Claudette Colbert

She appeared opposite Maurice Chevalier, who commented of her, "She was lovely, brunette, talented and a delicious comedienne, and her English was perfect." While these films were popular with audiences, one of her films from this period, Young Man of Manhattan, her only collaboration with her first husband, Norman Foster, received negative notices. The magazine Picturegoer criticized Foster's performance and noted him as one of Colbert's weakest leading men, writing, "He did not seem to get any sincerity into his love scenes." She also appeared in Mysterious Mr. Parkes, which was a French-language version of Slightly Scarlet for the European market, although it was also screened in the United States.

She co-starred with Fredric March in Manslaughter (1930), and received good reviews for her performance as a rich girl, jailed for vehicular manslaughter. The New York Times wrote that she is capable of excellent acting. She was briefly paired with March, and they made four films together, including Dorothy Arzner's Honor Among Lovers (1931). She sang in her role opposite Maurice Chevalier in the Ernst Lubitsch musical The Smiling Lieutenant (1931), and was admired by critics for her ability to shrewdly play character role opposite the Miriam Hopkins. Read Less

After seeing the rushes filmed by the 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. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) with Henry Fonda was Colbert's first color film. However, she distrusted the relatively new Technicolor process and feared that she would not photograph well, preferring thereafter to be filmed in black and white.

At the peak of her popularity in the late 1930s, Colbert earned $150,000 a film.

During this time she began acting for CBS' popular Lux Radio Theater, making 22 appearances between 1935 and 1954. Read Less

Colbert, playing the supporting role of mother, received little attention, and the film was not a commercial success. The press occasionally referred to upcoming projects that did not exist, so Colbert instructed her agent to stop his attempts to generate interest in her as a film actress. After that, she had made no more films because there have been no offers."

Her occasional acting ventures were limited to theater and included performances on Broadway and in London in The Irregular Verb to Love (1963); The Kingfisher (1978) in which she co-starred with Rex Harrison, and Frederick Lonsdale's Aren't We All? (1985) also with Rex Harrison.

In 1987, Colbert appeared in a supporting role in the television miniseries The Two Mrs. Grenvilles. The production was a ratings success and was nominated for several awards. Colbert won a Golden Globe and received a nomination for an Emmy Award. This marked her final performance on television movie, however she continued to act in theater. Read Less

Colbert is buried in the Parish of St. Peter Cemetery in Barbados.

Colbert's only surviving relative was a niece, Coco, her brother's daughter. Read Less