Claudette Colbert

Known for ActingBorn 1903-09-13Died 1996-07-30Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France

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.Read more

Movies & web series

Marilyn Monroe

Tonight Is Ours

Mysterious Mr. Parkes

The Comedian

The House That Shadows Built

Blithe Spirit

The Jack Benny Program

Playhouse 90

The Kennedy Center Honors

It Happened One Night

Complicated Women

That's Entertainment! III

She Married Her Boss

The Wiser Sex

Midnight

Remember the Day

The Egg and I

What's My Line?

The Oscars

Frank Capra Jr. Remembers: 'It Happened One Night'

Bride for Sale

Bluebeard's 8th Wife

Practically Yours

No Time for Love

The Palm Beach Story

The Colgate Comedy Hour

Hollywood Goes to Town

Imitation of Life

General Electric Theater

The Misleading Lady

Boom Town

Manslaughter

For the Love of Mike

Royal Affairs in Versailles

Skylark

Three Came Home

The Planter's Wife

Under Two Flags

Letter to Loretta

The Smiling Lieutenant

Telephone Time

Since You Went Away

The Gilded Lily

The Secret Heart

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

Thunder on the Hill

Drums Along the Mohawk

It's a Wonderful World