Clara Beranger

Clara Beranger (née Strouse; January 14, 1886 – September 10, 1956) was an American screenwriter of the silent film era and a member of the original faculty of the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

[5] In 1921, Clara took Frances, then twelve, and migrated to Hollywood to write for motion pictures,[2] where she signed a long contract with Cecil B. DeMille's Famous Players–Lasky; the outfit with whom she is most associated.

She wrote or contributed to more than 24 DeMille productions, and produced both Come Out of the Kitchen and Girls for Marguerite Clark; Sadie Love and Wanted: A Husband for Billie Burke; Judy of Rogue's Harbor for Mary Miles Minter; The Fear Market for Alice Brady; The Cost for Violet Heming; Half an Hour for Dorothy Dalton; Civilian Clothes for Thomas Meighan, Notoriety for Bebe Daniels, and the classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for John Barrymore.

[7] William had other affairs including Lorna Moon who had borne him a son out of wedlock, and with another screenwriter, Olga Printzlau; but he genuinely fell in love with Clara who had tolerated it all.

He writes in his book, Hollywood Saga; "In April, 1928, I had just finished 'Tenth Avenue,' my forty - fifth production and was working on 'Craig's Wife' with Clara Beranger, who had written the screen plays of all my pictures for seven years and continued to do so even after our marriage."

[11] After marrying into the DeMille dynasty, Beranger would continue to write, including Craig's Wife (1928) for Irene Rich and This Mad World (1930) for Kay Johnson.

[12] Also among the original faculty were actors Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, directors D.W. Griffith and Ernst Lubitsch, and producers Irving Thalberg and Darryl Zanuck.

Clara Beranger, c. 1920s