Claudette Colbert

Claudette Colbert (koʊlˈbɛər/ kohl-BAIR, September 13, 1903, Saint-Mandé, France – July 30, 1996, Speightstown, Barbados), also known as Lily Claudette Chauchoin (ʃoʃwɛ̃/ show-shwan); was an American stage and film actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures. Initially contracted to Paramount Pictures, Colbert became one of the few major actresses of the period who worked freelance without long-term ties for the studio system that dominated American filmmaking.

With her Mid-Atlantic accent, versatility, witty dialogues, aristocratic demeanor, and flair for light comedy and emotional drama, Colbert became one of the popular stars of the 1930s and 1940s. In all, Colbert acted in more than 60 movies. Among her frequent co-stars were Fred MacMurray in seven films (1935–1949), and Fredric March in four (1930–1933).

Colbert won the Academy Award for Best Actress for It Happened One Night (1934), and received two other Academy Award nominations during her career for Private Worlds (1935) and Since You Went Away (1944). Her other notable films include Midnight (1939) and The Palm Beach Story (1942).

By the mid-1950s Colbert had turned from motion pictures to television and stage work; she earned a Tony Award nomination for The Marriage-Go-Round in 1959. Her career began to wane in the early 1960s. In the mid-1970s she experienced a resurgence in the theater, and received a Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago theater work in 1980. Her television appearance in The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1987) earned her a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award nomination.

In 1999, Colbert was named the 12th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute.