Betty Ross Clarke (given name at birth: May Clarke) (May 1, 1892 – January 24, 1970), was an American stage and film actress. She appeared in more than 30 films between 1920 and 1940, including silent and sound films, in both credited and uncredited roles.

Biography

Betty Ross Clarke was born May Clarke on May 1, 1892, in Langdon, North Dakota, the daughter of Charles Willard Clarke and Cora Ross. Her maternal grandfather was Leonard F. Ross, a brigadier general in the American Civil War, and her maternal great-grandfather was Ossian M. Ross, a prominent pioneer settler in Illinois who founded the cities of Lewistown and Havana.


At the age of 3, May Clarke moved with her family to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she was educated in the local schools and at the Stanley Hall School. She then studied dancing in New York City and spent a year on the vaudville circuit. She had intended to pursue a career as a ballet dancer, but she eventually had such success as a stage and film actress that she gave up the idea of dancing as a profession.
On May 28, 1921, Betty Ross Clarke married Arthur Collins, a Los Angeles banker and former lieutenant in the British Royal Flying Corps. The couple had met at a dinner party during the filming of Mother o' Mine. In 1923, Clarke and her husband moved to England, where she became a citizen and where she continued her career as a stage and film actress. In 1926, the couple moved to Australia, where Clarke was engaged to perform in several plays.

Arthur Collins and Betty Ross Clarke returned to the United States in July 1929, apparently lured back to Hollywood by the "talkies." She resumed her film career, primarily performing as a supporting or character actress, but also appearing in several uncredited roles. Her banker husband, who had been adversely affected by the stock market crash of 1929, began producing plays, directing films, and acting as a dialog director.

In 1930, Betty Ross Clarke was honored as an "ardent feminist" at a luncheon of the San Francisco Center of the League of Women Voters. She was lauded for her support of voting rights for women even though she herself could not vote in the United States because she did not have her citizenship papers. She finally became a naturalized U.S. citizen on December 28, 1934. By that time, Betty Ross Clarke and Arthur Collins were divorced.

Betty Ross Clarke died in Los Angeles, California on January 24, 1970. She was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.