Claudia Dell

Claudia Dell, born Claudia Dell Smith on January 10, 1909, was an American actress and showgirl who worked across stage, film, radio, and television. She died on September 5, 1977, in Los Angeles, and her remains are interred at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood.

Dell relocated to New York City with her mother in late 1924 or early 1925, initially to visit her aunt, Claudia Coleman. That visit proved consequential: Coleman reportedly encouraged Dell to pursue a stage career, and Dell subsequently studied under theatrical instructor Ned Wayburn. Her professional Broadway debut came in 1925 as a chorus member in the revue Gay Paree, which ran through 1926. She continued performing on Broadway through 1928, with additional credits including the Ziegfeld Follies of 1927 and the musical Rosalie, which ran from 1927 to 1928.

Dell's transition to Hollywood began in 1930 when Warner Brothers signed her to appear in Sweet Kitty Bellairs. That same year, Al Jolson reportedly requested her as his co-star in Big Boy, and she was subsequently cast in River's End. She signed with RKO in February 1931, two months after securing a release from her Warner Bros. contract. RKO vice-president William K. LeBaron stated at the time that the studio intended to develop Dell into a leading-lady presence. She appeared in more than 30 films before her screen career concluded in 1944.

Following her film work, Dell spent five years under contract with RKO and participated in numerous Lux Radio Theater productions associated with Cecil B. DeMille and Orson Welles. She also hosted a television program in New York called Leave It to the Girls. In the early 1970s, she hosted a syndicated Midwest radio program called The Claudia Dell Show, and she wrote a syndicated column for eight years. In 1973, she completed a collaboration with English author Helga Moray on a television script considered for the Theater of the Week program.

Dell spent a significant portion of her later career in education and modeling instruction. She served for 12 years as director of the John Robert Powers School in Beverly Hills, California, before becoming student director of the John Robert Powers School of Charm and Modeling locations in Sherman Oaks and Woodland Hills Promenade in 1973. During this period she also worked as a receptionist in a Hollywood beauty shop and appeared in early television dramas.

Dell married Phillip G. Offin when she was 17 and divorced him two years later, in 1930. On December 29, 1934, she married theatrical agent Edward Silton; that marriage also ended in divorce. In 1947, she married retired chewing gum manufacturer Daniel Emmett.