Claudette Colbert
Known for: Acting
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
Series
Robert Montgomery Presents
1950
Series
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Lucy Bradford
1956
Series
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Beth Brayden
1956
Series
Climax!
1954
Series
Climax!
Dr. Jane Everest
1954
Series
Climax!
Sister Cecilia
1954
Series
What's My Line?
Self
1950
Series
The Oscars
Self
1953
Series
The Steve Allen Show
Self
1956
Series
The Steve Allen Show
Self - Party Host
1956
Series
Telephone Time
1956
Series
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self
1950
Series
The Jack Benny Program
Claudette Colbert
1950
Series
Suspicion
Edith Miller
1957
Series
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self
1978
Series
Playhouse 90
1956
Film
It Happened One Night
Ellie Andrews
1934
Series
Letter to Loretta
Self - Guest Host
1953
Film
The Sign of the Cross
Empress Poppaea
1932
Film
Sleep, My Love
Alison Courtland
1948
Film
Cleopatra
Cleopatra
1934
Film
So Proudly We Hail
Lt. Janet 'Davy' Davidson
1943
Film
It's a Wonderful World
Edwina Corday
1939
Series
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles
Alice Grenville
1987
Film
Remember the Day
Nora Trinell
1941
Series
General Electric Theater
Edith Miller
1953
Film
That's Entertainment! III
(archive footage)
1994
Film
Royal Affairs in Versailles
Mrs. de Montespan
1953
Film
The Egg and I
Betty MacDonald
1947
Film
Tomorrow Is Forever
Elizabeth Hamilton
1946
Film
Boom Town
Betsy Bartlett
1940
Film
Drums Along the Mohawk
Lana (Magdelana)
1939
Film
Complicated Women
Self (archive footage)
2003
Film
Let's Make It Legal
Miriam Halsworth
1951
Film
Imitation of Life
Beatrice 'Bea' Pullman
1934
Film
Texas Lady
Prudence Webb
1955
Film
No Time for Love
Katherine Grant
1943
Film
Bluebeard's 8th Wife
Nicole De Loiselle
1938
Film
Guest Wife
Mary Price
1945
Film
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
Self (archive footage)
1995
Film
Arise, My Love
Augusta Nash
1940
Film
The Secret Heart
Lee Addams
1946
Film
Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel
Self (archive footage)
2001
Film
Midnight
Eve Peabody
1939
Film
The Secret Fury
Ellen Ewing
1950
Film
The Comedian
Self (intro)
1957
Film
Since You Went Away
Anne Hilton
1944
Film
The Palm Beach Story
Geraldine 'Gerry' Jeffers
1942
Film
Breakdowns of 1938
Tatiana (archive footage) (uncredited)
1938
Film
His Woman
Sally Clark
1931
Film
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Self
1940
Film
Family Honeymoon
Katie Armstrong Jordan
1948
Film
She Married Her Boss
Julia Scott
1935
Film
The Phantom President
Felicia Hammond
1932
Film
Torch Singer
Sally Trent, aka Mimi Benton
1933
Film
Parrish
Ellen McLean
1961
Film
Without Reservations
Kit Madden
1946
Film
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Self (archive footage)
1940
Film
Manslaughter
Lydia Thorne
1930
Film
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Self (archive footage)
1997
Film
Hollywood on Parade No. B-10
Self
1934
Film
Azzedine Alaïa, un couturier français
Self (archive footage)
2022
Film
Thunder on the Hill
Sister Mary Bonaventure
1951
Film
Under Two Flags
Cigarette
1936
Film
Maid of Salem
Barbara Clarke
1937
Film
The Smiling Lieutenant
Franzi
1931
Film
Three Came Home
Agnes Newton Keith
1950
Film
Hollywood Goes to Town
Self
1938
Film
Bride for Sale
Nora Shelley
1949
Film
I Met Him in Paris
Kay Denham
1937
Film
Three Cornered Moon
Elizabeth Rimplegar
1933
Film
The Gilded Lily
Marilyn David
1935
Film
The Bride Comes Home
Jeannette Desmereau
1935
Film
The Misleading Lady
Helen Steele
1932
Film
Make Me a Star
Claudette Colbert (uncredited)
1932
Film
The Wiser Sex
Margaret Hughes
1932
Film
Daughters of Destiny
Elizabeth Whitefield (segment "Elisabeth")
1954
Film
Tovarich
Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna Romanov
1937
Film
The Big Pond
Barbara Billings
1930
Film
Mysterious Mr. Parkes
Lucy Stavrin
1930
Film
Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6
Herself
1942
Film
The Man from Yesterday
Sylvia Suffolk
1932
Film
Four Frightened People
Judy Jones
1934
Film
Private Worlds
Dr. Jane Everest
1935
Film
The Fashion Side of Hollywood
Self
1935
Film
The House That Shadows Built
(archive footage)
1931
Film
Secrets of a Secretary
Helen Blake
1931
Film
The Planter's Wife
Liz Frazer
1952
Film
Young Man of Manhattan
Ann Vaughn
1930
Film
Skylark
Lydia Kenyon
1941
Film
The Hole in the Wall
Jean Oliver
1929
Film
Practically Yours
Peggy Martin
1944
Film
Blithe Spirit
Ruth Condomine
1956
Film
For the Love of Mike
Mary
1927
Film
Zaza
Zaza
1939
Film
I Cover the Waterfront
Julie Kirk
1933
Film
Tonight Is Ours
Princess Nadya
1933
Film
The Lady Lies
Joyce Roamer
1929
Film
Marilyn Monroe
archive footage
1986
Film
One Coat of White
Betsy Gregg
1957
Film
Honor Among Lovers
Julia Traynor
1931
Film
Frank Capra Jr. Remembers: 'It Happened One Night'
Self (archive footage)
1999