Claire Windsor

In 1921, Windsor costarred with Louis Calhern in Weber's The Blot. The publicity paid off; in 1922 she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star along with Bessie Love, Lila Lee, Mary Philbin, and Colleen Moore. That same year she signed a contract with Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and appeared in Broken Chains with Colleen Moore. In 1923, she legally adopted the more matinee-friendly name Claire Windsor. Throughout the 1920s, she became a highly regarded leading lady, often typecast as the upscale society girl, playing princesses and monied socialites. Critics praised her elegant fashion sense, and she became a trend-setter of 1920s fashion. In 1924, she was one of the top stars at the newly formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio. Later, at Tiffany Pictures, Souls for Sables (1925), with Eugene O'Brien, was a box-office hit.

By the late 1920s, Windsor, like many silent film actors, struggled to transition to talkies. She made several talkies in the 1930s but never regained her earlier success. She had a brief road tour with Al Jolson in The Wonder Bar and took occasional stage parts, including a 1937 performance at Harold Lloyd's Beverly Hills Little Theatre for Professionals. In her later years, she devoted herself to painting. On April 12, 1943, she legally changed her name to Claire Windsor, and her son took the name William Willis Windsor. She died of a heart attack on October 24, 1972, at age 80 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd. on February 8, 1960.