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person_profile-Claudette Colbert

Claudette Colbert Died at age: 92

Actor | Producer

Date of Birth:

Sep 13, 1903

Country of birth:

France

Died:

Jul 30, 1996

Biography of

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.

Photos of

Claudette Colbert

Photos ( 12 Photos

Filmography of

Claudette Colbert

Found 71 Movies in total

Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen

(archive footage) ( Actor )

... 2012

Complicated Women

Self (archive footage) ( Actor )

... 2003

The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender

Self (archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1997

That's Entertainment! III

(archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1994

The Love Goddesses

(archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1965

Hollywood Without Make-Up

Self (archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1963

Parrish

Ellen McLean ( Actor )

... 1961

Blithe Spirit

Ruth Condomine ( Actor )

... 1956

Texas Lady

Prudence Webb ( Actor )

... 1955

Royal Affairs in Versailles

Madame de Montespan ( Actor )

... 1954

Daughters of Destiny

Elizabeth Whitefield (segment "Elisabeth") ( Actor )

... 1954

The Planter's Wife

Liz Frazer ( Actor )

... 1952

Let's Make It Legal

Miriam Halsworth ( Actor )

... 1951

Thunder on the Hill

Sister Mary Bonaventure ( Actor )

... 1951

The Secret Fury

Ellen Ewing ( Actor )

... 1950

Three Came Home

Agnes Newton Keith ( Actor )

... 1950

Bride for Sale

Nora Shelley ( Actor )

... 1949

Family Honeymoon

Katie Armstrong Jordan ( Actor )

... 1948

Sleep, My Love

Alison Courtland ( Actor )

... 1948

The Egg and I

Betty MacDonald ( Actor )

... 1947

The Secret Heart

Lee Addams ( Actor )

... 1946

Without Reservations

Kit Madden ( Actor )

... 1946

Tomorrow Is Forever

Elizabeth Hamilton ( Actor )

... 1946

Guest Wife

Mary Price ( Actor )

... 1945

Practically Yours

Peggy Martin ( Actor )

... 1944

Since You Went Away

Mrs. Anne Hilton ( Actor )

... 1944

So Proudly We Hail

Lt. Janet 'Davy' Davidson ( Actor )

... 1943

No Time for Love

Katherine Grant ( Actor )

... 1943

The Palm Beach Story

Geraldine 'Gerry' Jeffers ( Actor )

... 1942

Remember the Day

Nora Trinell ( Actor )

... 1941

Skylark

Lydia Kenyon ( Actor )

... 1941

Arise, My Love

Augusta Nash ( Actor )

... 1940

Boom Town

Betsy Bartlett ( Actor )

... 1940

Drums Along the Mohawk

Lana (Magdelana) ( Actor )

... 1939

It's a Wonderful World

Edwina Corday ( Actor )

... 1939

Midnight

Eve Peabody ( Actor )

... 1939

Zaza

Zaza ( Actor )

... 1938

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife

Nicole De Loiselle ( Actor )

... 1938

Tovarich

Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna Romanov ( Actor )

... 1937

I Met Him in Paris

Kay Denham ( Actor )

... 1937

Maid of Salem

Barbara Clarke ( Actor )

... 1937

Under Two Flags

Cigarette ( Actor )

... 1936

The Bride Comes Home

Jeannette Desmereau ( Actor )

... 1935

She Married Her Boss

Julia Scott ( Actor )

... 1935

Private Worlds

Dr. Jane Everest ( Actor )

... 1935

The Gilded Lily

Marilyn David ( Actor )

... 1935

Imitation of Life

Beatrice 'Bea' Pullman ( Actor )

... 1934

Cleopatra

Cleopatra ( Actor )

... 1934

It Happened One Night

Ellie Andrews ( Actor )

... 1934

Four Frightened People

Judy Jones ( Actor )

... 1934

Torch Singer

Sally Trent, aka Mimi Benton ( Actor )

... 1933

Three-Cornered Moon

Elizabeth Rimplegar ( Actor )

... 1933

I Cover the Waterfront

Julie Kirk ( Actor )

... 1933

Tonight Is Ours

Princess Nadya ( Actor )

... 1933

The Sign of the Cross

Empress Poppaea ( Actor )

... 1932

The Phantom President

Felicia Hammond ( Actor )

... 1932

Make Me a Star

Claudette Colbert (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1932

The Man from Yesterday

Sylvia Suffolk ( Actor )

... 1932

The Misleading Lady

Helen Steele ( Actor )

... 1932

The Wiser Sex

Margaret Hughes ( Actor )

... 1932

His Woman

Sally Clark ( Actor )

... 1931

Secrets of a Secretary

Helen Blake ( Actor )

... 1931

The Smiling Lieutenant

Franzi ( Actor )

... 1931

The House That Shadows Built

(archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1931

Honor Among Lovers

Julia Traynor ( Actor )

... 1931

Manslaughter

Lydia Thorne ( Actor )

... 1930

The Big Pond

Barbara Billings ( Actor )

... 1930

Young Man of Manhattan

Ann Vaughn ( Actor )

... 1930

The Lady Lies

Joyce Roamer ( Actor )

... 1929

The Hole in the Wall

Jean Oliver ( Actor )

... 1929

For the Love of Mike

Mary ( Actor )

... 1927