With her big eyes, apple-shaped face and heart-shaped mouth, Claudette Colbert was one of the most distinguished and distinctive actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Era. Her combination of European flair and down-to-earth naturalness, as well as natural beauty and stage-trained voice, contributed to her ability to portray a wide range of memorable characters.
Born in France on September 13, 1903, as Emilie Claudette Chauchoin, her family moved to the United States when she was three years old, taking a residence in a fifth-floor walk-up in Manhattan (Colbert later claimed years of climbing those stairs contributed to her famed legs). As a youth, she was interested in art and aspired to be a fashion designer. However, fate intervened and she was encouraged to try acting, making her Broadway debut in 1923 and taking the stage name “Claudette Colbert.”
Colbert enjoyed working on the stage; however, the Great Depression impacted ticket sales and theaters shut down. She decided to try her luck in Hollywood, but her first picture was a disaster. She was gradually cast in better films, and soon became known for her versatility, playing everything from young ingenues, to seductresses, to refined young women. In 1934, she had lead roles in three films that received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture: “Cleopatra,” “Imitation of Life” and “It Happened One Night,” which became the first film to win the big five on awards night: Picture, Director (Frank Capra), Actor (Clark Gable), Writing and Actress for Colbert. With these three enormous successes, she used her keen business sense to renegotiate her contract, eventually becoming one of the highest paid and most popular stars of the 1930s and 1940s and earning two more Academy Award nominations in 1936 (“Private Worlds”) and 1945 (“Since You Went Away”).
With her well-earned clout and reputation for professionalism on her sets, Colbert learned about lights and photography, often demanding her choice of cameramen. She was sensitive about a slight bump on the right side of her nose that was the result of a childhood accident, and preferred to be filmed and photographed on her left side. Once an entire set had to be rebuilt to accommodate her. However, her actions weren’t so much that of a diva, but rather a shrewd businesswoman who knew how to properly market herself. She once declared, “I know what’s best for me; after all, I have been in the Claudette Colbert business longer than anybody.”
The first choice to play Margo Channing in “All About Eve,” Colbert had to abandon the project due to a back injury from the set of “Three Came Home” (1950). She later said, “I just never had the luck to play bitches.” It was also during this period that she felt her time in the film industry was coming to a close, deciding to appear in some television programs as well as making a successful return to Broadway, earning a Tony nomination for “The Marriage Go Round” in 1959. Her last film for the big screen was the forgettable “Parrish” in 1961. She made a return to the small screen 26 years later, earning a Golden Globe win and a Primetime Emmy nomination for “The Two Mrs. Grenvilles” in 1987.
Colbert married twice. Although it lasted seven years, her first marriage was rather unconventional, as they never lived together and her domineering mother never cared for him. She married prominent UCLA Medical School professor Dr. Joel Pressman in 1935, and they remained married until his death in 1968.
Colbert managed her finances well, and maintained a nice lifestyle even after she left the film business, retaining her youthful looks and sense of style throughout her life. In her later years, she divided her time between an apartment in Manhattan and her home in Speightstown, Barbados. After sustaining a series of strokes, Colbert died at the age of 92 on July 30, 1996 at her home in Barbados. Her New York Times obituary summed her up best: “She could appear worldly yet down to earth, a quality that, combined with attention to camera angles, lighting and other technical details, helped her sustain a remarkably durable career encompassing more than 60 films and many stage appearances.”
Take a tour of our photo gallery, which features the 15 greatest Colbert film performances, ranked from worst to best.
-
15. The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock This Precode Ernst Lubitsch film combines romance, comedy and music to make one of the most delightful early sound pictures. Lieutenant “Niki” von Preyn (Maurice Chevalier) falls in love with the leader of an all-female orchestra, Franzi (Colbert). But he inadvertently flirts with the Princess of Flausenthurm (Miriam Hopkins), leading to their marriage. However, he sneaks away to rendezvous with Franzi. But when Franzi realizes the princess truly loves the wayward lieutenant, they have a “woman’s bonding” moment in the way of the musical number “Jazz Up Your Lingerie,” in which Franzi encourages her to become a more modern woman to attract her husband. Full of Lubitsch humor and sexual innuendo, the film was Paramount’s biggest earner that year, one of the top-ten grossing films overall and named in that year’s “Best Ten” by The New York Times. Although it failed to win its one Oscar nomination for “Best Picture,” it remains one of Lubitch’s best early works, and helped boost both Colbert and Hopkins’s careers as leading ladies.
-
14. So Proudly We Hail! (1943)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock Three of the era’s most glamorous, most popular and most different actresses came together to make this patriotic film about Army nurses. By this point Colbert was an established actress, and picked parts well, giving consistently solid performances, and does so here despite sharing the limelight this time. Lieutenants Janet Davidson (Colbert), Joan O’Doul (Paulette Goddard, who was Oscar-nominated in the supporting category) and Olivia D’Arcy (Veronica Lake) are headed by ship for a tour of duty in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor is hit, bringing the U.S. into WWII. They reroute to the Philippines, where they learn to deal with the harsh brutalities of war, as well as maintain romantic entanglements. The film was praised for its realistic portrayal of war, and continues to be a popular WWII film for its uniqueness in centering around nurses as opposed to battle. It garnered a total of four Academy Award nominations and was a success at the box office.
-
13. Arise, My Love (1940)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock American pilot Tom Martin (Ray Milland) is awaiting execution in a Spanish prison following the Spanish Civil War. Looking for a story, reporter Augusta “Gusto” Nash (Colbert) poses as his wife and has him freed. When their deception is discovered, they are forced to go on the run as World War II breaks out around them. Tom tries unsuccessfully to woo Gusto, and they both take part in the war effort until they are forced to return to the States to convince Americans the danger that awaits. The film earned four Oscar nominations, winning for writing. Colbert claimed that this was her favorite of her films, and many agree that it was one of her finest. With its blend of comedy, romance and drama, “Arise, My Love” displays her wide range of acting abilities.
-
12. Three Came Home (1950)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock Based on a true story, Colbert plays Agnes Keith, an American born writer living with her husband and young son in Borneo when the Japanese take over during World War II. Subsequently, she and her son are separated from her husband and taken to different imprisonment camps, where she and the other women are treated cruelly by the Japanese soldiers. In one of her few solely dramatic roles, Colbert is moving as the wife wondering if her husband is still alive, and the mother desperately trying to protect her son. Especially for its time, the film depicts the harsh realities and cruelties of war, with an especially disturbing rape attempt on Keith by one of the soldiers. The cast dieted so that they could depict the weight loss from being nearly starved in the camps, and Colbert broke her back while shooting one of the more violent scenes (the recovery from which later cost her the role of Margo Channing in “All About Eve”).
-
11. The Sign of the Cross (1932)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock Even in “Pre-Code Hollywood” there were codes – they just weren’t strictly followed. The studios did have to contend with the censors, and it was movies like “The Sign of the Cross” that eventually led to the stricter enforcement. Cecil B. DeMille needed a box office success after two flops, and he chose to adapt this play. It is set during the time of the Emperor Nero (Charles Laughton), who persecutes the Christians. One of his loyal soldiers, Marcus (Fredric March), falls in love with a Christian girl, and is torn between loyalties. Colbert is Empress Poppaea, who is in love with Marcus. Up to this time, Colbert had been playing mostly ingenue-type roles, and DeMille thought she would be an excellent choice to cast against type, and Colbert was delighted to play such a wicked role. The scene in which she bathes nude in asses’ milk has become one of the most infamous naughty scenes in cinema history, and proved she could play a variety of women’s roles. Costar March later claimed, “She was a hot woman. . . When she worked herself up, she put Marilyn (Monroe), Jean (Harlow), Ava (Gardner), Kim (Novak), all of them in the shade.”
-
10. The Egg and I (1947)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock On their wedding night, Bob (Fred MacMurray) announces to his bride Betty (Colbert) that he has bought a chicken farm. The city-dwellers arrive at their run-down country “estate”, and Betty tries to adjust to her new life, although the city girl is totally unprepared for the challenges of farm life, and has the added insult of a pretty neighbor chasing after her husband. This was the sixth of seven pairings with MacMurray, and their respect for each other and camaraderie is evident, creating a delightful and thoroughly enjoyable romantic comedy. Her elegance and charm is the perfect straight woman against his oblivious, hapless man. The film was extremely popular and introduced the characters of Ma Kettle (Marjorie Main, in an Oscar-nominated performance) and Pa Kettle (Percy Kilbride), which led to several films based on those characters.
-
9. Boom Town (1940)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Colbert is the woman caught in a love triangle with friends and business partners played by Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy. Although wildcatters “Big John” McMasters (Gable) and “Square John” Sand strike it rich in the oil business, their partnership dissolves when McMasters romances and marries Betsy, whom Sand loves. The movie follows their ups and downs both in romance and business over several years. The movie was a huge hit for MGM, and received Oscar nominations for its cinematography and special effects. With her elegance and charm, Colbert is quite believable as the love interest for two of Hollywood’s greatest leading men – even with the beautiful Hedy Lamarr as competition for McMasters’s affection.
-
8. It’s a Wonderful World (1939)
Image Credit: Mgm/Kobal/Shutterstock Not to be confused with that other movie with a similar title, “It’s a Wonderful World” does also star the great James Stewart, although Colbert was the bigger star at the time and received higher billing. Stewart is detective Guy Johnson, who trails his rich client when he’s been drinking to make sure he stays out of trouble. Unfortunately, the tycoon is framed for murder, and both men are arrested. Johnson goes on the lam to prove his innocence, and kidnaps poetess Edwina Corday (Colbert) along the way. A unique blend of screwball comedy and suspense, “It’s a Wonderful World” is a gem lost in the long list of great movies from Hollywood’s most notable year. Colbert and Stewart play well off each other, trading barbs while gaining affection for one another.
-
7. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Newlyweds Gil (Henry Fonda) and Lana (Colbert) Martin try to establish a farm in upstate New York. With the start of the Revolutionary War, their peaceful existence is disrupted and over the war years they fight both British and Indian enemies to save their land and gain their independence. This was director John Ford’s first Technicolor picture, and it was praised for its combination of romance, adventure, sentimentality and dashes of humor. The year 1939 is known for its abundance of great movies, and “Drums Along the Mohawk” fared well with audiences and received two Oscar nominations. This was also Colbert’s first picture in Technicolor, which she did not care for, as she felt she photographed better in black and white. However, she nonetheless gives a solid performance as the supportive frontier wife.
-
6. Cleopatra (1934)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Colbert tackles the role of the Egyptian queen in this lavish Cecil B. Demille production. Cleopatra (Colbert) fights for control over Egypt, while seducing first Julius Caesar (William Warren) and after his death, Marc Antony (Henry Wilcoxon)with a passionate and tragic ending. This was DeMille’s first film to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Film, and received a total of five nominations, winning for Best Cinematography. This is considered to be one of Colbert’s finest performances; in 1935, The New Movie Magazine claimed her performance in Cleopatra to be the “Movie Highlight of the Year” for August 1934, the month in which the film premiered. Years later, DeMille commented, “[Claudette Colbert] wanted to do something different with Cleopatra, not make her lofty or fussy or superstitious, nothing like that. She set out to give her humor and humanity, and she stamped her own personality on the role. She emerged from it most vividly, I thought”.
-
5. The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock From writer/director Preston Sturges comes one of his zaniest screwball comedies. Gerry (Colbert) and Tom (Joel McCrea) Jeffers are a young married couple facing financial difficulty, and Gerry decides that the best solution is a divorce. She takes off on a madcap adventure to Palm Beach to gain a quick divorce, meeting millionaire John D. Hackensacker III (Rudy Vallee) along the way. He’s infatuated with her, but husband Tom is chasing after her, and when John’s sardonic and much-divorced sister, The Princess Centimillia (Mary Astor), takes a shine to Tom, more craziness ensues. Gerry could easily come across as a gold digger, using her looks and charm to gain favors, but the sizzle between Colbert and McCrea defies this notion. Gerry knows that money can’t buy happiness, but it is needed to buy food and pay the rent, and she uses her looks and charms to gain favor for her husband’s business. One of Colbert’s funniest scenes is in this movie – she is trying to climb into the upper berth on a train, and steps all over Vallee’s face. And Colbert manages all this without ever losing her grace and elegance.
-
4. Imitation of Life (1934)
Image Credit: Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock A film ahead of its time, “Imitation of Life” is considered one of the most important films made about race, despite the writers’ battle with the censors over elements of miscegenation. Widow Bea Pullman and her daughter (Colbert) take in black housekeeper Delilah (Louise Beavers) and her mixed-race daughter. As the years pass, the women form a close friendship, as well as a business partnership centering around Delilah’s pancake recipe. As they become successful, each struggles with motherhood; Bea’s daughter turns into a self-entitled brat and Delilah’s daughter can pass for white and is ashamed of her mother. Although the typical stereotypes from this era exist in the film, it still delivers powerful messages about race and women. Colbert and Beavers are two great actresses, who work well together and deliver a poignant portrayal of their friendship. The film received three Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
-
3. Midnight (1939)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Most screwball comedies had truly whacky and unbelievable storylines; the ones that have become classics have done so usually through great dialogue, and delivery of that dialogue by masters of the genre. By 1939, Colbert had definitely become one of the queens of the screwball comedy, and “Midnight” is one of her best performances. Colbert plays American showgirl Eve, who is stranded in Paris. A wealthy man hires her to steal his wife’s lover away, so that his wife will stay with him. Meanwhile, Eve has unwittingly won the heart of her taxi driver, who organizes a search party to find her after she slips away from him. Of course the boyfriend of the wife becomes infatuated with Eve, making the wife jealous, which eventually leads her back to the arms of her husband, and Eve realizes she’d rather have the love of a humble taxi driver over money. Sounds completely implausible? With a screenplay by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, direction by Mitchell Leisen and a cast that also includes Don Ameche, John Barrymore and Mary Astor, and led by screwball great Colbert, the mayhem of “Midnight” seems almost believable. It is undoubtably great fun and one of the gems from the stellar year of 1939.
-
2. Since You Went Away (1944)
Image Credit: United Artists/Kobal/Shutterstock Colbert received her third and final Oscar nomination for this World War II drama romance. Anne Hilton’s (Colbert) husband has volunteered for the Army during the war. Anne and her two daughters do all they can to support the war, while they also deal with romantic entanglements and a snobby neighbor who complains about the inconveniences caused by the war. Although Colbert initially hesitated to play the mother of a teenage daughter, producer David O. Selznick convinced her to take the part, and Colbert was praised for her restrained performance of the war wife tempted by another man. The all-star cast, which also included Jennifer Jones, Monty Woolley, Robert Walker and Shirley Temple, received mostly positive reviews and the film was popular among audiences. It received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, winning for its score.
-
1. It Happened One Night (1934)
Image Credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock As often happens with films that achieve legendary status, “It Happened One Night” had a shaky beginning, and little faith from all involved that it would fare well at the box office. Several actresses either turned down the role of Ellie Andrews or were unavailable to participate. Colbert had no desire to be involved, as she had made her first film with director Frank Capra, and it was a flop. She agreed once her salary was doubled, and the shoot was to be over in four weeks to accommodate a planned vacation. Clark Gable was not thrilled being on loan from MGM, which was considered a much superior studio. Neither star liked the script, and it was rewritten. Columbia Studios did little marketing, as they did not have high hopes for it. However, the madcap romance of runaway heiress Ellie and down-on-his-luck reporter Peter Warne (Gable) became a sleeper hit. It received mostly positive critical reviews, and after a slow beginning at the box office, word of mouth eventually made it Columbia’s biggest hit up to that time. It then became the first of only three films to win the big five at the Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Writing. Colbert was convinced she wouldn’t win; she had just boarded a train when it was announced that she won, and she was retrieved before the train left the station so she could appear at the ceremony. Oh, and the famous scene in which she lifts her skirt to catch a ride? Colbert didn’t want to do it – but she also balked when a double was brought in, so she did it herself. That scene, and the “Walls of Jericho” scene, went on to become two of the most famous scenes in cinema history, and the movie one a top pick on most critics must-see list. And, in the movie she thought would be the worst of her career, Ms Colbert cemented her place as one of Hollywood’s most legendary stars.
