Person Details

Birthday: 1903-09-13 20:14:48

Death: 1996-07-30 20:14:48

Aliases: Emilie Claudette Chauchoin , Клодетт Кольбер

Gender: Female

Place of birth: Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 44

TV Involvements: 10


Most Famous Work

Biography

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.

Most Famous Work

What's My Line?
Average
7

What's My Line?

(1950) Self - Mystery Guest
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Average
5

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

(1956) Beth Brayden
Climax!
Average
3

Climax!

(1954) Sister Cecilia
The Oscars
Average
7

The Oscars

(1953) Self
The Kennedy Center Honors
Average
7
Suspicion
Average
7

Suspicion

(1957) Edith Miller
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
Average
8

Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen

(2012) (archive footage)
Letter to Loretta
Average
6

Letter to Loretta

(1953) Self - Guest Host

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2012 (archive footage)
2003 Self (archive footage)
1999 Self (archive footage)
1997 Self (archive footage)
1994 (archive footage)
1987 Alice Grenville
1978 Self
1965 (archive footage)
1961 Ellen McLean
1957 Edith Miller
1956 Lucy Bradford
Beth Brayden
N/A
Self - Party Host
Self - Guest
N/A
Ruth Condomine
1955 Prudence Webb
1954 Dr. Jane Everest
Sister Cecilia
N/A
Mme de Montespan
Elizabeth Whitefield (segment "Elisabeth")
1953 Self - Guest Host
Self
Edith Miller
1952 Liz Frazer
1951 Miriam Halsworth
Sister Mary Bonaventure
1950 Claudette Colbert
Self
Ellen Ewing
Agnes Newton Keith
Self - Mystery Guest
N/A
1949 Nora Shelley
1948 Katie Armstrong Jordan
Self (archive footage)
Alison Courtland
1947 Betty MacDonald
1946 Lee Addams
Kit Madden
Elizabeth Hamilton
1945 Mary Price
1944 Peggy Martin
Mrs. Anne Hilton
1943 Lt. Janet 'Davy' Davidson
Katherine Grant
1942 Herself
Geraldine 'Gerry' Jeffers
1941 Nora Trinell
Lydia Kenyon
1940 Augusta Nash
Betsy Bartlett
Self (archive footage)
Self
1939 Lana (Magdelana)
Edwina Corday
Eve Peabody
1938 Tatiana (archive footage) (uncredited)
Zaza
Self
Nicole De Loiselle
1937 Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna Romanov
Kay Denham
Barbara Clarke
1936 Cigarette
1935 Jeannette Desmereau
Self
Julia Scott
Dr. Jane Everest
Marilyn David
1934 Beatrice 'Bea' Pullman
Cleopatra
Ellie Andrews
Judy Jones
1933 Sally Trent, aka Mimi Benton
Elizabeth Rimplegar
Julie Kirk
Princess Nadya
1932 Empress Poppaea
Felicia Hammond
Claudette Colbert (uncredited)
Sylvia Suffolk
Helen Steele
Margaret Hughes
1931 Sally Clark
Helen Blake
Franzi
(archive footage)
Julia Traynor
1930 Lydia Thorne
Barbara Billings
Ann Vaughn
1929 Joyce Roamer
Jean Oliver
1927 Mary
Year Character Movie/Tv

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