
Claudette Colbert
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.
Filmografi
It Happened One Night1934 · Ellie Andrews
Boom Town1940 · Betsy Bartlett
Texas Lady1955 · Prudence Webb
The Comedian1957 · Self (intro)
Guest Wife1945 · Mary Price
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife1938 · Nicole De Loiselle
It's a Wonderful World1939 · Edwina Corday
His Woman1931 · Sally Clark
Sleep, My Love1948 · Alison Courtland
Family Honeymoon1948 · Katie Armstrong Jordan
So Proudly We Hail1943 · Lt. Janet 'Davy' Davidson
Without Reservations1946 · Kit Madden
Hollywood on Parade No. B-101934 · Self
Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel2001 · Self (archive footage)
Manslaughter1930 · Lydia Thorne
That's Entertainment! III1994 · (archive footage) (uncredited)
Cleopatra1934 · Cleopatra
The Sign of the Cross1932 · Empress Poppaea
Drums Along the Mohawk1939 · Lana (Magdelana)
She Married Her Boss1935 · Julia Scott
The Palm Beach Story1942 · Geraldine 'Gerry' Jeffers
Azzedine Alaïa, un couturier français2022 · Self (archive footage)
Arise, My Love1940 · Augusta Nash
Remember the Day1941 · Nora Trinell
Clark Gable
Bess Flowers
Eddy Waller
Irving Bacon
Marietta Canty
Harry Hayden
Joseph Crehan
Charles Coleman
Kim Hunter
David Niven
Ray Collins
Gary Cooper