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Angela Clarke (American actress)
American actress (1909–2010) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Angela Clarke (August 14, 1909 – December 16, 2010) was an American stage, television and film actress.
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Career
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Clarke entered film acting at a relatively late age. She was nearly forty when she landed a series of uncredited roles, beginning with Her Sister's Secret (1946). Her first screen credit was for The Undercover Man (1949). She then proceeded to corner the market on grey-haired, matriarchal characters, such as her performance as Mama Caruso in The Great Caruso (1951).
In the course of forty years, Clarke appeared on screen over sixty times, counting her work in films and in guest spots on TV series episodes.[1] Although she generally had background roles and bit parts, the films where she made a more substantial impression included Darling, How Could You! (1951), The Harlem Globetrotters (1951), The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952), House of Wax (1953), Houdini (1953), and The Seven Little Foys (1955),[2] in which she had a sizable supporting role as Bob Hope's disapproving sister-in-law.[3]
Clarke's acting career came to a halt after The Seven Little Foys was released in June 1955. That was the month she testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). She was previously named as a Communist to the HUAC by Judith Raymond,[4] and by Carin Kinzel Burrows (wife of Abe Burrows).[5] In her testimony, Clarke admitted she had been a member of the Communist Party USA from 1942 to 1949. She said she drifted away from the Party "because acting was more important".[6] However, she would not "name names" of her Communist associates, and for that she was blacklisted. She didn't work again in films until 1962.[7] The year before, she had obtained her first TV acting job (on the premiere episode of Ben Casey)[8] and would continue to supplement her film work with guest appearances on TV series.
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Death
Angela Clarke died on December 16, 2010, in Moorpark, California. She was 101.
Filmography
Television
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