Above: Clara Blandick, John Boles (standing), and Warburton Gamble in Child of Manhattan (1934).
Clara Blandick was born Clara Dickey on June 4, circa 1877, “on board American Barque in the Harbor of Hong Kong, China.”
The quoted location is in Blandick’s hand on a 1918 passport application. She also claims an 1881 date of birth there, but she’s listed on the 1880 U.S. Census as 3-year-old Clara B. Dickey, born in China, so I’m going with 1877.
Clara Blandick’s theatrical rise with accompanying illustration as covered in the February 26, 1906 edition of the Topeka Daily Capital, page 7 (click clipping to enlarge if necessary):
This one is a little more macabre than most of the obituaries I post to the site: if you weren’t aware of how Miss Blandick died, it may be a bit of a shock (click clipping to enlarge if necessary).
I love how The Wizard of Oz used to just rate casual mention. We saw the same a few days ago with Frank Morgan.
The above clipping was found in the San Bernadino County Sun, April 16, 1962, page 1.
By the way, the Associated Press is wrong, and Wikipedia is right, when it comes to Blandick’s marriage details.
You can see info related to her wedding yourself through the invaluable Italian Genealogical Group bride lookup. Just search for Clara Dickey, wedding in Manhattan, year greater than 1904, less than 1906 (she and Harry Elliott married December 7, 1905).
I’ve used certificate numbers discovered on that site a few times to order birth certificates, and the information they’ve provided has yet to be wrong.
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