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1-6 of 6
- Actress
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Lovely brown-eyed, brunette Claire Du Brey enjoyed a rich, four-decade film career in all. Born Clara Violet Dubrey on August 31, 1892, in Bonner's Ferry Idaho, her family traveled the rugged Sierra Madre terrain by covered wagon in their move to California when she was 13.
Educated in a convent setting and once trained to be a nurse, Claire responded to an newspaper ad and found employment working part time in motion pictures. From there, she found herself in front of the camera, making her movie debut as star Billie Burke's friend in the Triangle release Peggy (1916). Universal saw a leading lady vamp in her, however, and from 1917 she enjoyed star billing in such silent short and feature-length vehicles as Princess Dione in the Rex Ingram-directed The Reward of the Faithless (1917); The Fighting Gringo (1917), opposite Harry Carey; Anything Once (1917) and The Winged Mystery (1917) both co-starring Franklyn Farnum; Brace Up (1918) with Herbert Rawlinson; the family drama The Magic Eye (1918); and A Man in the Open (1919) with Dustin Farnum. She also appeared in a number of Lon Chaney's early Universal vehicles such as The Rescue (1917) Pay Me! (1917) and Triumph (1917).
A versatile player whether asked to portray royalty, servants, temptresses or prairie flowers, Claire turned to Los Angeles stage plays during an early 1920s lull in film offers and graced such vehicles as "Madame X," "Spring Cleaning" and "The Youngest". Later "jazz age" film roles included The Sea Hawk (1924), Drusilla with a Million (1925) Exquisite Sinner (1926), and The Devil Dancer (1927).
During the declining period of her career (1928), Claire met actress Marie Dressler and they became close friends. Claire wound up serving as Dressler's secretary, fan mail handler and travel companion. In reward, Dressler arranged for Claire to get small roles a few of her talking films Politics (1931) and Prosperity (1932). She also served as Dressler's nurse in 1933 when the elder woman was dying of cancer.
As a character actress, Claire became much in demand throughout the late 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, appearing in general purpose roles as secretaries, nurses, salesladies, housekeepers, matrons, spinsters, relatives, etc. On a rare occasion she managed to stand out, none more so than in her mad scene as Bertha Rochester in a "B"-level version of Jane Eyre (1934) starring Colin Clive and Virginia Bruce. Seen sporadically on TV into the 1950s, she retired by the end of the decade. Her last film roles were in Girls Town (1959) and The Miracle (1959), both unbilled.
An early marriage to a doctor, Mark Gorman, ended in divorce. She lived another four decades after leaving the limelight. In her final years she grew deaf and her health quite fragile, dying at the age of 100 on August 1, 1993.- Actor Gerry Sundquist was born Gerald Christopher Sundquist in Manchester. He was known professionally as Gerry Sundquist, but always affectionately known as Ged to his friends.
He grew up in Chorlton with his older brother and younger sister. He developed an interest in acting at primary school and joined the Stretford Children's Theatre whilst still at school - St. Augustine's R.C. Grammar School in Wythenshawe.
On leaving school at 16 he worked briefly on the night shift at the Kellogg's factory in Manchester, but keen to pursue his acting career he soon moved to London. His first real breakthrough came in 1974 when he was cast in his first professional TV role as Jim in the popular 10-part Granada TV serial 'Soldier & Me' followed by the role of Billy in 'The Siege of Golden Hill' in 1975. He also appeared in many theatre productions in the mid 1970s - the Young Vic's production of 'All Walk of Leg', 'The Fantastic Fairground' and 'Macbeth' in 1975, following on with a memorable portrayal of Alan Strang in John Dexter's production of 'Equus' at the National Theatre in 1976.
His other TV and film roles include an appearance as Malic in 'The Dorcons' episode of 'Space 1999', in 1978, the starring role in 'Music Machine' in 1979, Michael Radlet in the TV drama, 'The Mallens' in 1980 and one of his finest roles, 'Pip' in the 1981 BBC adaption of 'Great Expectations'. Appearances in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' in 1982 and 'The Last Days of Pompeii' and 'Don't Open 'til Christmas' in 1984, followed.
In between filming in various locations around the world, Gerry lived in the Cotswolds village of Barnsley for a time and then moved back to London. However, his personal life and career seemed to go into a downward spiral in the mid 1980s.
Throughout his most difficult times he was supported by his loving family, especially his brother Geoffrey and with his help Gerry seemed to gradually overcome his problems and resume his acting career. In 1992 he played a character called Jimmy Matthews in 'Lost Boy' - an episode of the long running ITV series, 'The Bill' but this was Gerry's last TV appearance. Despite his apparent hope for the future, Gerry took his own life by jumping in front of a train at Norbiton train station on Sunday, 1st August, 1993. He was only 37 years old. He left a suicide note apologising to his family for "letting you down". His funeral took place in Kingston, Surrey.
Gerry's brother, Geoffrey was inspired to create a lasting tribute to Gerry's life and created a children's story - 'Father Christmas and the Missing Reindeer', inspired by childhood memories of time spent with Gerry and their family at Christmas time. The book was published and later made into an animated short film and released in 1997 - dedicated to Gerry's memory.
After his first book, Geoffrey began writing a screenplay for a film entitled 'The Whistling Boys', a story about two brothers, set during the First World War. However, the film was never realised as, sadly, Geoffrey Sundquist passed away in March, 2005. - B.J. Turner was born on 20 March 1949. He was an actor, known for Scarecrows (1988), Alien Private Eye (1989) and Private War (1988). He died on 1 August 1993 in Toluca Lake, California, USA.
- Michael Steele was born on 5 October 1921 in Berwick, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for The Whip Hand (1951), Command Decision (1948) and Highway Patrol (1955). He died on 1 August 1993 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Heinz Coubier was born on 25 May 1905 in Duisburg, Germany. He was a writer, known for Arlette erobert Paris (1953), Fräulein Blaubart (1956) and Duell um Aimée (1968). He died on 1 August 1993 in Ebenhausen, Bavaria, Germany.
- Soundtrack
Syd Dean was born on 4 June 1907 in Wellesbourne, Warwickshire, England, UK. He died on 1 August 1993 in Hove, East Sussex, England, UK.