Claudette Colbert
Acting • Born 1903-09-13 – Died 1996-07-30
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.
Filmography
98 credits
It Happened One Night
Movie • 1934
Ellie Andrews
The Smiling Lieutenant
Movie • 1931
Franzi
Let's Make It Legal
Movie • 1951
Miriam Halsworth
Bluebeard's 8th Wife
Movie • 1938
Nicole De Loiselle
Midnight
Movie • 1939
Eve Peabody
No Time for Love
Movie • 1943
Katherine Grant
The Palm Beach Story
Movie • 1942
Geraldine 'Gerry' Jeffers
Without Reservations
Movie • 1946
Kit Madden
I Cover the Waterfront
Movie • 1933
Julie Kirk
Parrish
Movie • 1961
Ellen McLean
The Egg and I
Movie • 1947
Betty MacDonald
Since You Went Away
Movie • 1944
Mrs. Anne Hilton
Tovarich
Movie • 1937
Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna Romanov
Four Frightened People
Movie • 1934
Judy Jones
Cleopatra
Movie • 1934
Cleopatra
Tomorrow Is Forever
Movie • 1946
Elizabeth Hamilton
The Lady Lies
Movie • 1929
Joyce Roamer
It's a Wonderful World
Movie • 1939
Edwina Corday
Imitation of Life
Movie • 1934
Beatrice 'Bea' Pullman
Royal Affairs in Versailles
Movie • 1953
Mrs. de Montespan
She Married Her Boss
Movie • 1935
Julia Scott
The Sign of the Cross
Movie • 1932
Empress Poppaea
Torch Singer
Movie • 1933
Sally Trent, aka Mimi Benton
Drums Along the Mohawk
Movie • 1939
Lana (Magdelana)
Three Cornered Moon
Movie • 1933
Elizabeth Rimplegar
The Gilded Lily
Movie • 1935
Marilyn David
The Secret Fury
Movie • 1950
Ellen Ewing
Sleep, My Love
Movie • 1948
Alison Courtland
Boom Town
Movie • 1940
Betsy Bartlett
Under Two Flags
Movie • 1936
Cigarette
Maid of Salem
Movie • 1937
Barbara Clarke
Remember the Day
Movie • 1941
Nora Trinell
Thunder on the Hill
Movie • 1951
Sister Mary Bonaventure
Skylark
Movie • 1941
Lydia Kenyon
Three Came Home
Movie • 1950
Agnes Newton Keith
Family Honeymoon
Movie • 1948
Katie Armstrong Jordan
The Hole in the Wall
Movie • 1929
Jean Oliver
Private Worlds
Movie • 1935
Dr. Jane Everest
The Bride Comes Home
Movie • 1935
Jeannette Desmereau
So Proudly We Hail
Movie • 1943
Lt. Janet 'Davy' Davidson
Arise, My Love
Movie • 1940
Augusta Nash
Guest Wife
Movie • 1945
Mary Price
I Met Him in Paris
Movie • 1937
Kay Denham
Honor Among Lovers
Movie • 1931
Julia Traynor
Frank Capra Jr. Remembers: 'It Happened One Night'
Movie • 1999
Self (archive footage)
Make Me a Star
Movie • 1932
Claudette Colbert (uncredited)
Manslaughter
Movie • 1930
Lydia Thorne
The Phantom President
Movie • 1932
Felicia Hammond
Tonight Is Ours
Movie • 1933
Princess Nadya
Texas Lady
Movie • 1955
Prudence Webb
The Misleading Lady
Movie • 1932
Helen Steele
Practically Yours
Movie • 1944
Peggy Martin
Secrets of a Secretary
Movie • 1931
Helen Blake
The Man from Yesterday
Movie • 1932
Sylvia Suffolk
The Planter's Wife
Movie • 1952
Liz Frazer
Young Man of Manhattan
Movie • 1930
Ann Vaughn
Zaza
Movie • 1938
Zaza
The Big Pond
Movie • 1930
Barbara Billings
His Woman
Movie • 1931
Sally Clark
The Secret Heart
Movie • 1946
Lee Addams
Bride for Sale
Movie • 1949
Nora Shelley
For the Love of Mike
Movie • 1927
Mary
Blithe Spirit
Movie • 1956
Ruth Condomine
Daughters of Destiny
Movie • 1954
Elizabeth Whitefield (segment "Elisabeth")
The Wiser Sex
Movie • 1932
Margaret Hughes
The Fashion Side of Hollywood
Movie • 1935
Self
That's Entertainment! III
Movie • 1994
(archive footage)
Breakdowns of 1938
Movie • 1938
Tatiana (archive footage) (uncredited)
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Movie • 1940
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Movie • 1940
Self
Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6
Movie • 1942
Herself
Complicated Women
Movie • 2003
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Goes to Town
Movie • 1938
Self
The House That Shadows Built
Movie • 1931
(archive footage)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Movie • 1997
Self (archive footage)
The Comedian
Movie • 1957
Self (intro)
One Coat of White
Movie • 1957
Betsy Gregg
Mysterious Mr. Parkes
Movie • 1930
Lucy Stavrin
Hollywood on Parade No. B-10
Movie • 1934
Self
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV • 1950
Self
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Edith Miller
Climax!
TV • 1954
Robert Montgomery Presents
TV • 1950
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV • 1956
Lucy Bradford
The Steve Allen Show
TV • 1956
Self
The Jack Benny Program
TV • 1950
Claudette Colbert
Telephone Time
TV • 1956
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
The Kennedy Center Honors
TV • 1978
Self
Letter to Loretta
TV • 1953
Self - Guest Host
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles
TV • 1987
Alice Grenville
Playhouse 90
TV • 1956
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV • 1956
Beth Brayden
Climax!
TV • 1954
Dr. Jane Everest
Climax!
TV • 1954
Sister Cecilia
The Steve Allen Show
TV • 1956
Self - Party Host
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self - Mystery Guest
Suspicion
TV • 1957
Edith Miller