HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS CLAURETTE COLBERT BORN 1903 SEPTEMBER 13
HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS CLAURETTE COLBERT BORN 1903 SEPTEMBER 13 SYNOPSIS Colbert moved with her family to New York City about 1910. While studying fashion design, she landed a small role in the Broadway play The Wild Westcotts (1923) after meeting the playwright at a party. She had begun using the name Claudette instead of Lily in high school, and for her stage name she added her paternal grandmother’s maiden name, Colbert. CAREER Although The Wild Westcotts had only a short run, Colbert enjoyed acting enough to give up thoughts of working as a fashion designer. Other Broadway and touring productions followed, and she achieved theatre stardom in The Barker (1927), playing a carnival snake charmer opposite Norman Foster, to whom she was married from 1928 to 1934. (Her second marriage, to Joel Pressman, lasted from 1935 until his death in 1968.) While still starring in The Barker, Colbert made her film debut in the Frank Capra-directed silent movie...