Her father was Edward Hodges, and her mother was Eliza (née Cooper) who married 29 September 1842.
[citation needed] In September 1873, Bracy and her husband, tenor Henry Bracy, travelled to Australia to perform in Jacques Offenbach's operetta Lischen et Fritzchen at the Theatre Royal in Melbourne,[3] They continued in various parts in Australia before being engaged by Irish musical impresario William Saurin Lyster to lead a season of French operetta.
For Lyster, they performed in operettas for five years, including in Lecocq's La fille de Madame Angot and Giroflé-Girofla.
[3] In 1888 the Bracys returned to Australia, performing in concerts and then at the Sydney Opera House for a season, conducted by Henri Kowalski, in Kowalski's Moustique, The Beggar Student[4] In 1890, they led their own company in productions of The Sultan of Mocha, The Beggar Student, and The Lady of the Locket at the Criterion Theatre.
[4] Clara moved to California in 1908 to appear in D.W. Griffith's 1908 film The Red Girl, leaving her husband behind in Australia.