The pure embodiment of 1930s Hollywood style, Claudette Colbert is perhaps now remembered best for her Academy Award-winning role in 1934’s It Happened One Night.
She was a prolific and talented actress in both screwball comedies like that Capra classic, and dramas such as Cecil B. DeMille’s Cleopatra.
Born Lily Emilie Chauchoin in France, her family later moved to America and she began acting in her teens. She eventually took the stage name Claudette Colbert, and shortly after her debut, according to Vanity Fair:
Critics salivated over her. “In Miss Colbert’s beauty there is a certain strangeness,” wrote one. “Her eyes are the only absolutely black eyes we ever saw. She laughs all the time and is filled with life and vivacity, and yet there is a certain mingling of virginity, an air of dignity.”
Likewise impressed with her physical assets, Walter Winchell dubbed her “Legs Colbert.”
Working steadily from the 1920s forward, on both stage and screen, Claudette Colbert’s unique features and singular talent helped make her an icon of the era, and one of the embodiments of 1930s Hollywood style.
Mary Astor, born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke in 1906, was discovered at age 14 and became one of the true beauties of the silent era. Ultimately she also became one of the few silent stars who successfully made the transition to talkies. Despite the initial assessment that her voice was “too deep” for sound, she went …
Well yes indeed, it is another (probably the last, though who can be sure) post about Baz Luhrmann’s film version of The Great Gatsby. We’ve previously discussed the Gatsby trailer and Tiffany & Co.’s Gatsby jewelry. Last up: this video highlighting the creation of the background and special effects…whether or not you are a fan …
Today’s Art Deco Hollywood Inspiration: a woman whose haircut inspired ladies everywhere to follow suit (the proto-“Rachel”?), a woman whose talent absolutely radiates off the screen, a silent film star, a stunning beauty and by all accounts one seriously fascinating lady: Louise Brooks. She has an incredible face that can look at times cute as …
Dolores Del Río was a silent screen star in the 1920s, a luminous icon of 1930s Hollywood, and then became one of Mexican film’s greatest stars. Born María de los Dolores Asúnsolo López-Negrete in 1904, she was one of the first and most beloved Latin American crossover stars in Hollywood. She had a torrid love affair …
1930s Hollywood Style | Claudette Colbert
The pure embodiment of 1930s Hollywood style, Claudette Colbert is perhaps now remembered best for her Academy Award-winning role in 1934’s It Happened One Night.
She was a prolific and talented actress in both screwball comedies like that Capra classic, and dramas such as Cecil B. DeMille’s Cleopatra.
Born Lily Emilie Chauchoin in France, her family later moved to America and she began acting in her teens. She eventually took the stage name Claudette Colbert, and shortly after her debut, according to Vanity Fair:
Critics salivated over her. “In Miss Colbert’s beauty there is a certain strangeness,” wrote one. “Her eyes are the only absolutely black eyes we ever saw. She laughs all the time and is filled with life and vivacity, and yet there is a certain mingling of virginity, an air of dignity.”
Likewise impressed with her physical assets, Walter Winchell dubbed her “Legs Colbert.”
Working steadily from the 1920s forward, on both stage and screen, Claudette Colbert’s unique features and singular talent helped make her an icon of the era, and one of the embodiments of 1930s Hollywood style.
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