Capra recalled that his lead actress had many little tantrums about almost anything, mostly, he said, motivated by her antipathy toward me. But her biggest diva moment happened in the films most famous scene. After completing her scenes, she told a friend that shed just finished the worst film shed ever made. According to Hull, the dying Pressman was somehow going to take Colbert down with him, slaying her so that they could be together forever. She told an interviewer, "Audiences always sound like they're glad to see me, and I'm damned glad to see them. No matter how famous Claudette Colbert gotand in the 1930s, she was the highest-paid screen siren out thereit couldnt fix her deep insecurities behind the scenes. However, her drawing power was fading somewhat as new stars replaced the older ones. The apartment did, however, have a famous upside. As she famously said about her word being final in matters concerning her professional activities: Ive been in the Claudette Colbert business a long time.. And then there were the scandalous rumors, on-set blowups, and secret marriages. Did she miss Hollywood, or was she content with being back on Broadway? Thanks for this interview, Andre. Historys most fascinating stories and darkest secrets, delivered to your inbox daily. All About Louis Cato. This was, of . Its red granite. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures. Colbert even allowed them to film her bad sidebut her dedication forced her to go way too far. That year, Colberts husband Jack Pressman was on his deathbed, suffering brutally from liver cancer. The family moved to the United States when she was three. She had the dignity and confidence I lacked growing up. milie Claudette Chauchoin (French:[emili klodt ow]) was born in 1903 in Saint-Mand, France,[4] to Jeanne Marie (ne Loew; 18771970) and Georges Claude Chauchoin (18671925). Perhaps hearing that she was the bottom-of-the-barrel choice for the part in It Happened One Night, Colbert made sure to put in her most diva demands before she committed to the role. . I couldnt Growing up Catholic, Colbert found himself turning to religion in an effort to understand such a senseless, painful tragedy. At the time, Jim was doing research on Colberts life for a possible book project. Her performance in that epic was the first of three pictures including Cleopatra in 1934 she made with DeMille. Colbert had kept everything about the romance from her mother for fear that Jeanne would blow up. If only shed been born a few decades later, when stars having fashion lines became a totally common thing! [12] Her earliest films were produced in New York. Colbert met his future comedy partners while in Chicago, including Amy Sedaris, with whom he created and starred in the cult hit show Strangers With Candy. Nothing could be further from the truth. But it gets even worse than that. Colbert met O'Hagan in 1961 on the set of Parrish, her last film,[75][76] and they became best friends around 1970. Youve raised a valid point, even though there have been stories about Claudette Colberts sexual orientation since at least the 1970s. The studio agreed to pay her $50,000 for the role, and guaranteed filming would be done within four weeks so she could take a planned vacation. [39] Colbert once said, "I know what's best for meafter all, I have been in the Claudette Colbert business longer than anybody. Adman Peter Rogers said, "Claudette was extravagant; I never, ever saw her question the price of anything." Colbert was passionate about fashion design, and worked in retail in order to pay for design classes at the Art Students League of New York. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for It Happened One Night (1934), and received two other Academy Award nominations during her career. Sometimes, hed even fix mine. Photo NBC], See also: Claudette Colbert Movies on TCM.. Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIIIs rejected queenbut few people know her even darker history. The Lady Lies was a box-office success. [5][8], They lived in a fifth-floor walk-up at 53rd Street. While filming the drama Three Came Home, she shook off her usual glamor and played a woman interned at a POW camp. Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark historyor the chilling secret shared by her and Louis. Please reach out to us to let us know what youre interested in reading. Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery. While clearly smart, he was a terrible student, uninterested in studying or doing his homework. Jeanne even insisted on living in the same house as Claudette in Los Angeles. Towards the end of her life, she explained why she had never written her autobiography, "I've been happy, and that's no story. She later divorced Walker and married Selznick. Colbert was always exacting and deeply insecure. With her round face, big eyes, aristocratic manner, and flair[2] for light comedy and emotional drama, Colbert's versatility led to her becoming one of the best-paid stars of the 1930s and 1940s[3] and, in 1938 and 1942, the highest-paid. [40][3], Impressed by Colbert's role in So Proudly We Hail!, David O. Selznick approached her to play the lead in Since You Went Away (1944). Catherine of Aragon was King Henry VIIIs first wife and longest-lasting Queen of England. Claudette Colbert, then in her mid-30s, was indeed too old to play Scarlett. In 1996, Colbert passed at the age of 92. Midnight (1939) was originally planned to star Marlene Dietrich, but she was on her way out of Paramount by the time it was filmed. Did Claudette Colbert have a house on Fire Island? someway keeping alive something in this nation Well, never underestimate what jealousy can do for you. I argued against those in the past on other websites who suggested she was possibly born before 1889, saying that it was unlikely, but there it is on SSDI - born in 1884!!! Claudette Colbert: She Walked in Beauty. A few years later, Selznick offered Colbert a huge salary to star in his life-on-the-homefront World War II saga, Since You Went Away. The following is a list of feature films in which Colbert had top billing. [36] In 1937 and 1938, she was listed as the 14th and sixth (respectively) top money-making woman in the U.S.[2]. Claudette Colbert Career & Lesbian Rumors: Q&A with Author James Robert Parish, Golden Globes: Adele Among Non-Surprises + Amy Poehler & Tina Fey High Ratings, Rwandan Genocide Tale Tops AFI FEST + Javier Bardem & Afghan Bodybuilders, Hold Back the Dawn (1941) Movie Review: Romantic Melodrama Is Olivia De Havilland Showcase. She insisted not only on getting twice her salary for the film, she also finagled a shorter filming scheduleso she wouldnt have to cancel her vacation plans. Colbert and husband Norman Fosters Seven Year Itch marriage ended predictablybut no less tragicallyin a bitter split. Stephen Colbert 10 siblings. The loss devastated Colbertbut it didnt end there. In 1958, she met the wealthy heiress Verna Hull and started passing the hours away from her busy husband with her fancy new companionbut their close friendship would eventually show a disturbing dark side. In 1936, Colbert became the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, and by 1938 she was the highest-paid performer period. However, it was as Ellie Andrews, in the now famous It Happened One Night (1934), that ensured she would be forever immortalized. Colbert, Claudette (1903-1996)American film actress, famed for her warmth, dignified bearing, and charm, who made 62 films, playing sirens, comic roles, and serious dramatic parts alike. Her first film was called For the Love of Mike (1927). Later the same year she was paired with Jimmy Durante in The Phantom President (1932). She insisted on having the right side of her face away from the camera because of a small bump from a broken nose as a child. In 1944 she starred as Anne Hilton in Since You Went Away (1944). Contrary to her public image of being gracious and ladylike, Colbert was a determined show business trouper who could be exceedingly tough on fellow performers/technicians who did not meet her particular standards of professionalism. She insisted on hiring her own cameraman, and offered to waive her salary if the film went over budget as a result. She was 92. Thanks to Mama Jeannes controlling behavior, Colbert and Foster never lived together. His main duty in their childless marriage was to be her social companion at industry/social events. Later, in another college essay titled Ladies in Loco-Motion, I discussed her roles as will-powered women on the go (on buses and trains) and how that image changed toward the end of the war when she became the tormented wife (Sleep, My Love), the frustrated farmer (The Egg and I), or the frazzled newlywed (Family Honeymoon). [6], In 1924, producer Al Woods, impressed by Colbert's ability to speak with both American and British accents, cast her in Frederick Lonsdale's The Fake, but she was replaced by Frieda Inescort before it opened. Naturally, Colbert expected her bosom buddy Hull to be her rock during this difficult time and to help support her. 8. [35] At the peak of her popularity in the late 1930s, she earned $150,000 per film. As noted above, David O. Selznick used his friendship with Colbert and offering her a hefty fee ($265,000) to gain her participation in Since You Went Away. She sang and played piano in the Ernst Lubitsch musical The Smiling Lieutenant (1931), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. How have her other directors and co-stars described working with her? [55] The suspense film Sleep, My Love (1948) with Robert Cummings was a modest commercial success. I often wonder why, at the age of 9, I became so intrigued by her image; Id like to think that I sensed something that was reassuring. Not a great idea.The scene took days to film, and the milk slowly began to turn. On the set of her films, she could be the perfect diva, making demands on how she should be lit and how she should be photographed. Her death came three years after she suffered a stroke that put her in a wheelchair. And, on her way walking back past me after leaving the grocery store, she called out my name. Her real name was Lily Claudette Chauchoin. After the disaster of her first marriage, Colbert finally kicked her mother out of the house. why is`nt the actors guild doing up keep of stars burial place. Whether because of her extensive Broadway training, or merely because the actress had what it takes to behave naturally in front of the camera, the vast majority of her performances hold up remarkably well. It is located in a run down ares of Sprightstown on Highway 1. Films such as The Gilded Lily (1935), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) and No Time for Love (1943) kept fans coming to the theaters and the movie moguls happy. Thanks for your time! she was to me a quality of genuiness probable the same off screen. Thanks for the heads up on the Evertalk page Christina. From there, she ended up making her Broadway debut at the age of 20. Her co-star inThe Sign of the Cross, Fredric March, continually groped her on set. Her mother was an opera music fan. Here are 50 facts about the mysterious star. Most of the contenders were similarly deprived in all three areas but apparently lacked Colberts common sense. Whenever people think of Claudette Colbert, they think of, Claudette Colberts stardom fizzled in the early 1950s. I mentioned her business savvy, her reluctance to stretch, and rumors about her gender-orientation in a short undergraduate speech on her (hey, my professor did say, pick any topic). It was a foggy morning and the planes crew, according to cockpit recordings, lost track of the altitude. In 1954, Colbert turned down a million-dollar broadcast deal with NBC-TV,[9] but made a pact with CBS-TV to star in several teleplays. As the most commanding mistress in the French court, she bettered the lives of many and became a beloved figure. Would you say theres something that distinguishes Claudette Colbert from the other screwball comediennes of the. Colbert became something of a rebel, though in an unconventional way. It looked like a World War I no mans land. I never had the privilege of meeting her. After years of keeping everything hush-hush and tiptoeing around her family, the pressure became too much. [1] However, the mystery melodrama The Secret Fury (1950), distributed by RKO Studios, received mixed reviews. On July 30, 1996, Claudette died in Speightstown, Barbados. A year after that Claudette was again paired in a film with March, Honor Among Lovers (1931). 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