Profile of Claudette Colbert on Famous Like Me

Claudette Colbert (September 13, 1903 - July 30, 1996) was a French-American actress. Born Lily Claudette Chauchoin in Paris, France, around 1905 her family emigrated to the United States and settled in New York city. She began acting in high school plays and a few years later in 1923 appeared on the Broadway stage in a bit part. Hooked, she gave up on her plans to be a fashion designer to instead pursue a career in acting. She made her first motion picture appearance in 1927, in For the Love of Mike, a silent film shot on location in Paramount Studios in New York, New York facilities. However, talking films were taking over and two years later, Colbert appeared in her first talking film, The Hole in the Wall, co-starring another newcomer, Edward G. Robinson .

With her heart-shaped face, lively wide eyes, and aristocratic manner, Colbert transcended type, making her equally convincing in diverse roles. Her versatility led to major parts in top motion pictures and made her one of the biggest box-office stars of her time.

In 1934 she won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role opposite Clark Gable in the Frank Capra film, It Happened One Night. Colbert epitomized witty sophistication when she starred in Preston Sturges' classic screwball comedy, The Palm Beach Story, oppostite Joel McCrea.

From 1936 to 1944, she starred in numerous programs of Cecil B. DeMille's Lux Radio Theater, which was one of the most popular dramatic radio shows at the time. In 1952, she returned to work in her native France where she stayed until 1955.

After making two more Hollywood films, she went back to Broadway in 1958 doing "The Marriage Go-Round" with Charles Boyer, earning a 1959 Tony Award nomination for her work. Also for her Chicago theatre work, in 1980 she won the Sarah Siddons Award. Ms. Colbert's last film was Parrish in 1961. She acted in numerous Broadway plays for the next twenty years. In 1987, she did a television mini-series titled The Two Mrs. Grenvilles and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Mini-series or a Special. In 1988, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for TV.

During her long and successful career, Claudette Colbert played in sixty-five films. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6812 Hollywood Blvd.

Colbert died at her vacation home in Speightstown, Barbados, following a massive stroke at the age of 92, and she was interred there in the Parish of St. Peter Cemetery. A requiem mass was held at St. Vincent Ferrer church in New York later.

Filmography

• For the Love of Mike (1927)
• The Hole in the Wall (1929)
• The Lady Lies (1929)
• Young Man of Manhattan (1930)
• The Big Pond (1930) (there was a French version also made with the same cast)
• Manslaughter (1930)
• Mysterious Mr. Parkes (1930)
• Honor Among Lovers (1931)
• The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)
• Secrets of a Secretary (1931)
• His Woman (1931)
• Hollywood on Parade (1932) (short subject)
• The Wiser Sex (1932)
• Misleading Lady (1932)
• The Man from Yesterday (1932)
• Make Me a Star (1932) (cameo)
• The Phantom President (1932)
• The Sign of the Cross (1932)
• Tonight Is Ours (1933)
• Hollywood on Parade No. 9 (1933) (short subject)
• I Cover the Waterfront (1933)
• Three-Cornered Moon (1933)
• Torch Singer (1933)
• The Hollywood You Never See (1934) (short subject)
• Four Frightened People (1934)
• It Happened One Night (1934)
• Cleopatra (1934)
• Imitation of Life (1934)
• The Fashion Side of Hollywood (1935) (short subject)
• The Gilded Lily (1935)
• Private Worlds (1935)
• She Married Her Boss (1935)
• The Bride Comes Home (1935)
• Under Two Flags (1936)
• Maid of Salem (1937)
• I Met Him in Paris (1937)
• Tovarich (1937)
• Breakdowns of 1938 (1938) (short subject)
• Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)
• Hollywood Goes to Town (1938) (short subject)
• Zaza (1939)
• Midnight (1939)
• It's a Wonderful World (1939)
• Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
• Boom Town (1940)
• Arise, My Love (1940)
• Skylark (1941)
• Remember the Day (1941)
• Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 6 (1942) (short subject)
• The Palm Beach Story (1942)
• No Time for Love (1943)
• So Proudly We Hail! (1943)
• Since You Went Away (1944)
• Practically Yours (1944)
• Guest Wife (1945)
• Tomorrow Is Forever (1946)
• Without Reservations (1946)
• The Secret Heart (1946)
• The Egg and I (1947)
• Sleep, My Love (1948)
• Family Honeymoon (1949)
• Bride for Sale (1949)
• Three Came Home (1950)
• The Secret Fury (1950)
• Thunder on the Hill (1951)
• Let's Make It Legal (1951)
• The Planter's Wife (1952)
• Daughters of Destiny (1954)
• Royal Affairs in Versailles (1954)
• Texas Lady (1955)
• Parrish (1961)

External link

• Claudette Colbert at the Internet Movie Database
• Claudette Colbert at the Internet Broadway Database

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