Clara Clayton

The 1885 schoolteacher Doc Brown saves from the ravine and falls in love with.

Clara Clayton is the town's new schoolteacher in 1885 Hill Valley. She is portrayed by Mary Steenburgen. The role was written with Steenburgen in mind; when she received the script, she was reluctant to commit until her children, who had loved the first film, "hounded" her. Clara falls in love with Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown after he saves her from falling into a ravine, averting her death from the original timeline.

Quick Facts

Role: Schoolteacher

Lore & Background

Clara arrives in Hill Valley as the new schoolteacher. While inspecting a rail spur, Doc saves her from falling into the ravine, which would have been her death in the original timeline. They fall in love. At a town festival, Buford Tannen tries shooting Doc, but Marty intervenes.

Doc urges Marty not to react to provocation, letting slip that Marty has a life-changing accident in the future. Although reluctant to return to 1985, Doc visits Clara to end their relationship and bid her goodbye. She dismisses his story about being from the future. Later, on the train to San Francisco, Clara learns of Doc's heartbreak and runs back to town.

She finds the model time machine at his shop and realizes Doc was telling the truth. During the climax, Clara boards the locomotive and loses her footing. Marty, in the DeLorean, passes his hoverboard to Doc, who uses it to save Clara. The DeLorean hits 88 mph and vanishes as the locomotive plunges from the unfinished bridge.

In the final scene, a steam locomotive time machine appears, operated by Doc, Clara, and their children Jules and Verne Brown.

Reader's Guide

Clara Clayton is a key character in Back to the Future Part III. She is the town's new schoolteacher in 1885. Doc saves her from falling into a ravine, and they fall in love. She initially dismisses Doc's story about being from the future, but later discovers the model time machine and realizes the truth. She is saved by Doc during the climax using Marty's hoverboard.