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Clara Freeze
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born:
25 January 1895 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America |
died:
07 December 1984 Palm Springs, California, United States of America (age 89) |
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Tall American actress, costume designer, and interior designer/decorator, better known as Clara Frazee. She also worked in films as a casting director and set designer. One of six children born to Jewish parents -- Riga, Russia (now Latvia) native Ida (née Erran/Aarons, 1875-1964) and Leeds, England-born Louis Israel Frieze (1872-1944), who married in 1894 in Philadelphia -- the Friezes moved to California around 1899. Showing a drive to get into films and creative pursuits from an early age, Clara was discovered by actress Anna Lehr (mother of Ann Dvorak), who noticed the homemade dress Clara was wearing while waiting for an interview. This led to Clara acting in bit parts in films for $7.50 a day, which eventually led to both clothing and interior design assignments for the stars and important Los Angeles people. She later recalled designing for and dressing Clara Bow for five pictures, with one of her designs purportedly inspiring Bow's "It Girl" nickname. Clara later went into the creative design business with her second husband. She also got involved later in life in many charity and social organizations, including serving as a board member of the Angel View Crippled Children's Foundation for 12 years. Clara was married twice. On 5 May 1921, she married Joseph Ely O'Carroll (1888-1965), an oil worker who later became the night editor of the Los Angeles Times. The marriage was incredibly brief -- only six days (1983 article) or three weeks (1977 article) -- but she didn't get a divorce until 1926. On 16 April 1927, she married Roscoe Torrey Spannagel (1900-1985), a one-time actor (under the stage name of Alan Torrey) who became an interior decorator and building contractor, with his and Clara's creative pursuits aligning to lead to their creative design business. The couple moved from Doheny Hills, Los Angeles, to Palm Springs in 1957, then to Palm Desert a year later. The marriage lasted for 57 years until Clara's death in 1984; Roscoe only survived her by less than a year, passing on 21 October 1985. |
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Real name: Dinah Frieze (later Clara Dena Frieze) Height: 5'10" |
Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography. |
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