany Pictures, Souls for Sables (James C. McKay, 1925), co-starring Eugene O'Brien, was a box-office hit for Windsor. She was also known for her relationships with her colleagues. She had a well-publicised affair with Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers, who was twelve years her junior. She married matinée idol Bert Lytell in 1925. However, the marriage came to an end by 1927.
Windsor never married again, but still appeared several times in the newspapers for her affairs or scandals. For example, she was unsuccessfully sued by the wife of a lawyer from Boston because she had ‘stolen’ her husband. In the late 1920s, Windsor was troubled by the transition to sound film. She did make several sound films, but never became as popular as she was in the silent film era.
Her role in the famous screwball comedy Topper (Norman Z. McLeod, 1937), for instance, was very small. Windsor made one of her last major appearances at Monogram Pictures as Alice in Self Defense (Phil Rosen, 1932) with Pauline Frederick. She therefore increasingly worked as a stage actress, including a joint tour with Al Jolson in the play 'The Wonder Bar'. Windsor ended her career in 1945 and from then on worked as a painter and as a ceramist.
Two years earlier, she had registered her stage name as her official name, and her son also called himself ‘Windsor’ from then on. Windsor lived in a mansion built for her in 1923 in the Hollywood Hills. She died in 1972 at the age of 80 (74 according to some contemporary obituaries) in Good Samaritan Hospital following a heart attack. The actress was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Her son died just one year later at the age of 57. For her services to the film world, Claire Windsor received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard.
Finnish postcard by Kortcentralen Korttikeskus, no. 83. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3396/1, 1928-1929.
French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 333. Photo: Evans, L.A.
French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 211. Photo: Metro Goldwyn.
Swedish postcard by Ljunggrens Konstförlag, no. 498. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.
Sources: Les Adams (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch, German and English) and IMDb. With additional information from Marlene Pilaete.
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