Acting · Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France · Born September 13, 1903
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.
MovieAzzedine Alaïa, un couturier français
2022
as Self (archive footage)
MovieComplicated Women
2003
as Self (archive footage)
Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel
2001
as Self (archive footage)
MovieFrank Capra Jr. Remembers: 'It Happened One Night'
1999
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThe Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
1997
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThe First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
1995
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThat's Entertainment! III
1994
as (archive footage)
TVThe Two Mrs. Grenvilles
1987
as Alice Grenville
MovieMarilyn Monroe
1986
as archive footage
TVThe Kennedy Center Honors
1978
as Self
MovieParrish
1961
as Ellen McLean
TVSuspicion
1957
as Edith Miller
MovieOne Coat of White
1957
as Betsy Gregg
MovieThe Comedian
1957
as Self (intro)
TVDick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Lucy Bradford
TVPlayhouse 90
1956
TVThe Steve Allen Show
1956
as Self
TVTelephone Time
1956
MovieBlithe Spirit
1956
as Ruth Condomine
MovieTexas Lady
1955
as Prudence Webb
TVClimax!
1954
MovieDaughters of Destiny
1954
as Elizabeth Whitefield (segment "Elisabeth")
MovieRoyal Affairs in Versailles
1953
as Mrs. de Montespan
TVLetter to Loretta
1953
as Self - Guest Host
TVThe Oscars
1953
as Self
TVGeneral Electric Theater
1953
as Edith Miller
MovieThe Planter's Wife
1952
as Liz Frazer
MovieLet's Make It Legal
1951
as Miriam Halsworth
MovieThunder on the Hill
1951
as Sister Mary Bonaventure
TVThe Jack Benny Program
1950
as Claudette Colbert
TVThe Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
as Self
MovieThe Secret Fury
1950
as Ellen Ewing
MovieThree Came Home
1950
as Agnes Newton Keith
TVWhat's My Line?
1950
as Self
TVRobert Montgomery Presents
1950
MovieBride for Sale
1949
as Nora Shelley
MovieFamily Honeymoon
1948
as Katie Armstrong Jordan
MovieSleep, My Love
1948
as Alison Courtland
MovieThe Egg and I
1947
as Betty MacDonald
MovieThe Secret Heart
1946
as Lee Addams
MovieWithout Reservations
1946
as Kit Madden
MovieTomorrow Is Forever
1946
as Elizabeth Hamilton
MovieGuest Wife
1945
as Mary Price
MoviePractically Yours
1944
as Peggy Martin
MovieSince You Went Away
1944
as Anne Hilton
MovieSo Proudly We Hail
1943
as Lt. Janet 'Davy' Davidson
MovieNo Time for Love
1943
as Katherine Grant
MovieHedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6
1942
as Herself
MovieThe Palm Beach Story
1942
as Geraldine 'Gerry' Jeffers
MovieRemember the Day
1941
as Nora Trinell
MovieSkylark
1941
as Lydia Kenyon
MovieArise, My Love
1940
as Augusta Nash
MovieBoom Town
1940
as Betsy Bartlett
MovieCavalcade of the Academy Awards
1940
as Self (archive footage)
MovieHollywood: Style Center of the World
1940
as Self
MovieDrums Along the Mohawk
1939
as Lana (Magdelana)
MovieIt's a Wonderful World
1939
as Edwina Corday
MovieMidnight
1939
as Eve Peabody
MovieZaza
1939
as Zaza
MovieBreakdowns of 1938
1938
as Tatiana (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieHollywood Goes to Town
1938
as Self
MovieBluebeard's 8th Wife
1938
as Nicole De Loiselle
MovieTovarich
1937
as Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna Romanov
MovieI Met Him in Paris
1937
as Kay Denham
MovieMaid of Salem
1937
as Barbara Clarke
MovieUnder Two Flags
1936
as Cigarette
MovieThe Bride Comes Home
1935
as Jeannette Desmereau
MovieThe Fashion Side of Hollywood
1935
as Self
MovieShe Married Her Boss
1935
as Julia Scott
MoviePrivate Worlds
1935
as Dr. Jane Everest
MovieThe Gilded Lily
1935
as Marilyn David
MovieImitation of Life
1934
as Beatrice 'Bea' Pullman
MovieCleopatra
1934
as Cleopatra
MovieHollywood on Parade No. B-10
1934
as Self
MovieIt Happened One Night
1934
as Ellie Andrews
MovieFour Frightened People
1934
as Judy Jones
MovieTorch Singer
1933
as Sally Trent, aka Mimi Benton
MovieThree Cornered Moon
1933
as Elizabeth Rimplegar
MovieI Cover the Waterfront
1933
as Julie Kirk
MovieTonight Is Ours
1933
as Princess Nadya
MovieThe Sign of the Cross
1932
as Empress Poppaea
MovieThe Phantom President
1932
as Felicia Hammond
MovieMake Me a Star
1932
as Claudette Colbert (uncredited)
MovieThe Man from Yesterday
1932
as Sylvia Suffolk
MovieThe Misleading Lady
1932
as Helen Steele
MovieThe Wiser Sex
1932
as Margaret Hughes
MovieHis Woman
1931
as Sally Clark
MovieSecrets of a Secretary
1931
as Helen Blake
MovieThe Smiling Lieutenant
1931
as Franzi
MovieThe House That Shadows Built
1931
as (archive footage)
MovieHonor Among Lovers
1931
as Julia Traynor
MovieMysterious Mr. Parkes
1930
as Lucy Stavrin
MovieManslaughter
1930
as Lydia Thorne
MovieThe Big Pond
1930
as Barbara Billings
MovieYoung Man of Manhattan
1930
as Ann Vaughn
MovieThe Lady Lies
1929
as Joyce Roamer
MovieThe Hole in the Wall
1929
as Jean Oliver
MovieFor the Love of Mike
1927
as Mary
