Claudette Colbert
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.
Known For
Ellie Andrews
It Happened One Night
Franzi
The Smiling Lieutenant
Miriam Halsworth
Let's Make It Legal
Eve Peabody
Midnight
Nicole De Loiselle
Bluebeard's 8th Wife
Katherine Grant
No Time for Love
Geraldine 'Gerry' Jeffers
The Palm Beach Story
Kit Madden
Without Reservations
Julie Kirk
I Cover the Waterfront
Ellen McLean
Parrish
Betty MacDonald
The Egg and I
Mrs. Anne Hilton
Since You Went Away
Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna Romanov
Tovarich
Judy Jones
Four Frightened People
Cleopatra
Cleopatra
Elizabeth Hamilton
Tomorrow Is Forever
Joyce Roamer
The Lady Lies
Edwina Corday
It's a Wonderful World
Beatrice 'Bea' Pullman
Imitation of Life
Mrs. de Montespan
Si Versailles m'était conté
Julia Scott
She Married Her Boss
Empress Poppaea
The Sign of the Cross
Sally Trent, aka Mimi Benton
Torch Singer
Lana (Magdelana)
Drums Along the Mohawk
Elizabeth Rimplegar
Three Cornered Moon
Marilyn David
The Gilded Lily
Ellen Ewing
The Secret Fury
Alison Courtland
Sleep, My Love
Betsy Bartlett
Boom Town
Barbara Clarke
Maid of Salem
Nora Trinell
Remember the Day
Cigarette
Under Two Flags
Sister Mary Bonaventure
Thunder on the Hill
Lydia Kenyon
Skylark
Agnes Newton Keith
Three Came Home
Katie Armstrong Jordan
Family Honeymoon
Jean Oliver
The Hole in the Wall
Dr. Jane Everest
Private Worlds
Jeannette Desmereau
The Bride Comes Home
Lt. Janet 'Davy' Davidson
So Proudly We Hail
Augusta Nash
Arise, My Love
Mary Price
Guest Wife
Kay Denham
I Met Him in Paris
Julia Traynor
Honor Among Lovers
Self (archive footage)
Frank Capra Jr. Remembers: 'It Happened One Night'
Claudette Colbert (uncredited)
Make Me a Star
Lydia Thorne
Manslaughter
Felicia Hammond
The Phantom President
Princess Nadya
Tonight Is Ours
Prudence Webb
Texas Lady
Helen Steele
The Misleading Lady
Peggy Martin
Practically Yours
Helen Blake
Secrets of a Secretary
Sylvia Suffolk
The Man from Yesterday
Liz Frazer
The Planter's Wife
Ann Vaughn
Young Man of Manhattan
Zaza
Zaza
Barbara Billings
The Big Pond
Sally Clark
His Woman
Lee Addams
The Secret Heart
Nora Shelley
Bride for Sale
Mary
For the Love of Mike
Ruth Condomine
Blithe Spirit
Elizabeth Whitefield (segment "Elisabeth")
Destinées
Margaret Hughes
The Wiser Sex
Self
The Fashion Side of Hollywood
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment! III
Tatiana (archive footage) (uncredited)
Breakdowns of 1938
Self (archive footage)
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Self
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Herself
Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6
Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
Self
Hollywood Goes to Town
(archive footage)
The House That Shadows Built
Self (archive footage)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Self (intro)
The Comedian
Betsy Gregg
One Coat of White
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
77
Gender
Female
Birthday
1903-09-13
Place of Birth
Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France
Also Known As
Emilie Claudette Chauchoin