# Ina Claire

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This article is about the American actress. For the British actress, see [Ina Clare](/source/Ina_Clare).

**Ina Claire** (born **Ina Fagan**; October 15, 1893[1] – February 21, 1985) was an American stage and film actress.

## Early years

Ina Fagan was born October 15, 1893, in [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington,_D.C.) After the death of her father, Claire began doing imitations of fellow boarders in the boarding house where she and her mother, Cora, and brother, Allen,[2] lived. Claire's mother took her out of school in the eighth grade, and she used her mother's maiden name when she began her career appearing in vaudeville.[3] In 1906, she gave a recitation as the grand finale of a program presented by Miss Cora B. Shreve's pupils in Washington, D.C. She was identified in a newspaper article as Ina Claire Fagan.[4]

## Career

Claire made her professional stage debut in October 1907 in Elmira, New York. She played Florie in a production of *The Fatal Flower* — the beginning of a two-year contract.[5]

In 1909, she appeared in a vaudeville act entitled "Dainty Mimic", which included an imitation of actor [Harry Lauder](/source/Harry_Lauder). A booking agent described this act as "one of the best single Acts" he had seen that season and remarked that "She possesses a great deal of magnatism [sic] and is a big hit."[6]

She performed on Broadway in the musicals *Jumping Jupiter*, *[The Quaker Girl](/source/The_Quaker_Girl)* (both 1911), and *Lady Luxury* (1914-1915). Claire was in the *[Ziegfeld Follies](/source/Ziegfeld_Follies)* of 1915 and 1916. She later starred on Broadway in plays by some of the leading comic dramatists of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, including the roles of Jerry Lamarr in [Avery Hopwood](/source/Avery_Hopwood)'s *[The Gold Diggers](/source/The_Gold_Diggers_(1919_play))* (1919), Mrs. Cheyney in [Frederick Lonsdale](/source/Frederick_Lonsdale)'s *[The Last of Mrs. Cheyney](/source/The_Last_of_Mrs._Cheyney_(play))* (1925), Lady George Grayston in [W. Somerset Maugham](/source/W._Somerset_Maugham)'s *[Our Betters](/source/Our_Betters)* (1928), and Enid Fuller in [George Kelly](/source/George_Edward_Kelly)'s *Fatal Weakness*. [7]

Claire later became identified with the high comedies of [S. N. Behrman](/source/S._N._Behrman), and created the female leads in three of his plays: *[Biography](/source/Biography_(play))* (1934), *End of Summer* (1936), and *The Talley Method* (1941). Behrman wrote of Claire's performance in one of his comedies: "Her readings were translucent, her stage presence encompassing. The flick of an intonation deflated pomposity. She never missed a nuance."[8] Critic [J. Brooks Atkinson](/source/Brooks_Atkinson) praised Claire for her "refulgent comic intelligence".[9]

Claire was retired from the stage for five years in the early 1940s, living with her husband in San Francisco. She returned to perform in the comedy *The Fatal Weakness*.[10] Her last stage appearance was as Lady Elizabeth Mulhammer in [T. S. Eliot](/source/T._S._Eliot)'s *[The Confidential Clerk](/source/The_Confidential_Clerk)* (1954).

She made her film debut in [Cecil B. DeMille](/source/Cecil_B._DeMille)'s *[The Wild Goose Chase](/source/The_Wild_Goose_Chase_(1915_film))* (1915).[11] She is best remembered today for her role as the Grand Duchess Swana in the romantic comedy *[Ninotchka](/source/Ninotchka)* (1939), directed by [Ernst Lubitsch](/source/Ernst_Lubitsch) and starring [Greta Garbo](/source/Greta_Garbo).

## Death

Ina Claire died on February 21, 1985, in [San Francisco, California](/source/San_Francisco,_California) after suffering a heart attack. She was 91 years old. She is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery located in [Salt Lake City](/source/Salt_Lake_City). She was an inductee in the [American Theater Hall of Fame](/source/American_Theater_Hall_of_Fame) and has a star on the [Hollywood Walk of Fame](/source/Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame).

## Filmography

Year Title Role Notes 1915 The Wild Goose Chase Betty Wright Short Lost film The Puppet Crown Princess Alexia Lost film 1917 National Red Cross Pageant Jeanne D'Arc - French episode Lost film 1920 Polly With a Past Polly Shannon Lost film 1929 The Awful Truth Lucy Warriner Lost film 1930 The Royal Family of Broadway Julie Cavendish 1931 Rebound Sara Jaffrey 1932 The Greeks Had a Word for Them Jean Lawrence 1939 Ninotchka Grand Duchess Swana 1940 I Take This Woman Cesca Marcesca (scenes deleted) 1943 Claudia Mrs. Brown Stage Door Canteen Ina Claire (final film role)

## References

1. Born in 1893, not 1892 as per the [Social Security Death Index under the name **Ina Claire**](http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi) and her [gravestone](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6590678)

1. 1900 United States Federal Census

1. Flint, Peter B. (23 February 1985). ["Ina Claire, 92, Who Brought Comic Artistry To Stage Roles"](https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/23/arts/ina-claire-92-who-brought-comic-artistry-to-stage-roles.html). *The New York Times*. Retrieved 13 December 2016.

1. ["End of May Carnival"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25375660/ina_claire/). *Evening Star*. May 24, 1906. p. 19. Retrieved November 13, 2018. – via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

1. ["'The Fatal Flower' Distinct Surprise"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25376045/stargazette/). *Star-Gazette*. October 22, 1907. p. 3. Retrieved November 13, 2018. – via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

1. Ohio State University, Theater Research Institute, Scrapbook #172, n.p.

1. ["Ina Claire"](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/ina-claire-67082). *Internet Broadway Database*. Retrieved March 17, 2024.

1. S. N. Behrman, *People in a Diary* (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1972), 196.

1. J. Brooks Atkinson, "Americans Stopping in London", *The New York Times*, February 21, 1928, p. 18

1. ["Ina Claire here in Kelly comedy"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76622863/ina-claire/). *St. Louis Post-Dispatch*. March 30, 1947. p. 61. Retrieved April 28, 2021. – via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

1. ["Progressive Silent Film List: The Wild Goose Chase"](https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/W/WildGooseChase1915.html). *Silent Era*. Retrieved 2011-04-25.

## External links

- [Ina Claire](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0163257/) at IMDb
- [Ina Claire](https://web.archive.org/web/20080303102607/http://silentladies.com/BClaireI.html) at Silent Ladies & Gents
- [Ina Claire](https://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/11663/ina-claire) at Virtual History

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ina Claire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ina_Claire) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ina_Claire?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.