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Mae Clarke (August 16, 1910 – April 29, 1992) was an American actress most noted for playing Frankenstein's bride, chased by Boris Karloff in Frankenstein, and having a grapefruit smashed into her face by James Cagney in The Public Enemy, both released in 1931. Clarke was born Violet Mary Klotz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father was a theatre organist. She studied dancing as a child and began on stage in vaudeville and in night clubs. She started her professional career as a dancer sharing a room with Barbara Stanwyck, and subsequently starred in many films for Universal Studios,... MORE

Mae Clarke (August 16, 1910 – April 29, 1992) was an American actress most noted for playing Frankenstein's bride, chased by Boris Karloff in Frankenstein, and having a grapefruit smashed into her face by James Cagney in The Public Enemy, both released in 1931. Clarke was born Violet Mary Klotz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father was a theatre organist. She studied dancing as a child and began on stage in vaudeville and in night clubs. She started her professional career as a dancer sharing a room with Barbara Stanwyck, and subsequently starred in many films for Universal Studios, including the original screen version of The Front Page (1931) and the first sound version of Frankenstein (1931) with Boris Karloff. Clarke played the role of Henry Frankenstein's fiancee Elizabeth in Frankenstein, who was attacked by the Monster (Karloff) on her wedding day. The Public Enemy, released that same year, contained one of cinema's most famous (and frequently parodied) scenes, in which James Cagney pushed a half grapefruit into Clarke's face, then went out and picked up Jean Harlow. The film was so popular that it ran 24 hours a day at a theatre in Times Square upon its initial release, LESS