Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was born in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France on September 13, 1903 and was brought to the United States as a child three years later. Born Emilie 'Lily' Claudette Chauchoin, she went to high school in New York. She was 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.
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.
Known for
Complicated Women
Frank Capra Jr. Remembers: 'It Happened One Night'
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
That's Entertainment! III
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles
The Kennedy Center Honors
The Love Goddesses
Parrish
Suspicion
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Playhouse 90
The Steve Allen Show
Telephone Time
Blithe Spirit
Texas Lady
Climax!
Royal Affairs in Versailles
Daughters of Destiny
Letter to Loretta
The Oscars
General Electric Theater
The Planter's Wife
Let's Make It Legal
Thunder on the Hill
The Jack Benny Program
The Colgate Comedy Hour
The Secret Fury
Three Came Home
What's My Line?
Robert Montgomery Presents
Bride for Sale
Family Honeymoon
The Ed Sullivan Show
Sleep, My Love
The Egg and I
The Secret Heart
Without Reservations
Tomorrow Is Forever
Guest Wife
Practically Yours
Since You Went Away
So Proudly We Hail
No Time for Love
Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6
The Palm Beach Story
Remember the Day
Skylark
Arise, My Love
Boom Town
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Drums Along the Mohawk
It's a Wonderful World
Midnight
Breakdowns of 1938
Zaza
Hollywood Goes to Town
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
Tovarich
I Met Him in Paris
Maid of Salem
Under Two Flags
The Bride Comes Home
The Fashion Side of Hollywood
She Married Her Boss
Private Worlds
The Gilded Lily
Imitation of Life
Cleopatra
It Happened One Night
Four Frightened People
Torch Singer
Three-Cornered Moon
I Cover the Waterfront
Tonight Is Ours
The Sign of the Cross
The Phantom President
Make Me a Star
The Man from Yesterday
The Misleading Lady
The Wiser Sex
His Woman
Secrets of a Secretary
The Smiling Lieutenant
The House That Shadows Built
Honor Among Lovers
Manslaughter
The Big Pond
Young Man of Manhattan
The Lady Lies
The Hole in the Wall
For the Love of Mike