Claire McDowell

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

Known For

The Main Gossip

The New York Hat

Mrs. Apperson

The Big Parade

Princess of Hur

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Mrs. Hope

Ponjola

Mrs. McTavish

The Flaming Forest

Daisy

The White Raven

Annette

Captain of His Soul

Mrs. Houghland

Murder by Television

Mary Lynch

The Feud

The Fatal Wedding

The Switchman's Wife

The Switchtower

Ma Jones

Tillie the Toiler

The Mother

The Baby and the Stork

The Workman

The Baby and the Stork

Dona Catalina Pulido

The Mark of Zorro

Countess de Mourney

Rent Free

Mrs. Abbott

The Quitter

An Actress

When the Fire-Bells Rang

Mrs. Marlowe

The Big House

Grace Dardley

You Can't Believe Everything

Her Mother

Prisoners of Love

Mrs. Putnam

Quincy Adams Sawyer

Mrs. Calhoun

Silks and Saddles

Mrs. Smith

Wild Boys of the Road

Artist's fiancee

The Sands of Dee

The Mother

Two Daughters of Eve

The Elder Daughter

In the Aisles of the Wild

The Thief's Wife - the Charity Patient

A Cry for Help

Mrs. Fallon / Widow Logan

A Misappropriated Turkey

The Blind Sister

The Wrong Bottle

The Prospector's Wife

The Tenderfoot's Money

The Rich Woman

The Stolen Loaf

The Schemer's Associate

The Ranchero's Revenge

The Farmer's Wife

The Well

Kate

A Gamble with Death

Miller's Wife

The Enemy's Baby

Beth

A Gambler's Honor

Daisy

The Mirror

Galora

The Vengeance of Galora

Aunt Abigail Bowen

Don't Marry

John Haywood's Sister

Under the Shadow of the Law

Lavina

I Was Meant for You

The Daughter in the City

The Work Habit

The Uncle's Adopted Daughter

The Crook and the Girl

Olga

The Stolen Treaty

Marguerite, Manning's Sister

The Law and His Son

Kate

The Van Nostrand Tiara

The Antique Dealer's Daughter

The Stopped Clock

Kate, the Bank Clerk's Sweetheart

The Detective's Stratagem

Detective

All for Science

For Her Government

The Widow

The Abandoned Well

The Mother

Concentration

Benjamin's Secretary

The Working Man

Ma Nolan

The Phantom Express

Seamstress (uncredited)

Under Eighteen

Stephen's Belle - In Prologue

The Massacre

Waifs

Mrs. Daily

His Fireman's Conscience

Kate

A Nest Unfeathered

Her Father's Silent Partner

Olga

Her Hand

Molly

The Sheriff's Dilemma

The Crook's Wife

The Miser's Legacy

Nell - Daddy Wilson's Daughter

The Gambler's I.O.U.

Hogan's Moll

A Day's Adventure

The Widowed Mother

The Canceled Mortgage

Crook

Truth Stranger Than Fiction

The Discontented Wife

Her Dormant Love

The Young School Teacher

The Way Out

The Old Inventor's Daughter

Her Convert

Joe's Wife

Old Offenders

The Ranchman's Daughter

As It Happened

Liza Slater

The Midnight Flyer

Martha Foster

The Black Diamond Express

At Audition

The Old Actor

Nurse

Bedside

Col. Frazier's wife

His Trust

The Sister-in-Law

The House of Discord

The Cracksman's Gratitude

Mrs. Stephen Rodman

Men and Women

The Old Carpenter's Wife

What Shall We Do with Our Old?

Mrs. Cratchit

The Right to Be Happy

Aunt Hattie

The Second Floor Mystery

Anna Pavlovna

Redemption

The Spinster

The Sunbeam

The Half-Wit's Mother

A Country Cupid

The Street Fakir's Sweetheart

The School Teacher and the Waif

Mrs. Frazier

His Trust Fulfilled

Alma Washburne

August Week End

Mrs. Heath

Judgment of the Storm

Keeper of the Flame

Margot's Aunt

Ashes of Vengeance

Mary

The Empty Gun

Martha Hawn

Heart o' the Hills

Katrina

The Tower of Lies

Molly O'Shea

The Shamrock Handicap

One of the Sisters Frost

Muggsy Becomes a Hero

Mrs. Mary Carroll

By Appointment Only

Margaret Rainsford

Nice People

Mrs. Osborne

Midsummer Madness

Lady Editha (as Claire MacDowell)

The Viking

Elizabeth Channing

Secrets

His New Lid

Mrs. Livingston

Almost Human

Irene Lambert

Swords and Hearts

Cave Woman

Man's Genesis

Woman in Bed (uncredited)

Small Town Girl

Mrs. Helen Gorman

Two Heads on a Pillow

Woman Saying 'Lenin will Live' (uncredited)

British Agent

Mrs. Hastings (uncredited)

The Flying Fleet

At First Party

A Flash of Light

Nancy - the Maid

Manhattan Parade

Mrs. MacDowell

The Shield of Honor

Movie Patron (uncredited)

A Night at the Movies

Sister at Hospital (uncredited)

Journal of a Crime

The Woman

The Primal Call

Landlady Frau Zalewski (uncredited)

Three Comrades

Lalia Graun

The Gift Supreme

Woman

Stand Up and Fight

Brooks' Landlady (uncredited)

The Famous Ferguson Case

Miss Herrick - Molly's Aunt

Two-Fisted Sheriff

Crying Mother

Idiot's Delight

Mary's Mother

Mothers Cry

Nurse (uncredited)

Thunder Afloat

Jack of Diamonds Woman

Miracles for Sale

Liz Trott

Love Never Dies

Counterwoman (uncredited)

Hangmen Also Die!

Mother on Bus (uncredited)

It Happened One Night

Minor Role (uncredited)

A Failure at Fifty

The Friend

Under Burning Skies

Mrs. Rollins

Those Who Dare

Mrs. Peterson

The Devil's Circus

Lunchroom Hostess

The Manicure Lady

Rose o' Salem Town

The Miserly Old Woman

Avarice

The Sailor's Third Sweetheart

A Sailor’s Heart

Woman at Station

Young Tom Edison

Housekeeper

Something to Think About

The Devil

Love Among the Roses

Lize Merdin

The Jack-Knife Man

Mrs. Spencer

Young Desire

Billy's Mother

Billy's Stratagem

Dr. Standish's Servant (uncredited)

Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble

Ida Glynn, The Nurse

The Strong Man's Burden

Woman in Bathroom

This Land Is Mine

Mrs. Laura Grayson

Wild Company

John Phillips' sister

The Unknown Soldier

Pedestrian (uncredited)

The Golden Fleecing

Nurse for Mr. Winslow (uncredited)

Dr. Kildare Goes Home

Lady-in-Waiting

The Golden Supper

Mrs. Samuel Griffiths

An American Tragedy

Struthers' Secretary (uncredited)

A Successful Calamity

Miss Bryerly (uncredited)

Dr. Monica

Mother (uncredited)

Angel of Mercy

Mrs. Blaine

Central Airport

Nancy Harding

Michael O'Halloran

Funeral Home Associate (uncredited)

Test Pilot

Godfrey sister

Enemies of Children

Concha

The Reckless Sex

Josephine Fippany

The Dixie Merchant

Gilmurry's Secretary (uncredited)

Lawyer Man

Jane's Aunt

Cornered

The Unveiling

Aunt Louise

A Little Journey

Mrs. Tim Eagan

The Auctioneer

Mrs. Joyce

Waking Up the Town

Despairing Mother / One of the Third Debtors

The Usurer

Aunt Mary

The Taxi Dancer

Nun (uncredited)

Boys Town

The Chief of Police's Wife

Waiter No. 5

The Miner's Wife

The Female of the Species

A Nun

A Decree of Destiny

The Wife

The Unwelcome Guest

Lena's Mother

Lena and the Geese

The Lady

The Telephone Girl and the Lady

Mrs. Schofield

Penrod

Ned's Wife

The Long Road

Rich Woman

The Adventures of Billy

Mexican Jim's Wife

A Temporary Truce

At Fair

Fisher Folks

Gossip (uncredited)

Whispers

Mrs. Brown

Human Wreckage

Artistocratic Dowager (uncredited)

Song of Revolt

Juan's Mother

Thy Name Is Woman

Comtesse de la Brière

What Every Woman Knows

May Caroline

Heart's Haven

Ann Marie's Caregiver Mrs. Schiller (uncredited)

The Strange Love of Molly Louvain

Napoleon's Mother (uncredited)

The Man on the Rock

Mrs. Fletcher (uncredited)

They're Always Caught

Subway Passenger (uncredited)

Du Barry Was a Lady

Dowager

Presenting Lily Mars

Olga

A Stranger from Somewhere

Gossiper

Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President

Vera Vincent

The Clean-Up

Mrs. Tuckerman

Lady Scarface

A Mohawk's Way

The Iconoclast

Rosalind at Redgate

The Female Lover

The Wanderer

Rich Woman in Other Town

So Near, Yet So Far

The Woodsman's Wife

The God Within

The Doctor's Wife

A Woman Scorned

Martha

Circus Days

Mom Fisher

The Show Off

Mother

The Tragedy of Youth

A Parent

Olaf—An Atom

Teacher Outside Classroom (uncredited)

Imitation of Life

Woman in Library (uncredited)

Adventure

Nita Valyez

Mixed Blood

Mother Goodwin

Men on Her Mind

The Wife

The Stolen Bride

Mrs. Bill Buckley

The West~Bound Limited

The Storm Woman

Indore / Agatha

The Gates of Doom

Jane Todd Crawford (uncredited)

One Against the World

Mrs. James B. Moreland

The Woman in the Suitcase

Mrs. John Holland

The Planter's Wife

The Doctor's Wife

The House of Darkness

Little Boy's Mother (uncredited)

Union Depot

A-Che-Chee

The Bronze Bride

Edith

A Tender-Hearted Crook

Silver Fawn

The Squaw's Love

Housemaid

Wilful Peggy

Rebel

The Oath and the Man

At Hotel/At Wedding

Fate's Turning

Nina

The Follies Girl

Miss Grayson

Prudence on Broadway

Bess Naughton

Brothers

Mrs. Joyce

The End of the World

Mrs. Joyce

The End of the World

Doña Maria Casandos

Winds of the Pampas

Claire

The Heart of a Bandit

The Other Woman's Servant

The Message of the Violin

Mrs. Virginia All

Through Eyes of Men

Party Guest

The Call of the Wild

The Italian Shoemaker's Wife

A String of Pearls

Woman

4 Devils

Mother

Marriage by Contract

Mrs. Dominick

Wealth

Martha Shelby

When Dreams Come True

Sylvia Moreton

The Ragged Heiress

Mrs. Walters

Chasing Rainbows

Elizabeth Monnier

Blind Youth

Mrs. John Denby Sr.

The Return of Mary

Mrs. Potts

The Devil's Riddle

Agnes Trevor

Black Oxen

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

248

Gender

Female

Birthday

1877-10-31

Place of Birth

New York City, New York, USA

Also Known As

Claire MacDowell