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.
Acted in
Complicated Women
2003
as Self (archive footage)
Frank Capra Jr. Remembers: 'It Happened One Night'
1999
as Self (archive footage)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
1997
as Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment! III
1994
as (archive footage)
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles
1987
as Alice Grenville
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978
as Self
Parrish
1961
as Ellen McLean
Suspicion
1957
as Edith Miller
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Lucy Bradford
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Beth Brayden
Playhouse 90
1956
The Steve Allen Show
1956
as Self - Guest
The Steve Allen Show
1956
as Self - Party Host
Telephone Time
1956
Blithe Spirit
1956
as Ruth Condomine
Texas Lady
1955
as Prudence Webb
Climax!
1954
Climax!
1954
as Dr. Jane Everest
Climax!
1954
as Sister Cecilia
Royal Affairs in Versailles
1954
as Mrs. de Montespan
Daughters of Destiny
1954
as Elizabeth Whitefield (segment "Elisabeth")
Letter to Loretta
1953
as Self - Guest Host
The Oscars
1953
as Self
General Electric Theater
1953
as Edith Miller
The Planter's Wife
1952
as Liz Frazer
Let's Make It Legal
1951
as Miriam Halsworth
Thunder on the Hill
1951
as Sister Mary Bonaventure
The Jack Benny Program
1950
as Claudette Colbert
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
as Self
The Secret Fury
1950
as Ellen Ewing
Three Came Home
1950
as Agnes Newton Keith
What's My Line?
1950
as Self - Mystery Guest
Robert Montgomery Presents
1950
Bride for Sale
1949
as Nora Shelley
Family Honeymoon
1948
as Katie Armstrong Jordan
Sleep, My Love
1948
as Alison Courtland
The Egg and I
1947
as Betty MacDonald
The Secret Heart
1946
as Lee Addams
Without Reservations
1946
as Kit Madden
Tomorrow Is Forever
1946
as Elizabeth Hamilton
Guest Wife
1945
as Mary Price
Practically Yours
1944
as Peggy Martin
Since You Went Away
1944
as Mrs. Anne Hilton
So Proudly We Hail
1943
as Lt. Janet 'Davy' Davidson
No Time for Love
1943
as Katherine Grant
Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6
1942
as Herself
The Palm Beach Story
1942
as Geraldine 'Gerry' Jeffers
Remember the Day
1941
as Nora Trinell
Skylark
1941
as Lydia Kenyon
Arise, My Love
1940
as Augusta Nash
Boom Town
1940
as Betsy Bartlett
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
1940
as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940
as Self
Drums Along the Mohawk
1939
as Lana (Magdelana)
It's a Wonderful World
1939
as Edwina Corday
Midnight
1939
as Eve Peabody
Breakdowns of 1938
1938
as Tatiana (archive footage) (uncredited)
Zaza
1938
as Zaza
Hollywood Goes to Town
1938
as Self
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
1938
as Nicole De Loiselle
Tovarich
1937
as Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna Romanov
I Met Him in Paris
1937
as Kay Denham
Maid of Salem
1937
as Barbara Clarke
Under Two Flags
1936
as Cigarette
The Bride Comes Home
1935
as Jeannette Desmereau
The Fashion Side of Hollywood
1935
as Self
She Married Her Boss
1935
as Julia Scott
Private Worlds
1935
as Dr. Jane Everest
The Gilded Lily
1935
as Marilyn David
Imitation of Life
1934
as Beatrice 'Bea' Pullman
Cleopatra
1934
as Cleopatra
It Happened One Night
1934
as Ellie Andrews
Four Frightened People
1934
as Judy Jones
Torch Singer
1933
as Sally Trent, aka Mimi Benton
Three-Cornered Moon
1933
as Elizabeth Rimplegar
I Cover the Waterfront
1933
as Julie Kirk
Tonight Is Ours
1933
as Princess Nadya
The Sign of the Cross
1932
as Empress Poppaea
The Phantom President
1932
as Felicia Hammond
Make Me a Star
1932
as Claudette Colbert (uncredited)
The Man from Yesterday
1932
as Sylvia Suffolk
The Misleading Lady
1932
as Helen Steele
The Wiser Sex
1932
as Margaret Hughes
His Woman
1931
as Sally Clark
Secrets of a Secretary
1931
as Helen Blake
The Smiling Lieutenant
1931
as Franzi
The House That Shadows Built
1931
as (archive footage)
Honor Among Lovers
1931
as Julia Traynor
Manslaughter
1930
as Lydia Thorne
The Big Pond
1930
as Barbara Billings
Young Man of Manhattan
1930
as Ann Vaughn
The Lady Lies
1929
as Joyce Roamer
The Hole in the Wall
1929
as Jean Oliver
For the Love of Mike
1927
as Mary