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Claire Maynard Profile
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| (Marie MacCarthy) |
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| 22 March 12 | is born in Brooklyn, New York, to James and Florence (nee Coffey) MacCarthy. She has an older sister named Florence and an older brother names James. |
| August 31 | William Sheehan, Fox vice president and general manager in charge of production, meets her at a New York dinner party and, over hors d’oeuvres, engages her in conversation. He notices her resemblance to actress Joan Bennett and becomes so impressed with her poise and beauty that by the time the coffee is served, despite her lack of stage or screen experience, she is signed for a role in the upcoming Fox production Over the Hill. |
| 30 August 31 | Louella Parsons pens: “Let me tell you about Claire Maynard. She has never had any stage or screen experience, she was formerly a Fifth Avenue and magazine cover model, and she is said to have the necessary poise and, of course, the good looks.” |
| 4 October 31 | actress Mina Gombell is head of the dramatic school for young actresses on the Fox lot, where Claire is teacher’s pet |
| 15 October 31 | Harrison Carroll says that Hollywood supplies the answer to what becomes of many football players after they leave college. “…Believe it or not, Claire Maynard, new Fox starlet, once played quarterback on a girl’s football team in the East.” |
| 23 October 31 | Hubbard Keavy writes in his column: “Claire Maynard sprained a tendon in her left ankle the day she was scheduled to begin work in Good Sport. The opening scenes show an ultra-ultra New York apartment with bar and all that, so Director Kenneth MacKenna gave her the job of standing beside the bar and shaking cocktails. If you see the picture, you may notice she favors the left lower pedal extremity in these scenes…” |
| 6 February 32 | Walter Winchell mentions that she will tell a judge about Jack (Wall St.) Tart as soon as she returns to Hollywood |
| 19 April 32 | Winchell writes: “Claire Maynard, despairing over money problems and other sour breaks, is convalescing after juggling an iodine container.” |
| 2 November 32 | her final film is released |
| 24 December 34 | Dan Thomas writes in his column about the false security of a Hollywood contract. “Like a gift from Heaven, one of these lengthy agreements— they're always lengthy — is dropped into the lap of an embryonic young actor. And immediately he becomes blinded with visions of the tremendous screen fame which lies ahead…. But does it?....Nora Lane, Claire Maynard, Vivian Reid, Linda Watkins, Raymond Milland, Marjorie King, Helen Robinson, Tom Douglas, Jerry Tucker, Judith Wood, Phyllis Clare, Evalyn Knapp, and Polly Walters. Two years ago each of them held one of those coveted contracts. In all probability you never heard of some and had forgotten the others. |
| 19 July 41 | her maid discovers her apartment door locked when she arrives for work at the East Side house. She summons the superintendent, and they force open the door. Claire is found beside the kitchen stove; two gas jets on the stove are open. Two / three notes are found near the body, one addressed to her father, James McCarthy, assistant manager at the Princeton Club, who is out of town. Police list the case tentatively as suicide and say that Mrs. Maynard tried to end her life once before and that she had been moody since the death of her mother three years ago. She had recently been working as a model. |
| 28 July 41 | Winchell reports that “the reason for lovely Claire Maynard’s suicide was because her heart couldn’t stand the ‘ache’ any longer. According to her chums.” |
| Sources: The Circleville Herald, The Daily Times-News, The Fresno Bee, Nevada State Journal, New Castle News, Port Arthur News, San Antonio Express, San Mateo Times, Syracuse Herald, www.IMDb.com, www.Ancestry.com, Suzanne Solomon | |
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| Links: Filmography | |