Claire Luce (October , â€" August , ) was an American stage and
screen actress, dancer and singer. Among her few films were Up the
River (), 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, Mademoiselle Docteur ().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". Luce's parents were divorced when she was .
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 , Luce took a job as a "sort of utility employee"
at a cafe in Rochester. When she was , 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."Luce starred in many Broadway plays from until ,
including costarring with Fred Astaire in the original musical Gay
Divorce (). Astaire tried to get Luce for the film version of Gay
Divorce, The Gay Divorcee () but was overruled by the studio, RKO
Radio Pictures, which preferred to use their contract player, Ginger
Rogers.
screen actress, dancer and singer. Among her few films were Up the
River (), 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, Mademoiselle Docteur ().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". Luce's parents were divorced when she was .
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 , Luce took a job as a "sort of utility employee"
at a cafe in Rochester. When she was , 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."Luce starred in many Broadway plays from until ,
including costarring with Fred Astaire in the original musical Gay
Divorce (). Astaire tried to get Luce for the film version of Gay
Divorce, The Gay Divorcee () but was overruled by the studio, RKO
Radio Pictures, which preferred to use their contract player, Ginger
Rogers.
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