Dodd, Claire

Dorothy Arlene (Anne ^[3] ) Dodd was born December 29, 1911 in the town of (Iowa) ^[4] . Father - Walter Willard Dodd, a farmer, a descendant of the first settlers of Jasper County . Mother - Ethel Viola Dodd (before marriage - Kul ), daughter of the postmaster of the town ^[3] . The girl’s parents divorced when she was not yet ten years old, after which Dorothy and her mother moved to Los Angeles (California). There, she soon began her career as a model and actress in episodic roles, and became a member of the team. Broadway impresario Florenz Siegfeld noticed her, and Dodd became one of Siegfeld’s Girls . She went with the troupe to New York, where she began to study singing and dancing. There she was noticed by the famous film producer Darryl Zanuk , offered a contract with Paramount Pictures , the girl agreed and returned to Los Angeles.

In 1935, Dodd began to draw up documents to travel abroad, to Europe on tour. A hitch arose here: in the available documents it was indicated that Dorothy Dodd was born in the city of Des Moines ^[3] (the capital of Iowa), while the girl herself claimed that she was born in Iowa, but in which city she did not know. On April 29, 1935, a note about the incident was published in the Iowa Register & Tribune's Iowa News Service . Dodd's relatives were found immediately in Baxter and its environs, confirming her birth here 24 years ago, and the city sheriff sent a girl a copy of her birth certificate in Baxter.

The role of the actress is “another woman”, a fatal woman , a siren , a seducer, a lover, a blackmailer or just a blonde - an intriguer ^[3] .

Claire Dodd ended her career as an actress in 1942, when she was 31 years old, and devoted herself entirely to her family: her second husband and five of her children.

In 1971, Claire Dodd was diagnosed with cancer, from which she died on November 23, 1973 in Beverly Hills . She was buried at the Brand Family Cemetery (the family cemetery of her second husband) at the in Glendale .

Personal life

Contemporaries knew little about the personal life of the actress, since she successfully shared her professional and personal life.
On May 12, 1931, Claire Dodd married a banker named John Milton Strauss. In 1938, a divorce followed; the son of John Michael (born 1936) remained from the marriage ^[3] .
In 1940 or 1942, Dodd married a second time: her choice was the automobile distributor G. Brand Cooper. The couple lived together all their lives until the death of the actress in 1973. Four children remained from this marriage ^[3] : Austini's daughter and sons John T., Brand and Peter.

For 12 years of film career (1930-1942), Claire Dodd starred in 63 films of Warner Bros. studios . , Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures , including in one short and in eleven (1930-1932) without an indication in the credits.