Acting

Claire McDowell

Born 1877-10-31

New York City, New York, USA

Department: Acting

Biography

Claire McDowell (2 November 1877 – 23 October 1966) was an American actress. She appeared in 360 films between 1908 and 1945. Still somewhat of a youthful beauty when she started in early silent films, McDowell appeared in numerous films, eventually graduating to playing character and mother types. She can be seen to good advantage in Douglas Fairbanks's 1920 The Mark of Zorro. McDowell appeared in two of the biggest films of the silent era, The Big Parade (1925) and Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925), both in which she played mothers. She was married to silent screen character actor Charles Hill Mailes from 1906 to his 1937 death. The couple appeared in numerous silent films together, including The Mark of Zorro. They had two sons, Robert Mailes and Eugene Mailes. Claire McDowell died, aged 88, in Hollywood, California. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1938

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MGM Parade

1955

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Movie

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Imitation of Life

1934

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Movie

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The Mark of Zorro

1920

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Movie

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This Land Is Mine

1943

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Filmography & Credits

Complete career catalog (255 titles)

Title	Character / Role	Type	Year
MGM Parade	Self	TV Series	1955
Adventure	Woman in Library (uncredited)	Movie	1945
Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble	Dr. Standish's Servant (uncredited)	Movie	1944
Men on Her Mind	Mother Goodwin	Movie	1944
Du Barry Was a Lady	Subway Passenger (uncredited)	Movie	1943
This Land Is Mine	Woman in Bathroom	Movie	1943
Presenting Lily Mars	Dowager	Movie	1943
Keeper of the Flame	Self / Appearance	Movie	1943
Hangmen Also Die!	Counterwoman (uncredited)	Movie	1943
Lady Scarface	Mrs. Tuckerman	Movie	1941
Whispers	Gossip (uncredited)	Movie	1941
Dr. Kildare Goes Home	Nurse for Mr. Winslow (uncredited)	Movie	1940
The Golden Fleecing	Pedestrian (uncredited)	Movie	1940
A Failure at Fifty	Minor Role (uncredited)	Movie	1940
Young Tom Edison	Woman at Station	Movie	1940
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President	Gossiper	Movie	1939
Thunder Afloat	Nurse (uncredited)	Movie	1939
One Against the World	Jane Todd Crawford (uncredited)	Movie	1939
Miracles for Sale	Jack of Diamonds Woman	Movie	1939
Angel of Mercy	Mother (uncredited)	Movie	1939
Idiot's Delight	Crying Mother	Movie	1939
Stand Up and Fight	Woman	Movie	1939
Boys Town	Nun (uncredited)	Movie	1938
The Man on the Rock	Napoleon's Mother (uncredited)	Movie	1938
They're Always Caught	Mrs. Fletcher (uncredited)	Movie	1938
Three Comrades	Landlady Frau Zalewski (uncredited)	Movie	1938
Test Pilot	Funeral Home Associate (uncredited)	Movie	1938
A Night at the Movies	Movie Patron (uncredited)	Movie	1937
Two-Fisted Sheriff	Miss Herrick - Molly's Aunt	Movie	1937
Song of Revolt	Artistocratic Dowager (uncredited)	Movie	1937
Small Town Girl	Woman in Bed (uncredited)	Movie	1936
August Week End	Alma Washburne	Movie	1936
Murder by Television	Mrs. Houghland	Movie	1935
Imitation of Life	Teacher Outside Classroom (uncredited)	Movie	1934
Two Heads on a Pillow	Mrs. Helen Gorman	Movie	1934
British Agent	Woman Saying 'Lenin will Live' (uncredited)	Movie	1934
Dr. Monica	Miss Bryerly (uncredited)	Movie	1934
Journal of a Crime	Sister at Hospital (uncredited)	Movie	1934
It Happened One Night	Mother on Bus (uncredited)	Movie	1934
Bedside	Nurse	Movie	1934
Wild Boys of the Road	Mrs. Smith	Movie	1933
By Appointment Only	Mrs. Mary Carroll	Movie	1933
The Working Man	Benjamin's Secretary	Movie	1933
Central Airport	Mrs. Blaine	Movie	1933
Lawyer Man	Gilmurry's Secretary (uncredited)	Movie	1932
A Successful Calamity	Struthers' Secretary (uncredited)	Movie	1932
The Phantom Express	Ma Nolan	Movie	1932
Cornered	Jane's Aunt	Movie	1932
The Strange Love of Molly Louvain	Ann Marie's Caregiver Mrs. Schiller (uncredited)	Movie	1932
The Famous Ferguson Case	Brooks' Landlady (uncredited)	Movie	1932
Union Depot	Little Boy's Mother (uncredited)	Movie	1932
Under Eighteen	Seamstress (uncredited)	Movie	1932
Manhattan Parade	Nancy - the Maid	Movie	1931
An American Tragedy	Mrs. Samuel Griffiths	Movie	1931
Mothers Cry	Mary's Mother	Movie	1930
Brothers	Bess Naughton	Movie	1930
Wild Company	Mrs. Laura Grayson	Movie	1930
The Big House	Mrs. Marlowe	Movie	1930
Young Desire	Mrs. Spencer	Movie	1930
The Second Floor Mystery	Aunt Hattie	Movie	1930
Redemption	Anna Pavlovna	Movie	1930
The Quitter	Mrs. Abbott	Movie	1929
Silks and Saddles	Mrs. Calhoun	Movie	1929
The Flying Fleet	Mrs. Hastings (uncredited)	Movie	1929
When Dreams Come True	Martha Shelby	Movie	1929
Marriage by Contract	Mother	Movie	1928
The Viking	Lady Editha (as Claire MacDowell)	Movie	1928
4 Devils	Woman	Movie	1928
Don't Marry	Aunt Abigail Bowen	Movie	1928
The Tragedy of Youth	Mother	Movie	1928
Almost Human	Mrs. Livingston	Movie	1927
The Shield of Honor	Mrs. MacDowell	Movie	1927
Winds of the Pampas	Doña Maria Casandos	Movie	1927
Tillie the Toiler	Ma Jones	Movie	1927
The Black Diamond Express	Martha Foster	Movie	1927
The Taxi Dancer	Aunt Mary	Movie	1927
The Auctioneer	Mrs. Tim Eagan	Movie	1927
A Little Journey	Aunt Louise	Movie	1927
The Flaming Forest	Mrs. McTavish	Movie	1926
The Show Off	Mom Fisher	Movie	1926
The Unknown Soldier	John Phillips' sister	Movie	1926
The Shamrock Handicap	Molly O'Shea	Movie	1926
The Dixie Merchant	Josephine Fippany	Movie	1926
The Devil's Circus	Mrs. Peterson	Movie	1926
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ	Princess of Hur	Movie	1925
The Midnight Flyer	Liza Slater	Movie	1925
The Big Parade	Mrs. Apperson	Movie	1925
The Tower of Lies	Katrina	Movie	1925
Dollar Down	Mrs. Meadows	Movie	1925
The End of the World	Mrs. Joyce	Movie	1925
The End of the World	Mrs. Joyce	Movie	1925
Waking Up the Town	Mrs. Joyce	Movie	1925
The Reckless Sex	Concha	Movie	1925
Those Who Dare	Mrs. Rollins	Movie	1924
Secrets	Elizabeth Channing	Movie	1924
Thy Name Is Woman	Juan's Mother	Movie	1924
Judgment of the Storm	Mrs. Heath	Movie	1924
Black Oxen	Agnes Trevor	Movie	1923
Enemies of Children	Godfrey sister	Movie	1923
Ponjola	Mrs. Hope	Movie	1923
Ashes of Vengeance	Margot's Aunt	Movie	1923
Circus Days	Martha	Movie	1923
Human Wreckage	Mrs. Brown	Movie	1923
Michael O'Halloran	Nancy Harding	Movie	1923
The West~Bound Limited	Mrs. Bill Buckley	Movie	1923
Quincy Adams Sawyer	Mrs. Putnam	Movie	1922
Heart's Haven	May Caroline	Movie	1922
Nice People	Margaret Rainsford	Movie	1922
The Ragged Heiress	Sylvia Moreton	Movie	1922
Penrod	Mrs. Schofield	Movie	1922
Rent Free	Countess de Mourney	Movie	1922
Love Never Dies	Liz Trott	Movie	1921
Wealth	Mrs. Dominick	Movie	1921
Mother o' Mine	Mrs. Sheldon	Movie	1921
What Every Woman Knows	Comtesse de la Brière	Movie	1921
Midsummer Madness	Mrs. Osborne	Movie	1921
Prisoners of Love	Her Mother	Movie	1921
The Mark of Zorro	Dona Catalina Pulido	Movie	1920
Something to Think About	Housekeeper	Movie	1920
The Jack-Knife Man	Lize Merdin	Movie	1920
Through Eyes of Men	Mrs. Virginia All	Movie	1920
The Gift Supreme	Lalia Graun	Movie	1920
Blind Youth	Elizabeth Monnier	Movie	1920
The Devil's Riddle	Mrs. Potts	Movie	1920
The Woman in the Suitcase	Mrs. James B. Moreland	Movie	1920
The Feud	Mary Lynch	Movie	1919
Heart o' the Hills	Martha Hawn	Movie	1919
Chasing Rainbows	Mrs. Walters	Movie	1919
Prudence on Broadway	Miss Grayson	Movie	1919
The Follies Girl	Nina	Movie	1919
Rosalind at Redgate	Self / Appearance	Movie	1919
The Return of Mary	Mrs. John Denby Sr.	Movie	1918
You Can't Believe Everything	Grace Dardley	Movie	1918
Captain of His Soul	Annette	Movie	1918
The Storm Woman	Self / Appearance	Movie	1917
The Empty Gun	Mary	Movie	1917
The Clean-Up	Vera Vincent	Movie	1917
The Bronze Bride	A-Che-Chee	Movie	1917
The Gates of Doom	Indore / Agatha	Movie	1917
Avarice	The Miserly Old Woman	Movie	1917
The White Raven	Daisy	Movie	1917
The Right to Be Happy	Mrs. Cratchit	Movie	1916
Mixed Blood	Nita Valyez	Movie	1916
A Stranger from Somewhere	Olga	Movie	1916
Cupid Entangled	The Actress	Movie	1915
As It Happened	The Ranchman's Daughter	Movie	1915
Old Offenders	Joe's Wife	Movie	1915
Her Convert	The Old Inventor's Daughter	Movie	1915
The Way Out	The Young School Teacher	Movie	1915
Her Dormant Love	The Discontented Wife	Movie	1915
Truth Stranger Than Fiction	Crook	Movie	1915
The Canceled Mortgage	The Widowed Mother	Movie	1915
A Day's Adventure	Hogan's Moll	Movie	1915
The Gambler's I.O.U.	Nell - Daddy Wilson's Daughter	Movie	1915
The Miser's Legacy	The Crook's Wife	Movie	1915
The Sheriff's Dilemma	Molly	Movie	1915
The Heart of a Bandit	Claire	Movie	1915
Men and Women	Mrs. Stephen Rodman	Movie	1914
The Cracksman's Gratitude	Self / Appearance	Movie	1914
Her Hand	Olga	Movie	1914
Her Father's Silent Partner	Self / Appearance	Movie	1914
A Nest Unfeathered	Kate	Movie	1914
His Fireman's Conscience	Mrs. Daily	Movie	1914
The Fatal Wedding	Self / Appearance	Movie	1914
Waifs	Self / Appearance	Movie	1914
Concentration	The Mother	Movie	1914
The Abandoned Well	The Widow	Movie	1913
For Her Government	Self / Appearance	Movie	1913
The House of Discord	The Sister-in-Law	Movie	1913
All for Science	Detective	Movie	1913
The Detective's Stratagem	Kate, the Bank Clerk's Sweetheart	Movie	1913
The Stopped Clock	The Antique Dealer's Daughter	Movie	1913
The Van Nostrand Tiara	Kate	Movie	1913
A Tender-Hearted Crook	Edith	Movie	1913
The Law and His Son	Marguerite, Manning's Sister	Movie	1913
The Stolen Treaty	Olga	Movie	1913
The Strong Man's Burden	Ida Glynn, The Nurse	Movie	1913
The Crook and the Girl	The Uncle's Adopted Daughter	Movie	1913
The Work Habit	The Daughter in the City	Movie	1913
Under the Shadow of the Law	John Haywood's Sister	Movie	1913
I Was Meant for You	Lavina	Movie	1913
The Vengeance of Galora	Galora	Movie	1913
A Misappropriated Turkey	Mrs. Fallon / Widow Logan	Movie	1913
The Mirror	Daisy	Movie	1913
A Gambler's Honor	Beth	Movie	1913
A Gamble with Death	Kate	Movie	1913
The Switchtower	The Switchman's Wife	Movie	1913
The Well	The Farmer's Wife	Movie	1913
The Enemy's Baby	Miller's Wife	Movie	1913
The Ranchero's Revenge	The Schemer's Associate	Movie	1913
Olaf—An Atom	A Parent	Movie	1913
The Stolen Loaf	The Rich Woman	Movie	1913
The House of Darkness	The Doctor's Wife	Movie	1913
The Tenderfoot's Money	The Prospector's Wife	Movie	1913
The Wanderer	The Female Lover	Movie	1913
The Stolen Bride	The Wife	Movie	1913
The Unwelcome Guest	The Wife	Movie	1913
The Wrong Bottle	The Blind Sister	Movie	1913
The Telephone Girl and the Lady	The Lady	Movie	1913
The God Within	The Woodsman's Wife	Movie	1912
A Cry for Help	The Thief's Wife - the Charity Patient	Movie	1912
The Massacre	Stephen's Belle - In Prologue	Movie	1912
The New York Hat	The Main Gossip	Movie	1912
A Sailor’s Heart	The Sailor's Third Sweetheart	Movie	1912
In the Aisles of the Wild	The Elder Daughter	Movie	1912
So Near, Yet So Far	Rich Woman in Other Town	Movie	1912
Two Daughters of Eve	The Mother	Movie	1912
Man's Genesis	Cave Woman	Movie	1912
The School Teacher and the Waif	The Street Fakir's Sweetheart	Movie	1912
Lena and the Geese	Lena's Mother	Movie	1912
A Temporary Truce	Mexican Jim's Wife	Movie	1912
When the Fire-Bells Rang	An Actress	Movie	1912
The Old Actor	At Audition	Movie	1912
The Female of the Species	The Miner's Wife	Movie	1912
A String of Pearls	The Italian Shoemaker's Wife	Movie	1912
The Sunbeam	The Spinster	Movie	1912
The Sands of Dee	Artist's fiancee	Movie	1912
Under Burning Skies	The Friend	Movie	1912
Billy's Stratagem	Billy's Mother	Movie	1912
The Baby and the Stork	The Mother	Movie	1912
The Baby and the Stork	The Workman	Movie	1912
A Woman Scorned	The Doctor's Wife	Movie	1911
The Long Road	Ned's Wife	Movie	1911
The Adventures of Billy	Rich Woman	Movie	1911
The Unveiling	Self / Appearance	Movie	1911
The Squaw's Love	Silver Fawn	Movie	1911
Swords and Hearts	Irene Lambert	Movie	1911
The Sorrowful Example	The Wife	Movie	1911
A Country Cupid	The Half-Wit's Mother	Movie	1911
The Primal Call	The Woman	Movie	1911
The Manicure Lady	Lunchroom Hostess	Movie	1911
The Broken Cross	Kate's Mother	Movie	1911
The Spanish Gypsy	Paula	Movie	1911
A Decree of Destiny	A Nun	Movie	1911
Fisher Folks	At Fair	Movie	1911
What Shall We Do with Our Old?	The Old Carpenter's Wife	Movie	1911
Fate's Turning	At Hotel/At Wedding	Movie	1911
His Trust Fulfilled	Mrs. Frazier	Movie	1911
His Trust	Col. Frazier's wife	Movie	1911
The Golden Supper	Lady-in-Waiting	Movie	1910
His New Lid	Self / Appearance	Movie	1910
Waiter No. 5	The Chief of Police's Wife	Movie	1910
The Message of the Violin	The Other Woman's Servant	Movie	1910
The Iconoclast	Self / Appearance	Movie	1910
Rose o' Salem Town	Self / Appearance	Movie	1910
The Oath and the Man	Rebel	Movie	1910
A Mohawk's Way	Self / Appearance	Movie	1910
Muggsy Becomes a Hero	One of the Sisters Frost	Movie	1910
Wilful Peggy	Housemaid	Movie	1910
The Usurer	Despairing Mother / One of the Third Debtors	Movie	1910
A Flash of Light	At First Party	Movie	1910
Love Among the Roses	Self / Appearance	Movie	1910
The Call of the Wild	Party Guest	Movie	1908
The Planter's Wife	Mrs. John Holland	Movie	1908
The Devil	Self / Appearance	Movie	1908