Claudette Colbert

Claudette Colbert

1903-09-13 Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France 75 Credits

Biography

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 ...

Known For

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Complete Filmography

Complicated Women

Complicated Women

2003

as Self (archive footage)

6.7
Acting

Looks at the stereotype-breaking films of the period from 1929, when movies entered the sound era, until 1934 when the Hays Code virtually neutered fi...

Frank Capra Jr. Remembers: 'It Happened One Night'

Frank Capra Jr. Remembers: 'It Happened One Night'

1999

as Self (archive footage)

6.3
Acting

The director's son gives interesting anecdotes about Frank Capra's making of the 1934 hit comedy, "It Happened One Night."

The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender

The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender

1997

as Self (archive footage)

5.2
Acting

A film scrapbook, images, phrases from our past, hiding their meanings behind veils. Let's lift those veils, one by one, to find how images, at one ti...

That's Entertainment! III

That's Entertainment! III

1994

as (archive footage)

7.0
Acting

Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929 to Brigadoon, from the first musical talkies to G...

Parrish

Parrish

1961

as Ellen McLean

5.4
Acting

Parrish McLean lives with his mother Ellen on Sala Post's tobacco plantation in the Connecticut River Valley. His mother winds up marrying Sala's riva...

Blithe Spirit

Blithe Spirit

1956

as Ruth Condomine

8.0
Acting

Television adaptation of Noël Coward's famous play about an unhappily married man plagued by the spirit of his dead previous wife.

Texas Lady

Texas Lady

1955

as Prudence Webb

5.4
Acting

Claudette Colbert plays Prudence Webb, who arrives in the wide-open town of Fort Ralston, Texas, to assume control of her late father's newspaper. He...

Royal Affairs in Versailles

Royal Affairs in Versailles

1954

as Mrs. de Montespan

6.8
Acting

Witty narration follows the history of Versailles Palace; founded by Louis XIII, enlarged by autocratic Louis XIV, whose personal affairs and amours, ...

Daughters of Destiny

Daughters of Destiny

1954

as Elizabeth Whitefield (segment "Elisabeth")

4.0
Acting

Three stories, very different in space and time. Lysistrata, a dancer from ancient times, Jeanne d'Arc, medieval warrior and Elisabeth, American war w...

The Planter's Wife

The Planter's Wife

1952

as Liz Frazer

6.2
Acting

The wife of a rubber plantation owner must put her marriage problems on hold when her family is forced to defend themselves during a native uprising.

Let's Make It Legal

Let's Make It Legal

1951

as Miriam Halsworth

6.3
Acting

A woman divorces her husband of 20 years because he gambles too much.

Thunder on the Hill

Thunder on the Hill

1951

as Sister Mary Bonaventure

6.5
Acting

Sister Mary presides over a convent where a convicted murderess, who is being escorted to Death Row, is stranded by bad weather. She is slowly becomin...

The Secret Fury

The Secret Fury

1950

as Ellen Ewing

5.4
Acting

The wedding of Ellen and David is halted by a stranger who insists that the bride is already married to someone else. Though the flabbergasted Ellen d...

Three Came Home

Three Came Home

1950

as Agnes Newton Keith

6.7
Acting

Borneo, 1941, during World War II. When the Japanese occupy the island, American writer Agnes Newton Keith is separated from her husband and imprisone...

Bride for Sale

Bride for Sale

1949

as Nora Shelley

6.0
Acting

Nora Shelley is a tax expert for the accounting company which is led by Paul Martin. She thinks she can find a suitable husband by inspecting their cl...

Family Honeymoon

Family Honeymoon

1948

as Katie Armstrong Jordan

5.7
Acting

Grant Jordan, bachelor botany professor, marries Katie, a widow with three kids, despite the machinations of Grant's former girlfriend Minna. But on t...

Sleep, My Love

Sleep, My Love

1948

as Alison Courtland

6.4
Acting

A woman wakes up in the middle of the night on board a train, but she can't remember how she got there. Danger and suspense ensue.

The Egg and I

The Egg and I

1947

as Betty MacDonald

7.0
Acting

World War II veteran Bob MacDonald surprises his new wife, Betty, by quitting his city job and moving them to a dilapidated farm in the country. While...

The Secret Heart

The Secret Heart

1946

as Lee Addams

6.3
Acting

Penny Addams lives in a constant state of depression stemming from the trauma of her father's death when she was just a young girl. Her brother, Chase...

Without Reservations

Without Reservations

1946

as Kit Madden

6.2
Acting

Kit Madden is traveling to Hollywood, where her best-selling novel is to be filmed. Aboard the train, she encounters Marines Rusty and Dink, who don't...

Tomorrow Is Forever

Tomorrow Is Forever

1946

as Elizabeth Hamilton

6.1
Acting

In 1918, Elizabeth MacDonald learns that her husband, John Andrew, has been killed in the war. Elizabeth bears John's son and eventually marries her k...

Guest Wife

Guest Wife

1945

as Mary Price

6.2
Acting

Christopher Price, a small-town bank executive, continues to be loyal to and idolize his boyhood friend, Joseph Jefferson Parker, a famous war corresp...

Practically Yours

Practically Yours

1944

as Peggy Martin

Acting

In this screwball comedy a WW2 US pilot bombs a Japanese aircraft carrier, is assumed to be dead, and then is misquoted in the press as fondly remembe...

Since You Went Away

Since You Went Away

1944

as Mrs. Anne Hilton

6.5
Acting

In 1943, several people enter, re-enter, and exit the difficult life of a Midwestern family whose patriarch has been called up to war, leaving behind ...

So Proudly We Hail

So Proudly We Hail

1943

as Lt. Janet 'Davy' Davidson

5.5
Acting

During the start of the Pacific campaign in World War II, Lieutenant Janet Davidson is the head of a group of U.S. military nurses who are trapped beh...

No Time for Love

No Time for Love

1943

as Katherine Grant

6.6
Acting

An upper-class female reporter is (despite herself) attracted to a hulking laborer digging a tunnel under the Hudson River.

Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6

Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6

1942

as Herself

6.0
Acting

Narrator Hopper covers two war benefit affairs, a garden party and a USO fashion show, at Pickfair, "The White House of Hollywood."

The Palm Beach Story

The Palm Beach Story

1942

as Geraldine 'Gerry' Jeffers

7.0
Acting

A New York inventor, Tom Jeffers, needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife, Gerry, decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying an...

Remember the Day

Remember the Day

1941

as Nora Trinell

6.6
Acting

Elderly schoolteacher Nora Trinell, waiting to meet presidential nominee Dewey Roberts, recalls him as her student back in 1916 and his relation to Da...

Skylark

Skylark

1941

as Lydia Kenyon

6.5
Acting

As her fifth wedding anniversary approaches, a woman realizes that she is fed up with always coming in second to her husband's advertising business. J...

Arise, My Love

Arise, My Love

1940

as Augusta Nash

6.3
Acting

A dashing pilot and a vivacious reporter have romantic and dramatic adventures in Europe as World War II begins.

Boom Town

Boom Town

1940

as Betsy Bartlett

6.9
Acting

Two buddies who rise from fly-by-night wildcatters to oil tycoons over a twenty year period both love the same woman. McMasters and Sand come to oil t...

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

1940

as Self (archive footage)

6.5
Acting

This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including Shirley Temple and Walt Disney, plus acceptance speeche...

Hollywood: Style Center of the World

Hollywood: Style Center of the World

1940

as Self

5.5
Acting

This short promotes the premise that movies often create a demand for the fashions seen in them. It starts with a vignette in rural America. A mother ...

Drums Along the Mohawk

Drums Along the Mohawk

1939

as Lana (Magdelana)

6.4
Acting

Albany, New York, 1776. After marrying, Gil and Lana travel north to settle on a small farm in the Mohawk River Valley, but soon their growing prosper...

It's a Wonderful World

It's a Wonderful World

1939

as Edwina Corday

6.4
Acting

Detective Guy Johnson's client, Willie Heywood, is framed for murder. While Guy hides him so he can catch the real killer, both of them are nabbed by ...

Midnight

Midnight

1939

as Eve Peabody

7.3
Acting

An unemployed American showgirl poses as Hungarian royalty to infiltrate Parisian high society.

Breakdowns of 1938

Breakdowns of 1938

1938

as Tatiana (archive footage) (uncredited)

5.0
Acting

Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1938.

Zaza

Zaza

1938

as Zaza

4.3
Acting

A seductive music hall star falls in love with a married aristocrat.

Hollywood Goes to Town

Hollywood Goes to Town

1938

as Self

7.0
Acting

This short shows how Hollywood gets ready for the world premiere of an "important" movie. The film celebrated here is Marie Antoinette (1938), which h...

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife

1938

as Nicole De Loiselle

7.0
Acting

American multi-millionaire Michael Brandon marries his eighth wife, Nicole, the daughter of a broke French Marquis. But she doesn't want to be only a ...

Tovarich

Tovarich

1937

as Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna Romanov

6.2
Acting

When upper-class Parisian Charles Dupont and his family hire Tina and Michel as their servants, they have no idea that the domestics are in fact Tatia...

I Met Him in Paris

I Met Him in Paris

1937

as Kay Denham

5.3
Acting

Kay Denham is off for a fling in Paris, leaving her suitor Berk behind. There, she meets two new suitors, Gene and George. Gene smooth-talks her into ...

Maid of Salem

Maid of Salem

1937

as Barbara Clarke

5.9
Acting

When a young woman named Barbara Clarke has an affair with adventurer Roger Coverman, it causes a scandal in the Puritanical town of Salem, Massachuse...

Under Two Flags

Under Two Flags

1936

as Cigarette

6.0
Acting

Sergeant Victor comes to the French Foreign Legion after taking the blame for his brother's crime. Cigarette falls in love with him though Major Doyle...

The Bride Comes Home

The Bride Comes Home

1935

as Jeannette Desmereau

4.8
Acting

A penniless socialite is hired by two young men as a front in their plan to start a magazine. Soon, however, they find themselves more interested in h...

The Fashion Side of Hollywood

The Fashion Side of Hollywood

1935

as Self

6.0
Acting

Compilation of lighting and costume tests from various films, most notably Sternberg's "The Devil Is a Woman" (1935).

She Married Her Boss

She Married Her Boss

1935

as Julia Scott

7.0
Acting

A super-efficient secretary at a department store falls for and marries her boss, but finds out that taking care of him at home (and especially his sp...

Private Worlds

Private Worlds

1935

as Dr. Jane Everest

6.0
Acting

At the Brentwood Asylum for the mentally ill, psychiatrist partners Jane Everest and Alex MacGregor are broken up by the new superintendent, Dr. Charl...

The Gilded Lily

The Gilded Lily

1935

as Marilyn David

6.5
Acting

Secretary Marilyn David falls in love with British aristocrat Charles Gray, to the dismay of her best friend, reporter Peter Dawes, who secretly loves...

Imitation of Life

Imitation of Life

1934

as Beatrice 'Bea' Pullman

7.0
Acting

A struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter. The two women start a successful business but face fami...

Cleopatra

Cleopatra

1934

as Cleopatra

6.1
Acting

The queen of Egypt barges the Nile and flirts with Mark Antony and Julius Caesar.

It Happened One Night

It Happened One Night

1934

as Ellie Andrews

7.8
Acting

A runaway heiress makes a deal with the rogue reporter trailing her but the mismatched pair end up stuck with each other when their bus leaves them be...

Four Frightened People

Four Frightened People

1934

as Judy Jones

6.2
Acting

Malaya tropical island romantic love triangle adventure thriller, about a cruise ship where Bubonic plague breaks out. Four people are able to leave t...

Torch Singer

Torch Singer

1933

as Sally Trent, aka Mimi Benton

5.2
Acting

When she can't support her illegitimate child, an abandoned young woman puts her up for adoption and pursues a career as a torch singer. Years later, ...

Three Cornered Moon

Three Cornered Moon

1933

as Elizabeth Rimplegar

5.7
Acting

Elizabeth Rimplegar inhabits a household populated by virtual lunatics. Her mother, Nellie, mishandled the family fortune, and, alas, the stock market...

I Cover the Waterfront

I Cover the Waterfront

1933

as Julie Kirk

5.1
Acting

An investigative reporter romances a suspected smuggler's daughter.

Tonight Is Ours

Tonight Is Ours

1933

as Princess Nadya

Acting

A princess is torn between her royal obligations and her love for a handsome Frenchman.

The Sign of the Cross

The Sign of the Cross

1932

as Empress Poppaea

6.2
Acting

A Roman soldier becomes torn between his love for a Christian woman and his loyalty to Emperor Nero.

The Phantom President

The Phantom President

1932

as Felicia Hammond

5.5
Acting

Too bad for presidential hopes of banker T.K. Blair; his party feels he has too little flair for savoir faire. But at a medicine show, the party bosse...

Make Me a Star

Make Me a Star

1932

as Claudette Colbert (uncredited)

5.5
Acting

A grocery clerk, longing to become a cowboy actor, goes to Hollywood in search of fame and fortune. Unfortunately, his acting ability is non-existent.

The Man from Yesterday

The Man from Yesterday

1932

as Sylvia Suffolk

4.8
Acting

A woman whose husband never came home from World War I finds herself in love with her doctor. She travels with him to Switzerland, and as they check i...

The Misleading Lady

The Misleading Lady

1932

as Helen Steele

Acting

A scheming socialite meets her match in the out-of-touch wildlife explorer she ventures to ensnare.

The Wiser Sex

The Wiser Sex

1932

as Margaret Hughes

6.0
Acting

A young woman goes undercover to gather evidence to free her boyfriend, an attorney who has been framed for a murder he didn't commit.

His Woman

His Woman

1931

as Sally Clark

3.5
Acting

Tough Caribbean freighter Captain Sam Whelan engages Sally Clark, a tramp masquerading as a missionary's daughter, to care for an abandoned baby on bo...

Secrets of a Secretary

Secrets of a Secretary

1931

as Helen Blake

5.5
Acting

Society girl becomes a social secretary when her father dies penniless. From a story by Charles Brackett.

The Smiling Lieutenant

The Smiling Lieutenant

1931

as Franzi

6.9
Acting

An amorous lieutenant is forced to marry a socially awkward princess, though he tries to keep his violin-playing girlfriend on the side.

The House That Shadows Built

The House That Shadows Built

1931

as (archive footage)

7.0
Acting

The House That Shadows Built (1931) is a short feature, roughly 48 minutes long, from Paramount Pictures made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the...

Honor Among Lovers

Honor Among Lovers

1931

as Julia Traynor

5.7
Acting

Jerry Stafford falls for his secretary, Julia Traynor, but instead she marries a shady character who causes trouble for both of them.

Manslaughter

Manslaughter

1930

as Lydia Thorne

5.5
Acting

A spoiled young rich girl is sent to prison for accidentally running down a pedestrian. There she learns about a life and people she had never even im...

The Big Pond

The Big Pond

1930

as Barbara Billings

5.7
Acting

A singing Frenchman meets an American heiress and gets a job at her father's chewing-gum factory.

Young Man of Manhattan

Young Man of Manhattan

1930

as Ann Vaughn

5.5
Acting

Two flappers try to get their newspaper reporter boyfriends to pay attention to them.

The Lady Lies

The Lady Lies

1929

as Joyce Roamer

5.0
Acting

Much to the disapproval of his snooty children, a wealthy widowed attorney takes up with a beautiful but "lower-class" woman.

The Hole in the Wall

The Hole in the Wall

1929

as Jean Oliver

5.2
Acting

Mrs. Ramsey sent Jean Oliver to prison on a false charge. To get even, Jean (disguised as Madame Mystera) plans to kidnap her daughter and turn her in...

For the Love of Mike

For the Love of Mike

1927

as Mary

5.0
Acting

Three men join forces to raise an adopted son. A lost film.