Claire Windsor (born Clara Viola Cronk; April 14, 1892 â€" October 24,
1972) was an American film actress of the silent screen era.Windsor
was born Clara Viola Cronk (nicknamed "Ola") in 1892 to George Edwin
and Rosella Fearing Cronk in Marvin, Phillips County, Kansas of
Scandinavian heritage. Her parents later moved to Cawker City, Kansas
when she was two years old. She attended Washburn Preparatory Academy
in Topeka, Kansas from 1906 to 1907, she graduated at 15, and after a
year at Broadway High School in Seattle, Washington, returned as a
student in the Fine Arts Department at Washburn College. Intent on
further refining her daughters' education and position in society,
Rosella and her daughters returned to Seattle in the fall of 1910. On
July 14, 1913, Ola was chosen for the role of Empress during the
lavish musical production of Jappyland. While living in Seattle, Ola
met David Willis Bowes and the intense relationship continued by
correspondence after Mr. Bowes' return to Denver. Soon a June wedding
was planned, but en route back to Kansas, Ola secretly married Mr.
Bowes on May 13, 1914, in Denver, Colorado. The union resulted in the
birth of a son, David Willis Bowes Jr., on September 9, 1916, but the
couple soon went their separate ways. Bowes officially filed for
divorce on September 14, 1920. She moved to California to be reunited
with her parents who had recently retired. Seeking a way to support
herself and baby son, Ola took the advice of a friend and quickly
found employment at the movie studios. Initially receiving only bit
parts, she was soon spotted by Lois Weber, a highly regarded and
influential director and producer of silent films for Paramount
Pictures. Weber immediately signed Windsor to a contract.Claire
Windsor's film debut was in the 1920 release of Lois Weber's To Please
One Woman which was only a modest success. To promote the nascent
starlet, Paramount Pictures often paired Windsor with the newly
divorced actor Charlie Chaplin in publicity photographs, leading the
tabloid press to give mention to the young actress in print. In 1921,
Windsor costarred with Louis Calhern in Weber's The Blot (1921). The
publicity paid off; in 1922 the newly formed Western Association of
Motion Picture Advertisers (WAMPAS) began their annual WAMPAS Baby
Stars awards and she was named, along with Bessie Love, Lila Lee, Mary
Philbin and Colleen Moore, as the year's most promising starlets. That
same year Claire signed a contract with Goldwyn Pictures Corporation.
She would appear in Broken Chains with fellow WAMPAS Baby Star Colleen
Moore.
1972) was an American film actress of the silent screen era.Windsor
was born Clara Viola Cronk (nicknamed "Ola") in 1892 to George Edwin
and Rosella Fearing Cronk in Marvin, Phillips County, Kansas of
Scandinavian heritage. Her parents later moved to Cawker City, Kansas
when she was two years old. She attended Washburn Preparatory Academy
in Topeka, Kansas from 1906 to 1907, she graduated at 15, and after a
year at Broadway High School in Seattle, Washington, returned as a
student in the Fine Arts Department at Washburn College. Intent on
further refining her daughters' education and position in society,
Rosella and her daughters returned to Seattle in the fall of 1910. On
July 14, 1913, Ola was chosen for the role of Empress during the
lavish musical production of Jappyland. While living in Seattle, Ola
met David Willis Bowes and the intense relationship continued by
correspondence after Mr. Bowes' return to Denver. Soon a June wedding
was planned, but en route back to Kansas, Ola secretly married Mr.
Bowes on May 13, 1914, in Denver, Colorado. The union resulted in the
birth of a son, David Willis Bowes Jr., on September 9, 1916, but the
couple soon went their separate ways. Bowes officially filed for
divorce on September 14, 1920. She moved to California to be reunited
with her parents who had recently retired. Seeking a way to support
herself and baby son, Ola took the advice of a friend and quickly
found employment at the movie studios. Initially receiving only bit
parts, she was soon spotted by Lois Weber, a highly regarded and
influential director and producer of silent films for Paramount
Pictures. Weber immediately signed Windsor to a contract.Claire
Windsor's film debut was in the 1920 release of Lois Weber's To Please
One Woman which was only a modest success. To promote the nascent
starlet, Paramount Pictures often paired Windsor with the newly
divorced actor Charlie Chaplin in publicity photographs, leading the
tabloid press to give mention to the young actress in print. In 1921,
Windsor costarred with Louis Calhern in Weber's The Blot (1921). The
publicity paid off; in 1922 the newly formed Western Association of
Motion Picture Advertisers (WAMPAS) began their annual WAMPAS Baby
Stars awards and she was named, along with Bessie Love, Lila Lee, Mary
Philbin and Colleen Moore, as the year's most promising starlets. That
same year Claire signed a contract with Goldwyn Pictures Corporation.
She would appear in Broken Chains with fellow WAMPAS Baby Star Colleen
Moore.
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