 (September 24, 1896 – September 25,
1978) was a Canadian silent film actress and benefactor. She was
born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as the daughter of Stanley Wells Adams,
a Welsh-born accountant, and his Canadian wife, Lillian Adams (née
Kennedy). Educated in Canada and England, Claire Adams worked
briefly as a nurse with the Red Cross during World War I.
In 1920 Adams signed a five year contract with Benjamin Bowles
Hampton, a Hollywood producer and her future husband. She later
moved to California where she acted in more than seventy silent
films, including melodramas, comedies and westerns.
Described as "patricianly beautiful", Adams worked with many of
Hollywood's leading actors, including Adolphe Menjou, Tom Mix,
Wallace Beery, and Lon Chaney. In 1923 she was Rin Tin Tin's leading
lady in Where the North Begins, which was a huge success and is
often credited with saving Warner Bros. from bankruptcy. She later
maintained that Rin Tin Tin was her "favourite leading man".
Her best known film was The Big Parade, the second largest grossing
silent film in cinematic history. It was directed by King Vidor and
Adams starred alongside John Gilbert. Perhaps her most memorable
role came in 1920 as Barbara, the undercover detective who humanizes
the crippled crime boss played by Lon Chaney in The Penalty. |
