{{Short description|American actress and dancer (1903–1989)}} {{for|the playwright, journalist and politician|Clare Boothe Luce}} {{Use American English|date=July 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Claire Luce | image = Claire Luce 2 (cropped).jpg | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1903|10|15|mf=y}} | birth_place = Syracuse, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1989|8|31|1903|10|15|mf=y}} | death_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | other_names = | occupation = {{hlist|Actress|dancer}} | years_active = 1930–1955 | spouse = {{marriage|Clifford W. Smith|1928|1935|reason=divorced}} }}
'''Claire Luce''' (October 15, 1903 – August 31, 1989) was an American stage and screen actress, dancer and singer. Among her few films were ''Up the River'' (1930), directed by John Ford and starring Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart in their feature film debuts (Luce played Bogart's love interest), and ''Under Secret Orders'', the English-language version of G. W. Pabst's French-language feature, ''Salonique, nid d'espions'' (1937).
==Early years== Luce was born in Syracuse, New York, but she grew up in Rochester in what an article in ''Silver Screen'' magazine described as "an atmosphere of discord and squalor".<ref name="ss">{{cite journal|last1=Mook|first1=S.R.|title=Cinderella Up-To-Date|journal=Silver Screen|date=November 1930|volume=1|issue=1|pages=18, 62–63|url=https://archive.org/stream/silverscreen01unse#page/n25/mode/1up|access-date=5 March 2017}}</ref> Luce's parents were divorced when she was 13. Florence Colebrook Powers, a friend of Luce's mother, adopted her. Powers was in charge of a dance school, and she introduced Luce to dancing. While still 13, Luce took a job as a "sort of utility employee" at a cafe in Rochester.<ref name=ss/> When she was 15, she ran away with a Russian opera troupe that played in Rochester, becoming a ballerina with the group. Before long, she said, "people in Rochester traced me and had me brought back."<ref name=ss/>
==Career== Luce starred in many Broadway plays from 1923 until 1952, including costarring with Fred Astaire in the original musical ''Gay Divorce'' (1932). Of her performance in ''Gay Divorce'', the critic Brooks Atkinson wrote, "In the refulgent Claire Luce, Fred Astaire has found a partner who can match him step for step and who flies over the furniture in his company without missing a beat."<ref name="Satchell"/> Unfortunately, during the London run of the play, Luce suffered a serious injury during the "Table Dance" routine—a routine which was reprised in the film—hurting her hip, and this put an end to her stage dancing career.<ref name="Mueller">{{cite book|last=Mueller|first=John|title=Astaire Dancing - The Musical Films|publisher=Hamish Hamilton|year=1986|location=London|pages=63|isbn=0-241-11749-6}}</ref>
Astaire tried to get Luce for the film version of ''Gay Divorce'', ''The Gay Divorcee'' (1934) but was overruled by the studio, RKO Radio Pictures, which preferred to use their contract player Ginger Rogers.<ref name="Satchell">{{cite book|last=Satchell|first=Tim|title=Astaire - The biography|publisher=Hutchinson|year=1987|location=London|pages=99, 123|isbn=0-09-173736-2}}</ref> In his autobiography, Astaire credits Luce as the inspiration for his revolutionary "Night and Day" dance routine in the film: <blockquote> Claire was a beautiful dancer and it was her style that suggested to me the whole pattern of the "Night and Day" dance. This was something entirely different from anything Adele and I had done together. That was what I wanted, an entirely new dancing approach.<ref name="Astaire">{{cite book|last=Astaire|first=Fred|title=Steps in Time|publisher=Heinemann|year=1959|location=London|page=176|isbn=0-241-11749-6}}</ref> </blockquote>
Luce recalls her own experience with the chronically insecure Astaire: "I actually felt more sorry for Fred than I did for myself, despite the horrendous schedules of rehearsals that he kept up. He was a very worried man."<ref name="Satchell"/>
She also starred in the Broadway version of ''Of Mice and Men'' (1937), written by John Steinbeck and directed by George S. Kaufman.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/03/obituaries/claire-luce-85-comedy-and-classical-star.html|work=The New York Times|title=Claire Luce, 85, Comedy and Classical Star|date=September 3, 1989|access-date=April 30, 2010}}</ref>
Luce often appeared on the English stage and, having been seen in ''Of Mice and Men'' in London in 1939, stayed in the UK throughout the war years. She played a number of Shakespearean roles during that time and in 1945 scored a big success leading the company at the annual Stratford-on-Avon Memorial Theatre's summer Shakespeare Festival, particularly as Cleopatra in ''Antony and Cleopatra''. Her last appearance in London at that time was as Becky Sharp in an adaptation of Thackeray's novel ''Vanity Fair'' at the Comedy Theatre in 1946.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://movies.nytimes.com/person/43619/Claire-Luce/biography| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016233810/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/43619/Claire-Luce/biography| url-status=dead| archive-date=October 16, 2012|access-date=April 30, 2010| department=Movies & TV Dept.| work=The New York Times| first=Sandra| last=Brennan| date=2012|title=Claire Luce}}</ref>
==Personal life== Luce married Clifford Warren Smith, first cousin of Dudley Wolfe, in 1928.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Milestones: Jul. 23, 1928|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,786919,00.html|magazine=Time|date=July 23, 1928 |access-date=6 March 2017}}</ref> They were divorced on January 16, 1935.<ref>{{cite news|title=Divorces Stage Actress|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19350117&id=0SdXAAAAIBAJ&pg=3599,1795734&hl=en|access-date=6 March 2017|work=Lawrence Journal-World|agency=Associated Press|date=January 17, 1935}}</ref> Luce became engaged to John Woodburn Gillan in 1940.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-republic/139511354/ "Claire Luce to Wed British Airman"]. ''The Evening Republican''. May 9, 1940. p. 14. Retrieved January 24, 2024.</ref> He was an RAF pilot who was shot down and killed in 1941.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/795168718/?clipping_id=139511018 "Fearless RAF Deeds; Another Award for Bader"]. ''Liverpool Daily Post''. September 5, 1941. p. 1. Retrieved January 24, 2024.</ref><ref>"United Kingdom, British Armed Forces and Overseas Vital Records, 1761-2005", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:68F5-VWKH : 2 September 2021), John W Gillan, 1941.</ref><ref>"England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W794-6DZM : Wed Dec 13 23:31:08 UTC 2023), Entry for John Woodburn Gillan and David Hedley Gillan, 19 Feb 1943.</ref>
==Filmography== thumb|Luce in 1933 *''Matinee Theatre'' (1 episode, 1955) *''Broadway Television Theatre'' (4 episodes, 1953–1954) *''Lights Out'' (1 episode, 1952) *''Cameo Theatre'' (4 episodes, 1951–1952) *''Tales of Tomorrow'' as Rose (1 episode, 1952) *''The Philco Television Playhouse'' as Becky Sharp (2 episodes, 1949) *''Over She Goes'' (1938) as Pamela *''Under Secret Orders'' (1937) as Gaby, Rene's Girl *''Let's Make a Night of It'' (1937) as Viola Vanders *''Lazybones'' (1935) as Kitty McCarthy *''Vintage Wine'' (1935) as Nina Popinot *''Up the River'' (1930) as Judy
==Stage== *''Much Ado About Nothing'' as Beatrice May 1, 1952 - May 3, 1952 *''The Taming of the Shrew'' as Katharina, Apr 25, 1951 - May 6, 1951 *''With a Silk Thread'' as Rose Raymond, Apr 12, 1950 - Apr 22, 1950 *''Portrait in Black'' as Tanis Talbot, May 14, 1947 - Jul 5, 1947 * ''Golden Eagle'' as Mary, Queen of Scots, Jan 29, 1946 - Mar 3, 1946 *''Of Mice and Men'' as Curley's Wife, Nov 23, 1937 - May 1938 *''Gay Divorce'' as Mimi Nov 29, 1932 - Jul 1, 1933 *''Society Girl'' as Judy Gelett, Dec 30, 1931 - Jan 1932 *''Scarlet Pages'' as Nora Mason, Sep 9, 1929 - Nov 1929 *''Ziegfeld Follies of 1927'' Aug 16, 1927 - Jan 7, 1928 *''No Foolin'' Jun 24, 1926 - Sep 25, 1926 *''Music Box Revue [1924]'' Dec 1, 1924 - May 1925 *''Dear Sir'' as Clair, Sep 23, 1924 - Oct 4, 1924 *''Little Jessie James'' as Claire, Aug 15, 1923 - Jul 19, 1924
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} *{{IMDb name|0524402}} *{{IBDB name}} *[http://archives.nypl.org/the/18911 Claire Luce papers, 1925-1987], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Luce, Claire}} Category:1903 births Category:1989 deaths Category:American film actresses Category:American stage actresses Category:American female dancers Category:Dancers from New York (state) Category:Actresses from New York (state) Category:20th-century American actresses Category:20th-century American dancers