STC East grad going to college where the action is
By TIM KANE – tkane@kcchronicle.com
ST. CHARLES – She doesn’t have stars in her eyes. She’s practical.
While attending college in San Diego this fall, Courtney Clauer is considering heading up to Hollywood to try out for a role or two during spring and summer breaks.
But Clauer, who will graduate from St. Charles East High School on Sunday, is not banking on stardom. She’s out to earn a degree in media, advertising and public relations.
Clauer – an 18-year-old varsity tennis player, member of the student council and budding actress who appeared on five episodes of the TV show “ER” – chose San Diego State University partly because the school offers fun non-elective courses such as surfing and sailing and it’s just down the road from Hollywood.
She describes herself as a dancer who got into acting and then modeling. She has modeled for scholastic books and Walgreens advertisements.
But all the trips from St. Charles to downtown Chicago to see her agent and all the auditions she’s gone to have given her the inkling that becoming a TV or a movie star would be a “long-shot.”
Her biggest role was as an extra in the hit TV show “ER” that recently broadcast its last episode. She had a non-speaking part as a friend of the delinquent son of nurse Sam Taggart, portrayed by Linda Cardellini.
“I was in one day of shooting but you can see me in five episodes,” Clauer said.
“It was cold outside. I was wearing the blue North Face coat in every scene.”
Michelle Clauer, Courtney’s mother, has 25- and 27-year-old sons who are out on their own, but Courtney’s going to college will be a different experience for her.
“Courtney is my baby and my only girl,” Michelle Clauer said. “Being with her was not the typical experience with a teenage girl.”
Michelle Clauer said her husband does a lot of traveling and her daughter has kept her company and it will be a tough adjustment with her being away.
But Michelle Clauer said Courtney will be a success whatever she chooses to do.
“She’s driven and focused and very active,” Michelle Clauer said.
