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Claire Kelly | |
---|---|
Born | Claire Ann Green March 15, 1934 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
Died | July 1, 1998
Palm Springs, California, U.S. | (aged 64)
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1955–1972 |
Spouses | Robert Kenaston
(
m. 1961;
div. 1963)
|
Children | 2 |
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lead section may be too short to adequately
summarize the key points. (February 2022) |
Claire Kelly (March 15, 1934 – July 1, 1998) [1] was an American actress and model.
Born Claire Ann Green, the daughter of a wealthy California rancher, she was trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. [1]
Kelly started out as a model in Miami, and appeared several times on the cover of McCall's, continuing her modelling career throughout the 1950s. She made the cover of Picture Week in 1956, and was a 1958 Deb Star.[ citation needed]
Kelly went on to roles in films such as Snowfire (1958), The Badlanders (1958), Party Girl (1958), Ask Any Girl (1959), and A Guide for the Married Man (1967). In The Badlanders, a Western remake of the film noir The Asphalt Jungle, she played "the Angela role immortalized by Marilyn Monroe" [2] in the original film. In 1959, she was publicized as "the screen's most exciting discovery since Rita Hayworth". [1] In 1964-65, she appeared in several episodes of the television series Burke's Law.
From 1951 to 1955, Kelly was married to singer-comedian George DeWitt. She was credited as Claire DeWitt in Son of Sinbad. They had a son, Nicholas. [1]
On November 6, 1954, Kelly's three-year-old son, Nicholas Christopher DeWitt, died after fighting for three days in an iron lung at Variety Children's Hospital in Miami, Florida, the victim of a rare anesthetic hazard, which happened after he was bitten on the lip by Duke, a cocker spaniel owned by former featherweight champion Willie Pep, and his heart stopped beating as doctors repaired the damage with 25 stitches. [1]
On March 27, 1960, she married actor Perry Lopez in North Hollywood. [3] After they divorced, she married banking heir Robert Alan Kenaston, son of actress Billie Dove, on October 21, 1961, in Juarez, Mexico. They had a son, Robert Burns Kenaston. They divorced on July 22, 1963. [1] [4] She later married Robert Murphy, and was married to him until her death. [5]
Kelly has had relationships with Lance Reventlow and Conrad Hilton Jr.. She once dismissed Prince Aly Khan as "gauche" and Elvis Presley as "a mere child". [1]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1955 | Son of Sinbad | Tartar Girl | Uncredited |
1956 | The Best Things in Life Are Free | Chorus Girl | Uncredited |
1956 | Scandal Incorporated | June Trapping | |
1958 | Underwater Warrior | Anne Winnmore | |
1958 | Snowfire | Carol Hampton | |
1958 | The Badlanders | Ada Winton | |
1958 | Party Girl | Genevieve Farrell | |
1959 | Ask Any Girl | Lisa | |
1965 | The Loved One | Whispering Glades Hostess | |
1967 | A Guide for the Married Man | Harriet Stander | |
1969 | Childish Things | Sharon | |
1969 | What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? | Elva | |
1970 | Up Your Teddy Bear | Miss Boota, sculptress |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1955 | The Bob Cummings Show | Miss Kelly | Episode: "The Wolf Sitter" |
1956 | The People's Choice | Melinda | Episode: "Aunt Gus Leaves Sock" |
1956 | Kings Row | Little Egypt | Episode: "Carnival" |
1957 | Richard Diamond, Private Detective | Episode: "The Mickey Farmer Case" | |
1957 | The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin | Episode: "Frontier Angel" | |
1958 | Love That Jill | Episode: "Tonight's the Night" | |
1959 | Northwest Passage | Lucy | Episode: "The Killers" |
1960 | Tightrope! | Linda Costain | Episode: "Three to Make Ready" |
1960 | Bachelor Father | Laura Evans | Episode: "Kelly and the College Man" |
1960 | The Texan | Gail Henshaw | Episode: "Lady Tenderfoot" |
1961 | Surfside 6 | Pat Wheeler | Episode: "Ghost of a Chance" |
1964–1965 | Burke's Law | 2nd Model / Samantha | 2 episodes |
1967 | The Monkees | Dr. Sisters | S1:E29, "Monkees Get Out More Dirt" |
1969 | The F.B.I. | Secretary | Episode: "Gamble with Death" |
1972 | Love Story | Landlady | Episode: "Night of the Tanks" |