Clarke, Mae (1907–1992)
Clarke, Mae (1907–1992)
American actress and dancer. Born Violet Mary Klotz, Aug 16, 1907, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; died April 29, 1992, in Woodland Hills, California; m. Lew Brice (brother of Fanny Brice), 1928 (div.); m. Stephen Bancroft, 1937 (div.); m. Herbert Langdon, 1946 (div.).
At 13, began career with a nightclub act; made NY debut as a specialty dancer on the Mark Strand Roof Garden(1924); on Broadway, appeared in Sitting Pretty, Gay Paree, The Noose and Manhattan Mary; films include Big Time, Frankenstein, The Man with Two Faces, Waterloo Bridge, Magnificent Obsession, Flying Tigers, And Now Tomorrow, Annie Get Your Gun, Singin' in the Rain, Pat and Mike and Thoroughly Modern Millie; best remembered as the prostitute Molly Malloy in The Front Page and for having a grapefruit shoved in her face by James Cagney in The Public Enemy; said to be the model for Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.