Claire Niesen
{{short description|American actress}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Claire Niesen
| image = File:Claire Niesen 1947.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Niesen as Mary Noble in Backstage Wife
| birth_name =
| birth_date = c. 1920
| birth_place = Phoenix, Arizona
| death_date = {{death date and age |1963|10|4|1920|mf=yes}}
| death_place = Encino, California
| nationality =
| spouse = {{marriage|Melville Ruick|1949}}
| children = 1
}}
Claire Niesen (c. 1920 – October 4, 1963)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960. McFarland & Company, Inc.; {{ISBN|978-0-7864-2834-2}}, pg. 203. was an American actress, primarily on radio.
Early years
Born in Phoenix, Arizona,{{cite news|title=Radio Guide|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6058937/altoona_tribune/|work=Altoona Tribune|date=May 6, 1947|location=Pennsylvania, Altoona|page=11|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = July 28, 2016}} {{Open access}} she wanted to be an actress from age 4.
She was valedictorian of her class at a high school in New York City{{cite news|title=(untitled brief)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6058850/harrisburg_telegraph/|work=Harrisburg Telegraph|date=March 16, 1946|location=Pennsylvania, Harrisburg|page=21|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = July 28, 2016}} {{Open access}} and attended the Feagin School of Dramatic Art.{{cite journal|title=Say Hello To ...|journal=Radio Mirror|date=May 1939|volume=12|issue=1|page=45|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-Radio-Mirror-IDX/IDX/30s/39/Mirror-1939-May-OCR-Page-0053.pdf|accessdate=31 July 2016}} She had experience in vaudeville before she began working in radio.{{cite news|title=Star of Joyce Jordan Show Has Own Dramatic Story|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6057948/harrisburg_telegraph/|work=Harrisburg Telegraph|date=July 3, 1942|location=Pennsylvania, Harrisburg|page=24|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = July 28, 2016}} {{Open access}}
Radio
Niesen debuted on radio on a small station when she was 15 years old, having roles in works by Ibsen and Shakespeare. She starred on network soap operas for two decades.{{cite news|title=Claire Niesen Dies, Radio's 'Mary Noble'|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6057571/new_castle_news/|work=New Castle News|agency=United Press International|date=October 7, 1963|location=New Castle, Pennsylvania|page=9|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = July 28, 2016}} {{Open access}} She first acted on network radio in Joyce Jordan, M.D. Her roles on radio programs included those shown in the table below.
| class="wikitable" | |
| Program | Role |
|---|---|
| Backstage Wife | Mary Noble |
| Her Honor, Nancy James | LauraBuxton, Frank and Owen, Bill (1972). The Big Broadcast: 1920-1950. The Viking Press. SBN 670-16240-x. P. 110. |
| The O'Neills | Peggy |
| The Second Mrs. Burton | Terry Burton |
| We Who Dream | Dream GirlTerrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-4513-4}}. P. 350. |
Source: Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960, except as noted.
In his book, Historical Dictionary of American Radio Soap Operas, Jim Cox wrote: "Mary Noble's alter ego, Niesen, consistently projected the appealing inflections required by the role: invariably soft-spoken, tenderhearted, and forgiving. Her empathetic expressions contributed to winning the part and helping her keep it for the final 14 years the serial was on the air (1945–59)."{{cite book|last1=Cox|first1=Jim|title=Historical Dictionary of American Radio Soap Operas|date=2005|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810865235|pages=159–160|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YPlPfU9KSGMC&q=%22Claire+Niesen%22&pg=PA159|accessdate=31 July 2016|language=en}}
Other programs in which Niesen was heard included 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.
Stage
Niesen's Broadway credits include The Talley Method (1940) and Cue for Passion (1940).{{cite web|title=Claire Niesen|url=http://www.playbill.com/searchpage/search?shows=on&people=on&theatres=on&q=Claire+Niesen&qasset=00000150-ac7e-d16d-a550-ec7e47080005|website=Playbill Vault|accessdate=31 July 2016}}
Recognition
Personal life
Niesen married the actor Melville Ruick on March 11, 1949, in New York City.{{cite journal|last1=Gayle|first1=Gene|title=Claire Niesen -- Backstage Wife|journal=Radio-TV Mirror|date=June 1952|volume=38|issue=1|pages=36, 89–90|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Mirror/52/Mirror-1952-Jun.pdf|accessdate=31 July 2016}}
Death
Niesen died of cancer in Encino, California on October 4, 1963. She was survived by her husband, a daughter and a sister.{{cite news|title=Claire Niesen, Favorite Of Soap Opera Fans, Dies|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6057669/the_san_bernardino_county_sun/|work=The San Bernardino County Sun|agency=Associated Press|date=October 6, 1963|location=California, San Bernardino|page=21|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = July 28, 2016}} {{Open access}}
References
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Category:American stage actresses