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Silent Movie Actress, Claire Windsor, was born Clara Viola (Ola) Cronk on April 14, 1892 in Marvin (present day Glade), Phillips County, Kansas. She died on October 23, 1972 in Los Angeles, California.
On October 21, 1885, George E. Cronk and Rosella Fearing were united in marriage at the Fearing family home in Davenport, Iowa. The newlyweds headed west, to Marvin, Kansas which was the end station of the Central Branch of the Missouri Pacific Railway. There, they opened a general merchandise store under the name of “Strong, Conk & Co.” and specialized in the butter, eggs, and poultry business. In 1890, Nellie Cronk was born, and two years later, Clara Viola Cronk completed the family. Through a series of tragic events, the store was eventually moved to the booming town of Cawker City, which lay about 50 miles east on the railway. The new store opened under the name of “Cronk and Fearing” in January 1895. The family was quite active in the Cawker community. Rosella sang in the Presbyterian Church choir and George was an elder in the church. Ola and her older sister attended the local, second ward, grade school. The parents were also active in a number of local social and political organizations: George even held elective office. In 1901, Franklin Fearing relinquished his interest in the business and George entered a new partnership with Frank Garrett and the store was renamed “Cronk and Garrett.” The store continued under that name until 1920 when Mr. Cronk retired and moved to California to be reunited with his wife, daughter and grandson |
Claire Windsor
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In the fall of 1906, the teenaged Cronk daughters attended Washburn Preparatory Academy in Topeka, Kansas with their best friends, the Hudkins sisters. All four roomed together in Whitin Hall dormitory, which at that time stood where the old Carnegie Library now stands, and was a stone's throw from Boswell Hall and MacVicar Chapel. At the beginning of the second semester, the girls were involved in an incident which appeared as a thinly veiled, cautionary tale in the Washburn Review:
An incident at the girls' boarding school occurred when Julia was awakened suddenly with a sense of something being wrong. Yes. Now she knew what it was. Someone was at her window. She could hear pebbles pattering up against the screen. With a jump, she had reached the door and was ready to rush out and give forth mighty screams to waken the house, when she heard her name called anxiously and cautiously. "Julia, come here to the window. It’s only me. Yes, its Carrie, go open the door. It's locked but for goodness' sake don't wake the dean. It's terrible late." |
After falling over all the chairs and tables in the room on her way to the window to make sure it was no burglar, she was finally convinced that it was Carrie, and then she remembered that Carrie had gone to a party that evening. Sleepily she opened her door and top-toed down the hall. Just as she turned the key in the door there was a sudden burst of light and about five feet away stood the dean who had just turned the light on.
"Julia, what are you doing here at this time of night?"
"I was going for a drink," faltered Julia.
"A drink, I presume, when there's no water outside. Go to your room."
It is needless to say that Carrie got in with the assistance of the dean.
Although it is not known just how literally to take this story, Ola had indeed managed to get not only herself, but also her sister, Nellie as well as Mae and Ulva Hudkins expelled from the dormitory and all had to live off campus for the remainder of the semester. From that point on, Rosella chaperoned her daughters attentively. The "surreptitious activity" and expulsion was confirmed by Claire herself in a 1932 interview while passing through Kansas on the "Wonder Bar" tour with Al Jolson.
The reunited Cronk family spent the summer in Cawker and enjoyed the memorable Chautauqua in Lincoln Park. However, Rosella was summoned to Seattle, it is believed, on account of the health of her uncle Theodore.
While in Seattle, Ola attended Washington High School which changed its name to Broadway High School with the turn of the 1908 calendar year. By the end of spring, Rosella and the girls could return to Kansas.
For the next two school years, Nellie and Ola are listed as “special” students in the School of Fine Arts at Washburn. However, no Commencement Exercise program lists either Nellie or Ola as a member of a graduating class.
Whether it is was to help nurture Nellie and Ola’s educational and marital possibilities or simply Rosella’s preference for the ”big city” and to be closer to her father and step-mother, the Cronks decided to move to Seattle. However for the majority of each year, George Cronk remained a grass widower in Cawker City and continued to manage and expand the store there, while footing the bill for his family, and was content with spending extended vacations with his family in Seattle.
Many of the claims made by “Claire” in her movie magazine interviews about her education in Seattle from 1910 to 1914, have not been proven accurate. However, it is most likely that she studied voice and piano at Washington College of Music and that she also studied dance at the Douglas Hamilton Dance Studio in Seattle. About 1912 while living in Seattle, Ola met and fell in love with David Willis Bowes from Denver, Colorado. Upon his return to Denver, the couple continue to correspond with one another.
The week preceding the 1913 Golden Potlatch Festival in Seattle, Ola Cronk was crowned “Empress of Jappyland” for which she was described by the newspapers as “the prettiest girl in Seattle.” The Musical extravaganza at the Moore Theater, featured hundreds of local amateur dancers supporting Thelma Gilmore, a professional soprano in the leading vocal role. The Potlatch Festival weekend culminated in city-wide riots in which the headquarters of the Socialist Party and the Workers of the World International was burned to the ground.
In 1914, Mr. Bowes and Ola Cronk planned a June wedding. One month after her 22nd birthday, Ola secretly married Mr. Bowes in Denver while en route to Kansas from Seattle with her older sister and mother. The secrete marriage was sensationalized by the Denver newspapers and word finally reached Ola’s parents in Cawker City two weeks later! Ola returned to her husband in Denver who had left the family Real Estate business to sell automobiles. On September 8, 1916, “Billy” Bowes was born. The following year, and just twelve days before Ola’s 25th birthday, War is declared! Dark days lay ahead for Europe as well as for the home front; rationing, shortages, and the flu epidemic were new hardships everyone had to deal with. Ola and Willis’ marriage was under duress too.
By the close of 1918, the War was over and so was Ola’s marriage. She and Billy packed their bags and headed for California. Ola was determined to provide for herself and for her son by her own perseverance. It was the daughter of the landlord who suggested to Ola that she come with her to the moving picture studios to seek work. To her amazement, Lasky studios asked her to return the very next day and was given an “extra” part in an Ethel Clayton picture. She appeared in the Goldwyn Picture “The Pest” and was a party guest in a ballroom scene in “Eyes of Youth.” Her earliest un-credited rolls included playing a waitress and a bridesmaid. She considered herself lucky if the casting director called her three days a week. She did have the great fortune of appearing in several Allan Dwan Productions.
However, it was the director Lois Weber who “discovered” Ola and placed her in her first starring rolls. A friend of Lois Weber’s had been struck by Ola’s beauty and presence on camera. An opportunity to introduce Ola to Miss Weber presented itself at the studio cafeteria.
Miss Weber was impressed with Ola and immediately prepared a contract which included a salary of $150 a week. “Claire Windsor” was chosen as a more suitable name to reflect her grace and poise on the “silver sheet.”
On December 19, 1920, “To Please One Woman” was released. Four more “photoplays” followed under the direction of Lois Weber.
Just six weeks before the release of “The Blot“ by Lois Weber Productions, Miss Weber herself hatched a publicity stunt that propelled the name “Claire Windsor” into the headlines of papers across the nation. Claire had been invited to dine with Charlie Chaplin one evening. But earlier that day, Claire went horse riding on the local trails and never returned to the stables. When she failed to appear for dinner, Chaplin sent out the alarm and headed a search party personally.
Lois Weber convinced Chaplin to offer a $1,000 reward for Claire’s safe return. After some thirty-three hours, Claire surfaced and was whisked away in an ambulance to the hospital. She claimed to have been thrown from her horse and had suffered temporary amnesia. For weeks thereafter, the moving picture magazines added Claire’s name to the speculative list of those interested in becoming the future Mrs. Chaplin.
In 1921, Claire won the “WAMPAS Baby Star” designation. Each year, the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers would choose the 13 most promising leading women in films and presented them to the public at “The Frolic.” The other designates that year were: Maryon Aye, Helen Ferguson, Lila Lee, Jacqueline Logan, Louis Lorraine, Bessie Love, Kathryn McGuire, Patsy Ruth Miller, Colleen Moore, Mary Philbin, Pauline, Starke, and Lois Wilson.
Seven more film credits were added to Claire’s resume in 1922. Goldwyn decided to sign Claire to a long term contract after her work in “Broken Chains.” Claire continued to be loaned out to other production companies such as Selznick, Universal, Associated First National and others.
Claire narrowly avoided a career ending scandal with the murder of director William Desmond Taylor. Claire had been the dinner guest of Mr. Taylor at the Ambassador Hotel three evenings before he was shot. However, the newspapers erroneously reported that the date had been the evening of his murder! This “unsolved” Hollywood murder and several other Hollywood scandals lead directly to the creation of the Hays Office which censored films in America.
The next year, Claire worked in five productions, among which was “The Little Church Around the Corner.” This film has the distinction as being the first motion picture to produce a profit for the fledgling Warner Brothers Pictures. Even a parlor song with the cast on the cover, was composed and published to capitalize on the success of the photoplay.
In the spring of 1924, Claire was sent to Morocco to film “A Son of the Sahara” with leading man Bert Lytell. The two had worked together the previous year in “Rupert of Hentzau” and were scheduled to work together again in “Born Rich.” The desert sands of Morocco enflamed their passions and the two were married on May 14, 1925 in Juarez, Mexico.
Upon her return from exotic Morocco, Claire was invited with a handful of film and stage celebrities to be the main attractions to celebrate the opening of the Loews State Theater in St. Louis, Missouri. The four day event included a parade and personal appearances at the theater.
In January 1925, “The Dixie Handicap” was released by the merged Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corporation. Claire appeared in five more films that year which included “The White Desert.” This film was shot on location along the treacherous Rollins Pass in Colorado and promoted support for the building of the Moffat Tunnel. Claire was chosen “Queen of the Denver Auto Show” in February, 1928 when the completed Moffat Tunnel had its grand opening. “The White Desert” was shown again in Denver in 1979 when the 50th Anniversary of the event was celebrated.
On January 4, 1926, “Dance Madness” was released by the new Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer Corp. and ushered in the new Art Deco esthetic in film making. Claire bobbed her hair and utilized her dancing talents for the first time on screen. The ultra-modern costume and set designs bordered on the bizarre. The remainder of the year saw the release of “Money Talks” and “Tin Hats” by MGM.
1927 was one of Claire’s most prolific years and saw the release of seven pictures. Of note is “The Bugle Call” which featured the child star Jackie Coogan. “Foreign Devils” was Claire’s last picture to be released by the MGM. Although her film career was regaining momentum, her marriage to actor Bert Lytell failed and the two were divorced in August of that year.
The release of “The Jazz Singer” on February 4, 1928 rocked the film making industry to its very core. The stock actors and actresses at the various Studios were reassessed for their speaking abilities. Claire had suffered an accident in her pre-Hollywood years which had affected her voice. Unfortunately, she was relegated to the second rung studios of Columbia and Tiffany-Stahl. However, she did appear in five films that year. Two more films of note were released in January of 1929: “Captain Lash” was released by Fox and Claire’s talking picture debut, “Midstream” was released by Tiffany-Stahl. The Stock Market Crash in October ushered in the Great Depression.
Claire decided to leave Hollywood and try her luck at work in New York City. Unfortunately, a boating accident left her convalescing for weeks in bed with a back injury. Once she was able to get out again, she happened to bump into Al Jolson on the sidewalk in front of the Astor Hotel. In the course of their conversation, Jolson asked Claire how she was doing, and Claire answered that she was presently looking for work.
Jolson quipped that he had just the part for her in his new show “The Wonder Bar.” Playing along with the jokester, Claire accepted the part. In the end, Jolson wasn’t jesting and Claire got the part. The Tour performed in 33 cities across the country from September 28, 1931 to April 9, 1932.
Upon her return to California, Claire found herself involved in another scandal. The wife of a man who Claire had met on a train ride during the Tour and with whom she had begun to correspond, sued her for $100,000 in an “alienation of affections” lawsuit. After 20 months of court battles, the final sum was reduced to $2,500 as the man involved had not revealed his marital status to Claire.
The success of the film “G-Men,” which featured several former stars, is credited as having revived the careers of a number of former silent movie actors and actresses. In 1932 and 33, Claire appeared in “Self Defense,” “Sister to Judas,” “The Constant Woman,” and “Kiss of Araby.”
Then, in 1938, she appeared in “The Barefoot Boy” and in 1946, in “How Dooo You Do?” Her last public performance was in 1954 in a made for TV movie appropriately named “The Last Act.”
Claire devoted her later years to the arts. She was an accomplished painter and served on the board and as president of The American Institute of Fine Arts. She was appropriately fêted as a pioneer in the film industry and was present at numerous silent movie gala events. The Ambassador Hotel named a suite in her honor and a painting of her graces the wall. She is honored with a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood.
Claire suffered a heart attack on October 23, 1972 at the age of 80. She was laid to rest in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.
"Julia, what are you doing here at this time of night?"
"I was going for a drink," faltered Julia.
"A drink, I presume, when there's no water outside. Go to your room."
It is needless to say that Carrie got in with the assistance of the dean.
Although it is not known just how literally to take this story, Ola had indeed managed to get not only herself, but also her sister, Nellie as well as Mae and Ulva Hudkins expelled from the dormitory and all had to live off campus for the remainder of the semester. From that point on, Rosella chaperoned her daughters attentively. The "surreptitious activity" and expulsion was confirmed by Claire herself in a 1932 interview while passing through Kansas on the "Wonder Bar" tour with Al Jolson.
The reunited Cronk family spent the summer in Cawker and enjoyed the memorable Chautauqua in Lincoln Park. However, Rosella was summoned to Seattle, it is believed, on account of the health of her uncle Theodore.
While in Seattle, Ola attended Washington High School which changed its name to Broadway High School with the turn of the 1908 calendar year. By the end of spring, Rosella and the girls could return to Kansas.
For the next two school years, Nellie and Ola are listed as “special” students in the School of Fine Arts at Washburn. However, no Commencement Exercise program lists either Nellie or Ola as a member of a graduating class.
Whether it is was to help nurture Nellie and Ola’s educational and marital possibilities or simply Rosella’s preference for the ”big city” and to be closer to her father and step-mother, the Cronks decided to move to Seattle. However for the majority of each year, George Cronk remained a grass widower in Cawker City and continued to manage and expand the store there, while footing the bill for his family, and was content with spending extended vacations with his family in Seattle.
Many of the claims made by “Claire” in her movie magazine interviews about her education in Seattle from 1910 to 1914, have not been proven accurate. However, it is most likely that she studied voice and piano at Washington College of Music and that she also studied dance at the Douglas Hamilton Dance Studio in Seattle. About 1912 while living in Seattle, Ola met and fell in love with David Willis Bowes from Denver, Colorado. Upon his return to Denver, the couple continue to correspond with one another.
The week preceding the 1913 Golden Potlatch Festival in Seattle, Ola Cronk was crowned “Empress of Jappyland” for which she was described by the newspapers as “the prettiest girl in Seattle.” The Musical extravaganza at the Moore Theater, featured hundreds of local amateur dancers supporting Thelma Gilmore, a professional soprano in the leading vocal role. The Potlatch Festival weekend culminated in city-wide riots in which the headquarters of the Socialist Party and the Workers of the World International was burned to the ground.
In 1914, Mr. Bowes and Ola Cronk planned a June wedding. One month after her 22nd birthday, Ola secretly married Mr. Bowes in Denver while en route to Kansas from Seattle with her older sister and mother. The secrete marriage was sensationalized by the Denver newspapers and word finally reached Ola’s parents in Cawker City two weeks later! Ola returned to her husband in Denver who had left the family Real Estate business to sell automobiles. On September 8, 1916, “Billy” Bowes was born. The following year, and just twelve days before Ola’s 25th birthday, War is declared! Dark days lay ahead for Europe as well as for the home front; rationing, shortages, and the flu epidemic were new hardships everyone had to deal with. Ola and Willis’ marriage was under duress too.
By the close of 1918, the War was over and so was Ola’s marriage. She and Billy packed their bags and headed for California. Ola was determined to provide for herself and for her son by her own perseverance. It was the daughter of the landlord who suggested to Ola that she come with her to the moving picture studios to seek work. To her amazement, Lasky studios asked her to return the very next day and was given an “extra” part in an Ethel Clayton picture. She appeared in the Goldwyn Picture “The Pest” and was a party guest in a ballroom scene in “Eyes of Youth.” Her earliest un-credited rolls included playing a waitress and a bridesmaid. She considered herself lucky if the casting director called her three days a week. She did have the great fortune of appearing in several Allan Dwan Productions.
However, it was the director Lois Weber who “discovered” Ola and placed her in her first starring rolls. A friend of Lois Weber’s had been struck by Ola’s beauty and presence on camera. An opportunity to introduce Ola to Miss Weber presented itself at the studio cafeteria.
Miss Weber was impressed with Ola and immediately prepared a contract which included a salary of $150 a week. “Claire Windsor” was chosen as a more suitable name to reflect her grace and poise on the “silver sheet.”
On December 19, 1920, “To Please One Woman” was released. Four more “photoplays” followed under the direction of Lois Weber.
Just six weeks before the release of “The Blot“ by Lois Weber Productions, Miss Weber herself hatched a publicity stunt that propelled the name “Claire Windsor” into the headlines of papers across the nation. Claire had been invited to dine with Charlie Chaplin one evening. But earlier that day, Claire went horse riding on the local trails and never returned to the stables. When she failed to appear for dinner, Chaplin sent out the alarm and headed a search party personally.
Lois Weber convinced Chaplin to offer a $1,000 reward for Claire’s safe return. After some thirty-three hours, Claire surfaced and was whisked away in an ambulance to the hospital. She claimed to have been thrown from her horse and had suffered temporary amnesia. For weeks thereafter, the moving picture magazines added Claire’s name to the speculative list of those interested in becoming the future Mrs. Chaplin.
In 1921, Claire won the “WAMPAS Baby Star” designation. Each year, the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers would choose the 13 most promising leading women in films and presented them to the public at “The Frolic.” The other designates that year were: Maryon Aye, Helen Ferguson, Lila Lee, Jacqueline Logan, Louis Lorraine, Bessie Love, Kathryn McGuire, Patsy Ruth Miller, Colleen Moore, Mary Philbin, Pauline, Starke, and Lois Wilson.
Seven more film credits were added to Claire’s resume in 1922. Goldwyn decided to sign Claire to a long term contract after her work in “Broken Chains.” Claire continued to be loaned out to other production companies such as Selznick, Universal, Associated First National and others.
Claire narrowly avoided a career ending scandal with the murder of director William Desmond Taylor. Claire had been the dinner guest of Mr. Taylor at the Ambassador Hotel three evenings before he was shot. However, the newspapers erroneously reported that the date had been the evening of his murder! This “unsolved” Hollywood murder and several other Hollywood scandals lead directly to the creation of the Hays Office which censored films in America.
The next year, Claire worked in five productions, among which was “The Little Church Around the Corner.” This film has the distinction as being the first motion picture to produce a profit for the fledgling Warner Brothers Pictures. Even a parlor song with the cast on the cover, was composed and published to capitalize on the success of the photoplay.
In the spring of 1924, Claire was sent to Morocco to film “A Son of the Sahara” with leading man Bert Lytell. The two had worked together the previous year in “Rupert of Hentzau” and were scheduled to work together again in “Born Rich.” The desert sands of Morocco enflamed their passions and the two were married on May 14, 1925 in Juarez, Mexico.
Upon her return from exotic Morocco, Claire was invited with a handful of film and stage celebrities to be the main attractions to celebrate the opening of the Loews State Theater in St. Louis, Missouri. The four day event included a parade and personal appearances at the theater.
In January 1925, “The Dixie Handicap” was released by the merged Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corporation. Claire appeared in five more films that year which included “The White Desert.” This film was shot on location along the treacherous Rollins Pass in Colorado and promoted support for the building of the Moffat Tunnel. Claire was chosen “Queen of the Denver Auto Show” in February, 1928 when the completed Moffat Tunnel had its grand opening. “The White Desert” was shown again in Denver in 1979 when the 50th Anniversary of the event was celebrated.
On January 4, 1926, “Dance Madness” was released by the new Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer Corp. and ushered in the new Art Deco esthetic in film making. Claire bobbed her hair and utilized her dancing talents for the first time on screen. The ultra-modern costume and set designs bordered on the bizarre. The remainder of the year saw the release of “Money Talks” and “Tin Hats” by MGM.
1927 was one of Claire’s most prolific years and saw the release of seven pictures. Of note is “The Bugle Call” which featured the child star Jackie Coogan. “Foreign Devils” was Claire’s last picture to be released by the MGM. Although her film career was regaining momentum, her marriage to actor Bert Lytell failed and the two were divorced in August of that year.
The release of “The Jazz Singer” on February 4, 1928 rocked the film making industry to its very core. The stock actors and actresses at the various Studios were reassessed for their speaking abilities. Claire had suffered an accident in her pre-Hollywood years which had affected her voice. Unfortunately, she was relegated to the second rung studios of Columbia and Tiffany-Stahl. However, she did appear in five films that year. Two more films of note were released in January of 1929: “Captain Lash” was released by Fox and Claire’s talking picture debut, “Midstream” was released by Tiffany-Stahl. The Stock Market Crash in October ushered in the Great Depression.
Claire decided to leave Hollywood and try her luck at work in New York City. Unfortunately, a boating accident left her convalescing for weeks in bed with a back injury. Once she was able to get out again, she happened to bump into Al Jolson on the sidewalk in front of the Astor Hotel. In the course of their conversation, Jolson asked Claire how she was doing, and Claire answered that she was presently looking for work.
Jolson quipped that he had just the part for her in his new show “The Wonder Bar.” Playing along with the jokester, Claire accepted the part. In the end, Jolson wasn’t jesting and Claire got the part. The Tour performed in 33 cities across the country from September 28, 1931 to April 9, 1932.
Upon her return to California, Claire found herself involved in another scandal. The wife of a man who Claire had met on a train ride during the Tour and with whom she had begun to correspond, sued her for $100,000 in an “alienation of affections” lawsuit. After 20 months of court battles, the final sum was reduced to $2,500 as the man involved had not revealed his marital status to Claire.
The success of the film “G-Men,” which featured several former stars, is credited as having revived the careers of a number of former silent movie actors and actresses. In 1932 and 33, Claire appeared in “Self Defense,” “Sister to Judas,” “The Constant Woman,” and “Kiss of Araby.”
Then, in 1938, she appeared in “The Barefoot Boy” and in 1946, in “How Dooo You Do?” Her last public performance was in 1954 in a made for TV movie appropriately named “The Last Act.”
Claire devoted her later years to the arts. She was an accomplished painter and served on the board and as president of The American Institute of Fine Arts. She was appropriately fêted as a pioneer in the film industry and was present at numerous silent movie gala events. The Ambassador Hotel named a suite in her honor and a painting of her graces the wall. She is honored with a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood.
Claire suffered a heart attack on October 23, 1972 at the age of 80. She was laid to rest in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.
