Claire Merritt Hodgson Ruth, born Clara Mae Merritt (September 11, 1900 – October 25, 1976), was a native of

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the stat ...

, United States, who is most famous for having been the second wife of

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

Biography

Claire's first husband, Frank Hodgson, died February 16, 1921, leaving her with a daughter, Julia. She met Ruth in 1923. Ruth was still married to Helen Woodford, his first wife, at this time. Woodford died in a house fire in January 1929, and Ruth and Hodgson married that April 17, staying together until Ruth's death in 1948. In later years, she indicated her responsibility, in part, for the poor relationship between her husband and teammate Lou Gehrig. According to Claire, Gehrig's mother indicated that the Ruths' adopted daughter, Dorothy, was not as well dressed as Claire's biological daughter, Julia; when Ruth was informed of this, he angrily demanded that Gehrig never speak to him off the ballfield again. Ruth and Gehrig did not make up until the day of Gehrig's famous "I'm the luckiest man on the face of this earth" speech in 1939. Later, Claire admitted that she had overreacted, apologetically accepting full responsibility for the rift between the two players—which, however, had numerous other causes besides the one indicated by Claire. Babe Ruth 1937 CROPPED

Claire lived to see two of Ruth's most famous records broken: his single season record of 60 home runs, superseded by Roger Maris in 1961; and his career record of 714 home runs, which was broken by Hank Aaron in 1974. In her twilight years, she sometimes attended games that Aaron was playing, and was supportive of Aaron's effort. Ruth was quoted as saying: "The Babe loved baseball so very much; I know he was pulling for Hank Aaron to break his record."Lowitt, Bruce (December 25, 1999)
"Oh, Henry! Aaron swings past Ruth"
''St. Petersburg Times''. Accessed August 13, 2012. Mrs. Ruth was portrayed by

Claire Trevor Claire Trevor ( Wemlinger; March 8, 1910April 8, 2000) was an American actress. She appeared in 65 feature films from 1933 to 1982, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Key Largo'' (1948), and received nomina ...

in the 1948 film ''

The Babe Ruth Story ''The Babe Ruth Story'' is a 1948 biographical film of Babe Ruth, the famed New York Yankees slugger. It stars William Bendix (New York Yankee batboy in the 1920s) as the ballplayer and Claire Trevor as his wife Claire Merritt Hodgson. Critics ...

'', by Lisa Zane in the 1991 TV-movie ''Babe Ruth'', by

Kelly McGillis Kelly Ann McGillis (born July 9, 1957) is an American stage actress. She is known for her film roles such as Rachel Lapp in ''Witness'' (1985), for which she received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations; Charlie in ''Top Gun'' (1986); ''Made in ...

in the 1992 film ''

The Babe ''The Babe'' is a 1992 American biographical sports drama film about the life of famed baseball player Babe Ruth, who is portrayed by John Goodman. Directed by Arthur Hiller, written by John Fusco, it was released in the United States on Apri ...

'', and by Renee Taylor in '' 61*''. Claire Ruth is buried next to her husband at

Gate of Heaven Cemetery Gate of Heaven Cemetery, approximately 25 miles (40 km) north of New York City, was established in 1917 at 10 West Stevens Ave. in Hawthorne, Westchester County, New York, as a Roman Catholic burial site. Among its famous residents i ...

in Hawthorne, New York. The inscription on the headstone lists her birth year as 1900, instead of 1897.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodgson, Claire Merritt 1900 births 1976 deaths Babe Ruth Burials at Gate of Heaven Cemetery (Hawthorne, New York) People from Athens, Georgia