Clara had a shitty childhood – ridiculously abusive parents, i.e. her mom tried to kill her several times, and was eventually institutionalized. Sometimes things like that come back. You can read all about her here.

She was a big hit in silent pictures, but when the talkies happened, people heard what she really sounded like (thick, uneducated, Brooklyn accent), and well, that pretty much finished her career. In the 50’s, long after her career had ended, Clara used to watch her old films in the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax. Big murder story there, do a search. It’s interesting.

She was married to cowboy actor and Lieutenant Governor of Nevada, Rex Bell, who preceded her in death, in July of 1962. She made her first public appearance in 15 years, to attend his funeral.  Clara moved back to California after that, and lived out her last days in a modest Culver City home.  Here's a closer view.

Apparently she had been ill for many years, and was being treated in a rest home for insomnia. In 1965 she was watching an old Gary Cooper (one of her MANY exs and reportedly hugely endowed) film on television late in the night of September 27, 1965, when her heart stopped beating.

Clara is buried with her husband, in the Freedom Mausoleum of Forest Lawn, Glendale.  For her funeral, she supposedly left instructions for her to be made up as she appeared in her favorite film, Call Her Savage.

Clara left pretty much everything to her two sons. Her possessions at the time of her death included 6 cans of motion picture film, loads of jewelry, and a few gold coins.

Trivia: One of her many conquests once said that Clara had kissed him so passionately, that his lips bled for days.