Claudette Colbert

Acting · 0.9 popularity

Age

122

Movies

Born: September 13, 1903 – July 30, 1996
From: Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France

Biography

Claudette Colbert (September 13, 1903 — July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Born Emilie Claudette Chauchoin in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France, she was brought to the United States as a child three years later and went to high school in New York. While studying at the Art Students League when, in 1923, she took the name Claudette Colbert for her first Broadway role in "The Wild Westcotts". Her most noteworthy stage vehicle was the "The Barker" in 1927. Her first film was a silent For the Love of Mike (1927), directed by Frank Capra. Made on a shoestring, the movie was a flop, and she vowed that it would be her last film role: "I only left Broadway when the crash came. The Depression killed the theater, and the pictures were manna from heaven". She had her first film success the next year, however, in The Lady Lies (1929). Her early notable films were all box-office hits and included Cleopatra (1934), in which she played the title role enticingly. She had her greatest triumph playing a runaway heiress, with enormous charm, opposite Clark Gable in Capra's comedy It Happened One Night (1934), for which she won the Academy Award as Best Actress. By 1938 her keen ability in business made her the highest paid star in Hollywood. By 1950, though, her star had begun to wane. She returned to the stage in 1956 when she replaced Margaret Sullavan during the spring and summer in the comedy "Janus". Appearances in other Broadway productions followed, including "The Marriage-Go-Round". Besides the stage, she did TV specials and had a supporting role in a notable TV movie, The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1987), for which she received a Golden Globe award. In 1989 she was presented with a Life Achievement award from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She married actor Norman Foster in 1928, although they never lived together and were divorced after seven years. She married surgeon Dr. Joel Pressman soon after and remained married until his death in 1968. In latter years she divided her time between an apartment in New York and a 200-year-old plantation house in Speightstown, Barbados, where she entertained such guests as Frank Sinatra and Ronald Reagan. She remained on Barbados Island after her stroke. On July 30, 1996, Claudette died in Speightstown, Barbados. She was 92.

Works

83 films

It Happened One Night

19347.8

The Sign of the Cross

19326.4

Sleep, My Love

19486.3

Cleopatra

19346.1

So Proudly We Hail

19435.9

It's a Wonderful World

19396.6

Remember the Day

19417.3

That's Entertainment! III

19947.0

Royal Affairs in Versailles

19536.7

The Egg and I

19477.1

Tomorrow Is Forever

19466.3

Boom Town

19406.9

Drums Along the Mohawk

19396.5

Complicated Women

20036.9

Let's Make It Legal

19515.7

Imitation of Life

19347.0

Texas Lady

19555.7

No Time for Love

19437.0

Bluebeard's 8th Wife

19387.1

Guest Wife

19456.2

The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies

19958.0

Arise, My Love

19406.3

The Secret Heart

19466.5

Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel

2001

Midnight

19397.4

The Secret Fury

19505.5

The Comedian

19579.0

Since You Went Away

19446.6

The Palm Beach Story

19427.0

Breakdowns of 1938

19385.8

His Woman

19314.3

Hollywood: Style Center of the World

19405.8

Family Honeymoon

19486.3

She Married Her Boss

19357.5

The Phantom President

19326.5

Torch Singer

19335.3

Parrish

19615.0

Without Reservations

19466.2

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

19406.3

Manslaughter

19307.0

The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender

19975.1

Hollywood on Parade No. B-10

1934

Azzedine Alaïa, un couturier français

20227.5

Thunder on the Hill

19516.4

Under Two Flags

19366.8

Maid of Salem

19376.2

The Smiling Lieutenant

19316.8

Three Came Home

19506.7

Hollywood Goes to Town

19387.0

Bride for Sale

19497.0

I Met Him in Paris

19376.1

Three Cornered Moon

19336.0

The Gilded Lily

19356.7

The Bride Comes Home

19355.1

The Misleading Lady

19327.0

Make Me a Star

19326.4

The Wiser Sex

19327.5

Daughters of Destiny

19544.6

Tovarich

19376.4

The Big Pond

19306.1

Mysterious Mr. Parkes

193010.0

Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6

19426.0

The Man from Yesterday

19325.2

Four Frightened People

19345.9

Private Worlds

19356.4

The Fashion Side of Hollywood

19356.5

The House That Shadows Built

19318.5

Secrets of a Secretary

19316.0

The Planter's Wife

19526.6

Young Man of Manhattan

19306.2

Skylark

19416.8

The Hole in the Wall

19295.4

Practically Yours

19447.0

Blithe Spirit

19568.0

For the Love of Mike

19277.0

Zaza

19395.7

I Cover the Waterfront

19335.1

Tonight Is Ours

193310.0

The Lady Lies

19295.3

Marilyn Monroe

198610.0

One Coat of White

1957

Honor Among Lovers

19315.9

Frank Capra Jr. Remembers: 'It Happened One Night'

19996.5