Claire Du Brey


Claire Du Brey was an American actress. She appeared in more than 200 films from 1916 to 1959. Her name is sometimes rendered as Claire Du Bray or as Claire Dubrey.

Early years

Du Brey was born in Bonner's Ferry, Idaho, to an Irish-American mother, Lilly, later Mrs. Richard Fugitt. Her parents married on November 9, 1891 in Pocatello, Bannock County, Idaho. She was raised Catholic and attended a convent school.
Du Brey "had trained as a nurse". She related that in 1897 she traveled west from Idaho in a covered wagon with her mother and her grandfather.

Career

Du Brey's screen career began with Universal Studios and she played at one time or another with almost all the larger companies. More notable films in which she appeared were Anything Once, Social Briars, The Devil's Trail, What Every Woman Wants and Dangerous Hours. Other films include The Wishing Ring Man, The Spite Bride, The World Aflame, and The Walk Offs. Her career declined with the sound era and she later played mostly small roles.
In the 1930s, Du Brey was an agent for other actors. Her clients included Mary Carlisle, Richard Cromwell, and Kitty Kelly. Late in 1934, Anna Q. Nilsson joined Du Brey's operation, making contacts with producers and directors, while Du Brey handled the office part of the business.
Du Brey was proficient in athletics, excelling in swimming, riding, golfing, tennis and motoring. She was five feet seven inches high, weighed 130 pounds and had auburn hair and brown eyes, and took a lively interest in horticulture.

Later life and death

According to two biographies of Marie Dressler published in the late 1990s, Dressler and Du Brey had a long-term romantic relationship. However one other source from 1920 indicates that Du Brey, who had trained as a nurse, was the elder actress's "assistant and caregiver" while Dressler was ill with terminal cancer.
Du Brey married Los Angeles medical doctor Norman Gates on November 25, 1911; the couple divorced sometime in the 1920s. On August 1, 1993, Du Brey died in Los Angeles, aged 100.

Selected filmography

The Piper's Price The Drifter The Fighting Gringo Hair-Trigger Burke The Winged Mystery The Honor of an Outlaw A 44-Calibre Mystery Follow the Girl The Almost Good Man Six-Shooter Justice The Rescue Pay Me! The Reward of the Faithless Triumph Anything Once The Magic Eye Prisoners of the Pines Modern Love Social Briars Madame Spy Brace Up The Border Raiders Up Romance Road Midnight Madness The [Wishing Ring Man] A Man and His Money The Devil's Trail The Spite Bride Dangerous Hours What Every Woman Wants When Fate Decides The Walk-Offs The Green Flame The House of Whispers A Light Woman The Heart of a Child That Girl Montana My Lady's Latchkey I Am Guilty The Bronze Bell The Hole in the Wall The Ordeal Only a Shop Girl