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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
September 13, 1903
Died
July 30, 1996
Place of Birth
Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France
Also Known As
- Emilie Claudette Chauchoin
- Клодетт Кольбер
Claudette Colbert
0.7 Popularity
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.
Known For
6.7
Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
2003
6.3
Self (archive footage)
Frank Capra Jr. Remembers: 'It Happened One Night'
1999
5.2
Self (archive footage)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
1997
7.0
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment! III
1994
4.3
Alice Grenville
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles
1987
7.4
Self
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978
5.4
Ellen McLean
Parrish
1961
5.9
Edith Miller
Suspicion
1957
5.5
Lucy Bradford
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
5.5
Beth Brayden
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
Credits
Complicated Women
as Self (archive footage)
2003
6.7
Frank Capra Jr. Remembers: 'It Happened One Night'
as Self (archive footage)
1999
6.3
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
as Self (archive footage)
1997
5.2
That's Entertainment! III
as (archive footage)
1994
7.0
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles
as Alice Grenville
1987
4.3
The Kennedy Center Honors
as Self
1978
7.4
Parrish
as Ellen McLean
1961
5.4
Suspicion
as Edith Miller
1957
5.9
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Lucy Bradford
1956
5.5
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Beth Brayden
1956
5.5
Playhouse 90
1956
7.6
The Steve Allen Show
as Self - Guest
1956
5.6
The Steve Allen Show
as Self - Party Host
1956
5.6
Telephone Time
1956
6.3
Blithe Spirit
as Ruth Condomine
1956
8.0
Texas Lady
as Prudence Webb
1955
5.4
Climax!
1954
3.3
Climax!
as Dr. Jane Everest
1954
3.3
Climax!
as Sister Cecilia
1954
3.3
Royal Affairs in Versailles
as Mrs. de Montespan
1954
6.8
Daughters of Destiny
as Elizabeth Whitefield (segment "Elisabeth")
1954
4.0
Letter to Loretta
as Self - Guest Host
1953
6.5
The Oscars
as Self
1953
7.0
General Electric Theater
as Edith Miller
1953
6.3
The Planter's Wife
as Liz Frazer
1952
6.2
Let's Make It Legal
as Miriam Halsworth
1951
6.3
Thunder on the Hill
as Sister Mary Bonaventure
1951
6.5
The Jack Benny Program
as Claudette Colbert
1950
7.8
The Colgate Comedy Hour
as Self
1950
6.8
The Secret Fury
as Ellen Ewing
1950
5.4
Three Came Home
as Agnes Newton Keith
1950
6.7
What's My Line?
as Self - Mystery Guest
1950
6.9
Robert Montgomery Presents
1950
5.6
Bride for Sale
as Nora Shelley
1949
6.0
Family Honeymoon
as Katie Armstrong Jordan
1948
5.7
Sleep, My Love
as Alison Courtland
1948
6.4
The Egg and I
as Betty MacDonald
1947
7.0
The Secret Heart
as Lee Addams
1946
6.3
Without Reservations
as Kit Madden
1946
6.2
Tomorrow Is Forever
as Elizabeth Hamilton
1946
6.1
Guest Wife
as Mary Price
1945
6.2
Practically Yours
as Peggy Martin
1944
0.0
Since You Went Away
as Mrs. Anne Hilton
1944
6.5
So Proudly We Hail
as Lt. Janet 'Davy' Davidson
1943
5.5
No Time for Love
as Katherine Grant
1943
6.6
Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6
as Herself
1942
6.0
The Palm Beach Story
as Geraldine 'Gerry' Jeffers
1942
7.0
Remember the Day
as Nora Trinell
1941
6.6
Skylark
as Lydia Kenyon
1941
6.5
Arise, My Love
as Augusta Nash
1940
6.3
Boom Town
as Betsy Bartlett
1940
6.9
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
as Self (archive footage)
1940
6.5
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
as Self
1940
5.5
Drums Along the Mohawk
as Lana (Magdelana)
1939
6.5
It's a Wonderful World
as Edwina Corday
1939
6.4
Midnight
as Eve Peabody
1939
7.4
Breakdowns of 1938
as Tatiana (archive footage) (uncredited)
1938
5.0
Zaza
as Zaza
1938
4.3
Hollywood Goes to Town
as Self
1938
7.0
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
as Nicole De Loiselle
1938
7.0
Tovarich
as Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna Romanov
1937
6.2
I Met Him in Paris
as Kay Denham
1937
5.3
Maid of Salem
as Barbara Clarke
1937
5.9
Under Two Flags
as Cigarette
1936
6.0
The Bride Comes Home
as Jeannette Desmereau
1935
4.8
The Fashion Side of Hollywood
as Self
1935
6.0
She Married Her Boss
as Julia Scott
1935
7.0
Private Worlds
as Dr. Jane Everest
1935
6.0
The Gilded Lily
as Marilyn David
1935
6.4
Imitation of Life
as Beatrice 'Bea' Pullman
1934
7.0
Cleopatra
as Cleopatra
1934
6.1
It Happened One Night
as Ellie Andrews
1934
7.8
Four Frightened People
as Judy Jones
1934
6.2
Torch Singer
as Sally Trent, aka Mimi Benton
1933
5.2
Three-Cornered Moon
as Elizabeth Rimplegar
1933
5.2
I Cover the Waterfront
as Julie Kirk
1933
5.1
Tonight Is Ours
as Princess Nadya
1933
0.0
The Sign of the Cross
as Empress Poppaea
1932
6.2
The Phantom President
as Felicia Hammond
1932
5.5
Make Me a Star
as Claudette Colbert (uncredited)
1932
5.5
The Man from Yesterday
as Sylvia Suffolk
1932
4.8
The Misleading Lady
as Helen Steele
1932
0.0
The Wiser Sex
as Margaret Hughes
1932
6.0
His Woman
as Sally Clark
1931
3.5
Secrets of a Secretary
as Helen Blake
1931
5.5
The Smiling Lieutenant
as Franzi
1931
6.9
The House That Shadows Built
as (archive footage)
1931
7.0
Honor Among Lovers
as Julia Traynor
1931
5.7
Manslaughter
as Lydia Thorne
1930
5.5
The Big Pond
as Barbara Billings
1930
5.7
Young Man of Manhattan
as Ann Vaughn
1930
5.5
The Lady Lies
as Joyce Roamer
1929
5.0
The Hole in the Wall
as Jean Oliver
1929
5.2
For the Love of Mike
as Mary
1927
5.0