Claire Violet Dubreyvich (1892-1993) had ideas of becoming a nurse before becoming an actor. One of her earliest films was Thomas Ince’s extraordinary pacifist epic Civilization (1916). By the time she retired in 1961, she had made well over 200 pictures, as well as many television appearances.
In the silent era, Du Brey was rarely the leading player, but was cast in prominent supporting roles. The introduction of sound posed no difficulties for her and she continued to find regular work in character roles. At the same time, she established herself as a Hollywood agent, in partnership with the actor Anna Q Nilsson.
Du Brey was not often given the opportunity to shine, though her playing of Bertha Rochester in Jane Eyre (1934) stands out. She played the wife of the coward Bob Ford in Jesse James (1939), and was in Lust for Life (1956).
She appeared in two MGM musicals, separated by over twenty years: Broadway to Hollywood and Les Girls.
Claire Du Brey lived another forty years after retiring, and became one of Hollywood’s first centenarians.
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