Claire Niesen

Claire Niesen (c. 1920 – October 4, 1963) was an American actress born in Phoenix, Arizona, whose career spanned stage, vaudeville, and radio. From childhood she pursued performance, developing an interest in acting by age four. She graduated as valedictorian from a New York City high school and subsequently trained at the Feagin School of Dramatic Art. Before entering radio, she gained experience in vaudeville.

Niesen made her radio debut at age fifteen on a small station, performing in works by Ibsen and Shakespeare. Her entry into network radio came through Joyce Jordan, M.D., and she went on to spend two decades as a leading presence in network soap operas. Among her most prominent roles was that of Mary Noble on Backstage Wife, a part she held for the final fourteen years the serial aired, from 1945 to 1959. In his Historical Dictionary of American Radio Soap Operas, Jim Cox noted that Niesen consistently projected the appealing inflections the role required and that her empathetic expressions contributed both to winning the part and retaining it. She was also heard on Life Can Be Beautiful, The Right to Happiness, Light of the World, Meet Miss Julia, Into the Light, The Man I Married, We, the People, March of Time, and Manhattan at Midnight. In 1943, she received the Philco Hall of Fame Award.

Her Broadway career ran from 1940 to 1941 and included two productions: The Talley Method and Cue for Passion. On March 11, 1949, Niesen married actor Melville Ruick in New York City. She died of cancer in Encino, California, on October 4, 1963, survived by her husband, a daughter, and a sister.