Clara Horton

{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}}

{{short description|American actress}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Clara Horton

| image = Clara Horton by Fred Hartsook.jpg

| caption = Horton, ca. 1920

| birth_name = Clara Marie Horton

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1904|7|29}}

| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1976|12|4|1904|7|29}}

| death_place = Encino, California, U.S.

| othername = "The Eclair Kid"

| occupation = Actress

| years_active = 1912–1942

}}

File:Clara Horton 1914 motionpicturemagazine.jpg

Clara Marie Horton (July 29, 1904 – December 4, 1976){{cite book |last1=Katchmer |first1=George A. |title=A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses |date=20 May 2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0905-8 |pages=168–169 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VnGeCQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Clara+Horton%22+actress&pg=PA168 |access-date=February 17, 2022 |language=en}} was an American actress of the silent film era.

Horton was born in Brooklyn. Her mother gave up a career as a piano soloist and instructor to raise her baby. She planned for Clara to have a career as a pianist and began teaching her when she had to lift the girl to the piano bench. When Clara was five years old, however, a director employed by the Eclair Company saw the girl and asked her mother to let her appear in a film. Her mother signed a contract, and the Hortons moved to Tucson, Arizona. When Eclair went out of business, they moved to Los Angeles, where work with other studios was available.{{cite news |title=A Film Star Who Rose from Peasantry |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95183275/lincoln-journal-star/ |access-date=February 17, 2022 |work=Lincoln Journal Star |date=January 19, 1920 |page=14|via = Newspapers.com}} She appeared in more than 80 films between 1912 and 1942.

When Horton was 17, she got married and left the film business. The marriage did not last, and she returned to working in films. She joined the Warner stock company and as of 1934 she was playing bit parts and was a stand-in for stars.{{cite news |last1=Skolsky |first1=Sidney |title=Hollywood |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95185175/daily-news/ |access-date=February 17, 2022 |work=Daily News |agency=News Syndicate Co, Inc. |date=September 11, 1934 |page=44|via = Newspapers.com}}

After her work in films ended, Horton was a saleslady in Whittier, California.{{cite web |title=Clara Horton |url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/clara-horton-p33321 |website=AllMovie |access-date=February 17, 2022}} She is buried in Rose Hills Memorial Park.Silent Film Necrology, p.251 2nd Edition c.2001 by Eugene Michael Vazzana ...{{ISBN|0-7864-1059-0}}