Bonzer Words!: Claire Adams
Paula Wilson tells of film star Claire Adams, who fell in love at first sight then set up home in Australia.
Paula writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please click on www.bonzer.org.au
In 1937 silent screen star Claire Adams married a man she had known for only three weeks. They are said to have 'fallen in love at first sight.' There must have been something in this because she traded in a life as a Hollywood celebrity to spend the next forty-one years on a rural property in Australia.
Claire was Canadian, born in Winnipeg on 24 September 1898. She was educated at a private girls school before going to finishing school in England. While at school she performed in amateur stage productions and a desire to act was born.
When World War 1 broke out instead of taking to the stage Claire chose to serve her country. She intended to continue her dramatic training at the end of the war but when peace was finally declared she headed to California; the big screen had caught her imagination. She started out appearing in features and in 1919 landed her first major role in End of the Road. It was one of four films she made that year and launched her as fully-fledged screen star.
Claire was an attractive woman with black hair and brown eyes; she stood five feet four inches (162.6cm) tall. But it was not just her good looks that got her starring roles opposite some of the leading men of the silent era. She was an excellent actress capable of doing her own stunts. Screen star Tom Mix with whom she starred in Just Tony said she was one of the 'best and most fearless horsewomen' he had ever met.
Of the forty-six films Claire appeared in her performance as an undercover detective in The Penalty (1920) opposite Lon Chaney Snr is considered her best. She averaged six films a year, making an unbelievable nine in 1924. But in 1927 she stopped and despite been offered roles in the new sound movies she never graced the screen again.
It was in England at the 1937 coronation of King George VI that Claire met her future husband Donald MacKinnon. Three weeks later they began their year long honeymoon. When they finished travelling throughout Europe and America they went to Donald’s home in Australia. It was to 'Mooramong', a property on the outskirts of Ballarat in country Victoria.
When they arrived at 'Mooramong' they immediately started to renovate the house. A pool was added and it became the heart of many a party on hot summer days. Claire brought over much of her furniture and possessions from her home in Hollywood to decorate the now art deco style of the house.
Claire loved to entertain and the couple soon became popular in the region. They would put on lavish parties where she would play her grand piano and sing to for the guests. Claire had a lovely voice and would also perform at local charity functions.
Claire and Donald threw themselves into the community doing a lot of charity work. Many garden parties were held to raise money for the various organisations they sponsored. They set up a fund for the children of the local school at Skipton to enable students to go on an interstate trip each year. In honour of their work both Claire and Donald were made life governors of the Skipton hospital.
In 1946 a fierce bushfire tore through the area and destroyed many buildings on the 'Mooramong' property. It would have been understandable if Claire had evacuated to a safer place. Instead she stayed to fight the fire. It looked like the house would be destroyed as it was directly in the fire's path. With the courage Tom Mix had mentioned twenty-four years previous Claire worked tirelessly to help save her home.
In 1974 Claire lost her partner of thirty-seven years. She continued to live at 'Mooramong' until her own death on 25 September 1978, one day after her eightieth birthday. Claire had loved her home and wanted it kept in all its glory. She had no children to ensure this would happen so she left it in the hands of the National Trust. Conditions of Claire's will were that the homestead and gardens be preserved and a flora and fauna reserve established on the adjoining property.
Although Claire has been dead nearly twenty-eight years 'Mooramong' looks exactly like it did the day she died. It is as if she would return at anytime. And the flora and fauna reserve is now a local attraction featuring wetlands, native plants and native animals.
© Paula Wilson
