Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert | |
---|---|
Washington Irving High School | |
Alma mater | Art Students League of New York |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1924–1987 |
Known for | It Happened One Night Cleopatra The Palm Beach Story Since You Went Away |
Political party | Republican |
Spouses | |
Awards | See below |
Émilie Chauchoin
With her Mid-Atlantic accent,[3] witty dialogues, aristocratic demeanor, and flair[4] for light comedy and emotional drama, Colbert's versatility led to her becoming one of the most popular stars of the 1930s and 1940s.[5][2] In all, Colbert starred in more than 60 movies. Among her frequent co-stars were Fred MacMurray, in seven films (1935–1949), and Fredric March, in four films (1930–1933).
She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for It Happened One Night (1934), and received two other Academy Award nominations during her career. Colbert's other notable films include Cleopatra (1934), The Palm Beach Story (1942) and Since You Went Away (1944).
By the mid-1950s, Colbert had turned from motion pictures to television and stage work, earning a
In 1999, the American Film Institute named Colbert the 12th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema.
Early life
Émilie "Lily" Chauchoin was born in 1903 in Saint-Mandé, France,[6] to Jeanne (née Loew with the British Channel Islands heritage) and Georges Chauchoin.[2][7][1]
Although christened "Émilie", she was called "Lily" after
To pursue more employment opportunities, Colbert and her family, including Marie and Emily Loew, emigrated to Manhattan in 1906.[7][11]
They lived in a fifth-floor walk-up at 53rd Street. Colbert stated that she was always climbing those stairs until the age of 18.[12] Her parents formally changed her legal name to Lily Claudette Chauchoin.[4] Georges worked as a minor official at First National City Bank,[8] and the family was naturalized in 1912. Before Colbert entered public school, she quickly learnt British English from Marie,[13] and grew up as bilingual speaking both English and French.[5][14] She had hoped to become a painter ever since she had grasped her first pencil. Her grandmother was still blonde hair,[15] her mother was an opera music fan, and her aunt was a dressmaker.[8] Her brother was 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) tall, so was drafted 1917 as Private first class. After WWI, he studied in the School of Military Aeronautics at Cornell University.[16]
Colbert studied at
Intending to become a fashion designer, she attended the Art Students League of New York, where she paid for her art education by working in a dress shop. After attending a party with writer Anne Morrison, Colbert was offered a bit part in Morrison's play,[17] and appeared on the Broadway stage in a small role in The Wild Westcotts (1923). She had used the name Claudette, instead of Lily, since high school; for her stage name, she added her paternal grandmother's maiden name, Colbert.[5][18] Her father died in 1925,[4] her grandmother died in New York in mid-1930s at age 88.[19]
Career
The beginnings, 1924–1927
When a string of mostly short-lived shows that enabled her to gain experience in different genres in Chicago, Washington D.C., Boston, Connecticut, in 1924 the actor
The early films, 1928–1934
In 1928, Colbert signed a contract with Paramount Pictures.[4] A demand existed for stage actors who could handle dialogue in the new "talkies", and Colbert's elegance and musical voice were among her best assets.[2] Her distinctive high-cheekboned
beauty drew attention in
Colbert's career got a further boost when she played the supporting role as
In 1933, Colbert renegotiated her contract with Paramount to allow her to appear in films for other studios. The pioneering screwball comedy film[32] Three-Cornered Moon reached No. 9 in the National Board of Review Awards in 1933.[33] Her musical voice, a contralto that footnotes list as being coached by Bing Crosby, was also featured in Torch Singer (1933),[34] co-starring Ricardo Cortez and David Manners. Partly as results, she was ranked as the year's 13th box-office star.[35][36] By 1933, she had appeared in 21 films, averaging four per year. Many of her early films were commercial successes,[2] and her performances were admired.[5] Colbert’s leading roles were down-to-earth and diverse, highlighting her versatility.[21]
Colbert was initially reluctant to appear in the screwball comedy It Happened One Night (1934). 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.[37] She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film.[38]
In Cleopatra (1934), Colbert played the title role opposite Warren William and Henry Wilcoxon. It was the highest-grossing picture of that year in the United States.[2][27] Thereafter, Colbert did not wish to be portrayed as overtly sexual and later refused such roles.[39] She was loaned to Universal Pictures for Imitation of Life (1934), which was another box-office success.[14][27][40] Those three films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in the next year; Colbert is the only actress to date to star in three films nominated for Best Motion Picture in the same year.
Mid-career, 1935–1944
Colbert's rising profile internationally allowed her to renegotiate her contract, which raised her salary. For 1935 and 1936, she was listed sixth and eighth in Quigley's annual "Top-Ten Money-Making Stars Poll".[41] She received an Academy Award nomination for her role in the hospital drama Private Worlds (1935).[42]
In 1936, Colbert signed a new contract with Paramount, making her Hollywood's highest-paid actress.[43] When the studio renewed her contract in 1938, she was again reported to be Hollywood's top-paid actress, with a salary of $426,924.[44] At the peak of her popularity in the late 1930s, she earned $150,000 per film.[45] In 1937 and 1938, she was listed as the fourteenth and sixth (respectively) top money-making woman in the U.S.[4]
Colbert spent the rest of the 1930s deftly alternating between romantic comedies and dramas: She Married Her Boss (1935) with Melvyn Douglas; The Gilded Lily (1935) and The Bride Comes Home (1935), both with Fred MacMurray; Under Two Flags (1936) with Ronald Colman; Zaza (1939) with Herbert Marshall; Midnight (1939) with Don Ameche; and It's a Wonderful World (1939) with James Stewart.
Colbert was 5 ft 5 in (165 cm) tall.[46] Columnist Hedda Hopper wrote that Colbert placed her career "ahead of everything, save possibly her marriage", and that she had a strong sense of what was best for her, and a "deep-rooted desire to be in shape, efficient, and under control".[47] A biographer wrote that Colbert "helped define femininity for her generation with her chic manner".[48] Colbert once said, "I know what's best for me—after all, I have been in the Claudette Colbert business longer than anybody."[49][50]
Colbert was very particular about how she appeared on-screen, and believed her face was difficult to light and photograph. She insisted on having the right side of her face away from the camera when shooting close-up, because of a small bump from a broken nose as a child.[51] This sometimes required movie sets to be redesigned.[17] During the filming of Tovarich (1937), director Anatole Litvak dismissed one of her favored cameramen. After seeing the rushes filmed by his replacement, Colbert refused to continue. She insisted on hiring her own cameraman, and offered to waive her salary if the film went over budget as a result.[43] Gary Cooper was terrified at the prospect of working with Colbert in his first comedy, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938), considering Colbert an expert in the genre.[52]
Colbert learnt about lighting and cinematography, and refused to begin filming until she was satisfied that she would be shown to her best advantage.[53] Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) with Henry Fonda was her first color film, and one of the year's top-20 grossing pictures. However, she mistrusted the relatively new Technicolor process, and fearing she would not photograph well, preferred thereafter to be filmed in black-and-white.[54]
During this time, she began performing on
In 1940, Colbert was offered a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures that would have paid her $200,000 a year; she declined the offer after learning she could command $150,000 per film as a freelance artist. She secured roles in several prestigious films and this period marked the height of her earning power.[43] As a supporting role, Colbert co-starred with Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy in Boom Town, released by MGM in 1940 and was the highest-grossing picture of the year in the United States. However, Colbert once said that Arise, My Love (1940) was her favorite of all her movies.[20][57][58] It won the Academy Award for Best Story.
Preston Sturges' mature The Palm Beach Story (1942) had been accepted some re-evaluation over the years as a comedic classic,[59] where she did one of the best performances of her film career,[60] which featured such a thing as beauty that speaks of intelligence.[61]
During filming of So Proudly We Hail! (1943), a rift occurred between Colbert and co-star Paulette Goddard, who preferred working with the film's other co-star, Veronica Lake, over Colbert; Colbert felt that the younger actress had treated her like an "old lady". Goddard said that Colbert "was at [my] eyes at every moment". Goddard insisted that portions of the script be rewritten so that her role was as large as Colbert's.[47] This was unusual for Colbert, who was otherwise known for maintaining high standards of professionalism.[49][5]
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). Colbert was initially reluctant to appear as a mother of teenaged children, but Selznick eventually convinced her to take the role.[62] Released in June 1944, the film made almost $5 million at the US box office and was the year's third highest-grossing picture. Critic James Agee praised aspects of the film, but particularly Colbert's work.[63] Partly as a result, she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.[64]
Middle years, 1945–1961
In 1945, Colbert ended her association with Paramount and continued to freelance in such films as Guest Wife (1945) with Don Ameche. She starred opposite John Wayne in RKO's Without Reservations (1946), which grossed $3 million in the U.S. While working on it, director Mervyn LeRoy described Colbert as an "interesting" lady to work with, recalling her habit of not watching where she was going and constantly bumping into things.[65] Praised for her sense of style and fashion, Colbert ensured throughout her career that she was impeccably groomed and costumed. For the melodrama Tomorrow Is Forever (1946), Jean Louis was hired to create 18 changes of wardrobe for her.[66] Tomorrow is Forever and The Secret Heart (also 1946) were also substantial commercial successes,[27] and Colbert's popularity during 1947 led her to place 9th in Quigley's "Top Ten Money-Making Stars Poll".[41]
She achieved great success opposite Fred MacMurray in the comedy The Egg and I (1947), which was the year's second-highest grossing picture, and later acknowledged as the 12th-most profitable American film of the 1940s.[67] The suspense film Sleep, My Love (1948) with Robert Cummings was a modest commercial success. By 1949, she still ranked as the 22nd-highest box-office star.[68]
The romantic comedy Bride for Sale (1949), wherein Colbert played part of a love triangle that included George Brent and Robert Young, was well-reviewed.[69] Her performance in the Pacific war film Three Came Home (1950) was also praised by critics.[2] However, the mystery melodrama The Secret Fury (1950), distributed by RKO Studios, received mixed reviews.[69] During this period, Colbert was unable to work beyond 5 p.m. each day due to orders from her doctor.[70] While Colbert still looked like a young woman,[12] she found it difficult making the transition to playing more mature characters as she entered middle age.[47] She said, "I'm a very good comedienne, but I was always fighting that image, too."[45]
In 1949, Colbert was selected to play Margo Channing in All About Eve, because producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz felt that she best represented the style he envisioned for the part. However, Colbert severely injured her back, forcing her to abandon the picture shortly before filming began. Bette Davis was cast, instead, and received an Oscar nomination for the film. In later life, Colbert said, "I just never had the luck to play bitches."[45]
In the early 1950s, Colbert traveled to Europe for tax purposes[12] and joined fewer films. The Planter's Wife (1952) was a success in British market.[71] She played a small role in Royal Affairs in Versailles (1954), her only film with a French director (Sacha Guitry).[72] It was screened in the United States in 1957.[73]
In 1954, Colbert turned down a million-dollar broadcast deal with
In 1956, Colbert hosted the 28th Academy Awards ceremony.
In 1957, she was cast as Lucy Bradford, wife of schoolteacher Jim Bradford (Jeff Morrow), in the "Blood in the Dust" episode of CBS's Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre. In the story, Jim refuses to back down when a gunman orders him to leave town, and Lucy is distressed because Jim hasn't fired a weapon since he was in the Civil War.[74]
In 1958, she returned to Broadway in
In the show's 1960 episode "So Young the Savage Land", she played Beth Brayden, who becomes disillusioned with her rancher-husband Jim (John Dehner) when he turns to violence to protect their property.[75]
She made a brief return to the screen, played the supporting role as the mother of Troy Donahue in Parrish (1961). It was her last appearance on the big screen. The film was a commercial success,[76] but Colbert received little attention, and she directed her agent to end any further attempts to generate interest in her as a TV actress.[77] Even at this period, she still looked younger than her actual age.[78]
Later career, 1963–1987
Colbert made successful Broadway appearances in The Irregular Verb to Love (1963); in The Kingfisher (1978), with co-star Rex Harrison; and in Frederick Lonsdale's Aren't We All? (1985), also with Harrison. She told an interviewer, "Audiences always sound like they're glad to see me, and I'm damned glad to see them."[2]
She appeared in a supporting role in the television
Modern critics have pointed out that Colbert had a unique set of assets—her heart-shaped face, distinct facial features,[4] curly hair,[2] aristocratic manner, relaxed acting, little mysterious, and intelligent style,[80]—that distinguishes her from other classic cinema stars through the 1930s and 1940s.[49] In her comedies, she invariably played shrewd, self-reliant women; unlike many of her contemporaries, though, she rarely engaged in physical comedy. Her characters were more likely to be observers and commentators.[81]
Personal life
In 1928, Colbert married actor and director Norman Foster, with whom she co-starred in the Broadway show The Barker, and in the film Young Man of Manhattan (1930), for which he received negative reviews as one of her weakest leading men.[14] Their marriage remained a secret for many years while they lived in separate homes.[4]
In Los Angeles, Colbert shared a home with her mother, Jeanne Chauchoin,[82] but her domineering mother disliked Foster and reputedly did not allow him into the home.[83] Colbert and Foster divorced in 1935 in Mexico.[4]
On Christmas Eve, 1935, in
Jeanne reportedly envied her daughter,[12] preferred her son's company, and made Colbert's brother Charles serve as his sister's agent. Charles used the surname Wendling, borrowed from Jeanne's paternal grandmother Rose Wendling.[8] He served as Colbert's business manager for a time,[7] and was credited with negotiating some of her more lucrative contracts in the late 1930s and early 1940s.[43][8] He enlisted 1942 into WWII.[16] Colbert's uncle Charles Loew died in 1953, Los Angeles,[10] and her aunt Emily Loew died in 1954, New York.[85]
Although virtually retired from motion pictures since the mid-1950s, Colbert was still financially solvent enough to maintain an upscale lifestyle. She had a country house in
In 1958, she met Verna Hull, a wealthy painter, photographer and the stepdaughter of a
Colbert was a lifelong Republican.[86]
Final years and death
For years, Colbert divided her time between her Manhattan apartment and her vacation home in Speightstown, Barbados.[2] The latter, purchased from a British gentleman and nicknamed Bellerive, was the island's only plantation house fronting the beach.[12] However, her permanent address remained Manhattan.
When Colbert's mother Jeanne died in 1970,[4] and her brother Charles died in 1971, Florida,[16] her only surviving relative was her brother's daughter, Coco Lewis.[45][87]
Colbert sustained a series of small strokes during the last three years of her life. She died in 1996 in Barbados,[2] where she had employed a housekeeper and two cooks. She was 92. Her remains were transported to New York City for cremation and funeral services.[12]
A
Colbert never had children. She left most of her estate, estimated at $3.5 million and including her Manhattan apartment and Bellerive, to a long-time friend, Helen O'Hagan, a retired director of corporate relations at Saks Fifth Avenue. Colbert met O'Hagan in 1961 on the set of Parrish, her last film,[89][90] and they became best friends around 1970.[4]
After Pressman's death, Colbert instructed her friends to treat O'Hagan as they had Pressman, "as her spouse".[91] Although O'Hagan was financially comfortable without the generous bequest, Bellerive was sold for over $2 million to David Geffen. Colbert's will also left $150,000 to her niece Coco Lewis; a trust of over $100,000 to UCLA, in Pressman's memory; and $75,000 to Marie Corbin, her Bajan housekeeper.[12]
Awards and honors
Year | Award | Category | Film | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1935 | Academy Award | Best Actress | It Happened One Night | Won | [38] |
1936 | Private Worlds | Nominated | [42] | ||
1945 | Since You Went Away | Nominated | [64] | ||
1959 | Tony Award
|
Best Actress | The Marriage-Go-Round | Nominated | [citation needed] |
1960 | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Star at 6812 Hollywood Blvd. | — | Inducted | [92] |
1980 | Sarah Siddons Award | The Kingfisher | Won | [93] | |
1984 | Film Society of Lincoln Center
|
Lifetime Achievement Award | — | Won | [94] |
1985 | Drama Desk | Drama Desk Special Award | Aren't We All | Won | [95] |
1987 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actress
|
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles | Nominated | [citation needed] |
1988 | Golden Globe Award | Best Supporting Actress in a Series | Won | [citation needed] | |
1989 | Kennedy Center Honors | Lifetime Achievement Award | — | Won | [96] |
1990 | San Sebastián International Film Festival | Donostia Award | — | Won | [97] |
1999 | American Film Institute | Greatest Female Stars | — | 12th | [98] |
Selected filmography
The following is a list of feature films in which Colbert had top billing.
- The Hole in the Wall (1929)
- Young Man of Manhattan (1930)
- Manslaughter (1930)
- Honor Among Lovers (1931)
- Secrets of a Secretary (1931)
- The Wiser Sex (1932)
- Misleading Lady(1932)
- The Man from Yesterday (1932)
- Tonight Is Ours (1933)
- Three-Cornered Moon (1933)
- Torch Singer (1933)
- Four Frightened People (1934)
- It Happened One Night (1934)
- Cleopatra (1934)
- Imitation of Life (1934)
- The Gilded Lily (1935)
- Private Worlds (1935)
- She Married Her Boss (1935)
- The Bride Comes Home (1935)
- Maid of Salem (1937)
- I Met Him in Paris (1937)
- Tovarich (1937)
- Zaza (1939)
- Midnight (1939)
- It's a Wonderful World (1939)
- Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
- Arise, My Love (1940)
- Skylark (1941)
- Remember the Day (1941)
- The Palm Beach Story (1942)
- No Time for Love (1943)
- So Proudly We Hail! (1943)
- Since You Went Away (1944)
- Practically Yours (1944)
- Guest Wife (1945)
- Tomorrow Is Forever (1946)
- Without Reservations (1946)
- The Secret Heart (1946)
- The Egg and I (1947)
- Sleep, My Love (1948)
- Family Honeymoon (1949)
- Bride for Sale (1949)
- Three Came Home (1950)
- The Secret Fury (1950)
- Thunder on the Hill (1951)
- Let's Make It Legal (1951)
- The Planter's Wife (1952)
- Texas Lady (1955)
See also
References
Notes
- ^ a b Archives du Val-de-Marne. "Register of births of Saint-Mandé, 1903-1905, snapshot 48/188, certificate No. 171, Chauchoin Émilie, 14 septembre 1903, légitime". archives.valdemarne.fr. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
[…] Acte de naissance de Chauchoin Émilie, du sexe féminin, née le 13 septembre courant à 8 h du matin au domicile de ses père et mère, rue Armand-Carrel No. 5. Fille de Georges Claude [Chauchoin], âgé de 36 ans, pâtissier, et de Loew Jeanne Marie, son épouse, âgée de 25 ans , sans profession. […].
Translation of this quotation : "[…] Birth certificate of Chauchoin Émilie, female, born on September 13 running at 8 o'clock in the morning at her father and mother’s home, rue Armand-Carrel No. 5. Daughter of Georges Claude [Chauchoin], aged 36, pastry chef, and Loew Jeanne Marie, his wife, aged 25 [this age here stated and transcribed appears erroneous because it is actually 26 since her mother was born on 27 October 1876], without profession. […]" - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Pace, Eric (July 31, 1996). "Claudette Colbert, Unflappable Heroine of Screwball Comedies, Is Dead At 92". The New York Times. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
- ^ a b Dick, Bernard F. Claudette Colbert: She Walked in Beauty. pp. 24–25
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Claudette Colbert profile". TCM. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e "Claudette Colbert – Britannica Concise". Retrieved October 23, 2016.
- ^ COLBERT, Claudette, British Film Institute. BFI.org.uk.
- ^ a b c Quirk, "Claudette Colbert", p. 5.
- ^ a b c d e f g Dick, Bernard F. (2008). "Chapter 1. Lily of Saint-Mandé". Claudette Colbert: She Walked in Beauty. University Press of Mississippi.
- ^ Emily Loew, Find a Grave, PUBLISHED 6 Oct 2023, accessed November 7, 2023
- ^ a b Charles Louis Loew, Find a Grave, PUBLISHED 6 Oct 2023, accessed November 7, 2023
- ^ "Ellis Island National Monument: Destined For Fame". American Park Network. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "A Perfect Star". Vanity Fair. January 1998. Retrieved May 13, 2018.
- ^ "Hollywood Legend Claudette Colbert Dies". Los Angeles Times. July 31, 1996.
- ^ a b c d Shipman, The Great Movie Stars, pp. 114–115.
- ^ Marie Augustine Loew, Find a Grave, PUBLISHED 6 Oct 2023, accessed November 7, 2023
- ^ a b c Charles Auguste Wendling, Find a Grave, PUBLISHED 31 Jul 2019, accessed November 7, 2023
- ^ a b c Hal Erickson. "Claudette Colbert biography". All Movie Guide. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
- ^ "Claudette Colbert, actress". The Beaver County Times. The Associated Press. July 31, 1996.
- ^ Dick, Bernard F. (2008). "Chapter 4". Claudette Colbert: She Walked in Beauty. University Press of Mississippi.
- ^ a b Tom Vallance (August 1, 1996). "Obituary:Claudette Colbert". Independent. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
- ^ a b Jan Richardson. "Claudette Colbert". The Movie Profiles & Premiums Newsletter – Immortal Ephemera. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
- ^ Quirk, Lawrence J. Claudette Colbert: An Illustrated Biography. New York: Crown, 1985.
- ^ "A Kiss in a Taxi". IBDB. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
- ^ a b Claudette Colbert The French Lady of Hollywood Netflix, James David Patrick, access-date=May 09, 2023
- ^ Basinger, Jeanine; Audrey E. Kupferberg. "Claudette Colbert – Films as actress". Retrieved December 3, 2007.
- ^ Classic Film Guide.
- ^ a b c d e f "Claudette Colbert Movies". Ultimate Movie Rankings. January 29, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
- ^ Quirk, p. 64 citing The New York Times.
- ^ Hal Erickson. "Manslaughter". All Movie Guide. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
- ^ "Claudette Colbert (1903–1996)". Hollywood's Golden Age. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
- ISBN 0-8065-0657-1.
- ^ Three-Cornered Moon AllMovie review by Craig Butler, accessed October 28, 2023
- ^ Three-Cornered Moon profile Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, nbrmp.org; accessed August 4, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-7864-9833-8.
- ^ Schallert, Edwin. "Stars' Box-Office Ratings for Past Season Given: Survey Shows Sophisticates Slipping Fast. Will Rogers Tops All; Shirley Temple and Crosby Shoot Up", Los Angeles Times, December 9, 1934, p. A1.
- ^ Motion Picture Herald, December 1, 1934; accessed October 13, 2016
- ISBN 0-88176-152-4.
- ^ a b "The 7th Academy Awards (1935) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Retrieved August 27, 2013.
- ISBN 0-7064-0387-8.
- ^ "Early Years". University of Virginia. 2002. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
- ^ a b "The 2006 Motion Picture Almanac, Top Ten Money-Making Stars". Quigley Publishing Company. Archived from the original on January 14, 2013. Retrieved August 18, 2006.
- ^ a b "The 8th Academy Awards (1936) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Retrieved August 27, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Shipman, The Great Movie Stars, p. 117.
- ISBN 0-7064-2092-6.
- ^ a b c d "Oscar-Winner Claudette Colbert dead at 92". Tributes.com. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
- ^ "Claudette Colbert Biography". listal.com. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
- ^ ISBN 0-312-03403-2.
- ISBN 0-7474-0593-X.
- ^ a b c Andre Soares (August 12, 2011). "Claudette Colbert Q&A Pt. 1: 'The Claudette Colbert Business'". Alt Film Guide. Retrieved May 13, 2018.
- ^ Legends of Hollywood: The Life Claudette Colbert. CreateSpace. 2014.[ISBN missing][page needed]
- ^ Helen Dudar, "Claudette Colbert Revels in a Happy, Starry Past", The New York Times, October 27, 1991, p. A-1
- ISBN 0-399-11542-0.
- ISBN 1-55611-101-0.
- ^ Finler, p. 24.
- ^ "Audio Classics Archive Radio Logs: 'Lux Radio Theater'". Retrieved November 23, 2007.
- ^ "The Screen Guild Radio Programs". Radio Program Logs – The Digital Deli Online. Archived from the original on May 11, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ "Claudette Colbert – Pure Panache – Biography". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2007.
- ^ "Claudette Colbert Biography (1903–1996)". Lenin Imports. Archived from the original on June 10, 2013. Retrieved November 25, 2007.
- ^ An 80-Year-Old Romantic Comedy Leaves VFX Artists Baffled By Mystery Of One Key Shot SCREEN RANT, by RACHEL ULATOWSKI, published JUN 11, 2023, accessed October 31, 2023
- ^ The Palm Beach Story AllMovie review by Richard Gilliam, accessed October 31, 2023
- ^ The Palm Beach Story: Love in a Warm Climate The Criterion Collection, by film critic Stephanie Zacharek, published JAN 21, 2015, accessed October 31, 2023
- ^ Haver, pp. 338–340.
- ^ Haver, p. 342.
- ^ a b "The 17th Academy Awards (1945) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Retrieved August 27, 2013.
- ^ Stephanie Thames. "Without Reservations (1946)". TCM. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
- ^ Jewell and Harbin, p. 209.
- ^ Finler, p. 216.
- ^ "Filmdom Ranks Its Money-Spinning Stars Best At Box-Office". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. March 30, 1950. p. 12. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
- ^ a b Jewell and Harbin, p. 248.
- ISBN 0-688-15311-9.
- ^ "Phillip to see 'Cruel Sea' premiere". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 33, 225. Victoria, Australia. February 27, 1953. p. 16. Retrieved September 5, 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Soares, Andre (January 12, 2005). "Best Films – 1954". Alternative Film Guide.
- ^ Bosley Crowther (March 9, 1957). "Screen: 'Royal Affairs in Versailles'; French Import Aims at Palace Pageantry Guitry, the Director, Stars as Louis XIV The Cast". The New York Times.
- ^ "Blood in the Dust on 'Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre'". IMDb. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
- ^ "So Young the Savage Land on Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre". tv.com. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
- ^ "All-Time Top Grossers", Variety, 8 January 1964 p 69
- ^ Shipman, The Great Movie Stars, p. 119.
- ^ Quirk, "Claudette Colbert", p. 181.
- ^
Sonneborn, Liz (2002). A to Z of American Women in the Performing Arts. New York : Facts on File. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-8160-4398-9.
- ISBN 9780870001802.
- ISBN 0-300-09903-7.
- ^ Andre Soares (August 12, 2011). "Claudette Colbert Q&A Pt. 3". Alt Film Guide.
- ^ DiLeo, John (October 5, 2008). "Star Light, Star Bright". The Washington Post. p. BW08. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
- ^ Dick, Bernard F. (2008). "Chapter 12. The Last Picture Show". Claudette Colbert: She Walked in Beauty. University Press of Mississippi
- ^ Dick, Bernard F. (2008). Claudette Colbert: She Walked in Beauty. University Press of Mississippi. p. 61.
- ^ Granger, Derek (August 2, 1996). "Obituary: Claudette Colbert". The Independent. London. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
- ^ Amy Fine Collins (January 1998). "A Perfect Star". Vanity Fair.
- ^ Dick, Bernard F. (2008). "Chapter 17. Envoi". Claudette Colbert: She Walked in Beauty. University Press of Mississippi.
- ^ Stephanie Harvin, "O'Hagan, a Legend at Saks", Post and Courier, August 23, 1996
- ^ "Colbert's Will Provides for Long-Time Friends", Austin American-Statesman, August 10, 1996, p. B12
- ISBN 0670030171.
- ^ "Walk of Fame Stars-Claudette Colbert". Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
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