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Claudette Colbert (; September 13, 1903 – July 30, 1996) was a French-born American actress, and a leading lady for two decades. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures. Initially associated with Paramount Pictures, Colbert later gradually shifted to working as a freelance actor. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in ''It Happened One Night'' (1934), the first woman born outside of North America to do so, and also received Academy Award nominations for ''Private Worlds'' (1935) and ''Since You Went Away'' (1944). With her round apple-face,〔 Colbert was known as an expert screwball comedienne,〔 but her dramatic range enabled her to easily encompass melodrama and to play characters ranging from vamps to housewives.〔 During her career, Colbert starred in more than sixty movies. She was the industry's biggest box-office star in 1938 and 1942.〔 By the mid 1950s, she had largely retired from the screen in favor of television and stage work, earning a Tony Award nomination for ''The Marriage-Go-Round'' in 1959. Her career tapered off during the early 1960s, but in the late 1970s she experienced a career resurgence in theater, earning a Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago theater work in 1980. For her television work in ''The Two Mrs. Grenvilles'' (1987) she won a Golden Globe Award and received an Emmy Award nomination. In 1999, the American Film Institute voted Colbert the 12th Greatest Female star of classic Hollywood cinema. ==Early years== Émilie "Lily" Chauchoin (pronounced “show-shwa”) was born in Saint-Mandé (an eastern suburb of Paris), France,〔(''COLBERT, Claudette'' ). British Film Institute. BFI.org.uk.〕 to Georges Claude Chauchoin (1867–1925) and Jeanne Marie (née Loew, 1877–1970).〔Quirk, ''Claudette Colbert," p. 5.〕 Despite being christened "Émilie," she was called "Lily," because she had an aunt living with her by the name of Émilie. The aunt was her maternal grandmother's adopted child, Emilie Loew (1878–1954), who wasn't a blood relative, worked as a dressmaker, and never married. Colbert's nickname "Lily" came from Jersey-born actress Lillie Langtry.〔 Jeanne Chauchoin and Colbert's grandmother Marie Augustine Loew (1842–1930)〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=MyHeritage Family Trees )〕 were born in the Channel Islands in the British Isles, and they were already fluent English speakers before coming to the U.S., though French was spoken in the family circle. Colbert's brother, Charles Auguste Chauchoin (1898–1971), was also born in Jersey. Jeanne held various occupations. While Georges Chauchoin had lost the sight in his right eye and hadn't settled into a profession, he was a pastry-shop owner in Paris and also worked in banking business but made some inappropriate investments. Marie Loew had already been to the U.S., and Georges' brother-in-law (surname Vedel) was already living in New York City. Marie was willing to help Georges financially but also encouraged him to try his luck in the U.S. After suffering business setbacks, in order to pursue more employment opportunities, her family including Marie and Emilie Loew emigrated into Manhattan in 1906.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】work=American Park Network )〕 They lived in a fifth-floor walk-up at 53rd Street. Colbert stated that climbing those stairs to the fifth floor every day until 1922 made her legs beautiful.〔 Her parents formally changed her real name to Lily Emilie Chauchoin.〔 Georges Chauchoin worked as a minor official at First National City Bank.〔 Colbert quickly learned English from her grandmother Marie Loew before entering public school〔 and remained fluent in French.〔Shipman, ''The Great Movie Stars'', p. 113.〕 She had hoped to become a painter since she could first grasp a pencil. In 1912 her family was naturalized in the U.S.〔 Jeanne clearly favored her son Charles Chauchoin over her daughter.〔 Colbert studied at Washington Irving High School (known for having a strong arts program), where her speech teacher, Alice Rossetter, encouraged her to audition for a play Rossetter had written. In 1919, Colbert made her stage debut at the Provincetown Playhouse in ''The Widow's Veil'' at the age of 15.〔 However, Colbert’s interest in the arts still leaned towards painting.〔 Intending to become a fashion designer, she attended the Art Students League of New York, where she paid for her art education by working as a dress-shop employee. After attending a party with the writer Anne Morrison, Colbert was offered a bit part in Morrison's play〔 and appeared on the Broadway stage in a small role in ''The Wild Westcotts'' (1923). Influenced by her father's middle name Claude,〔 she had been using the name Claudette instead of her first name Lily since high school, and for her stage name she added her maternal grandmother's maiden name Colbert. She formally changed her real name to Lily Claudette Chauchoin. Her father Georges died in 1925 and her grandmother Marie Loew died in New York in 1930.〔 After signing a five-year contract with the producer Al Woods, Colbert played ingenue roles on Broadway from 1925 through 1929. During this period she disliked being typecast as a French maid. Colbert later said, "In the very beginning, they wanted to give me French roles … That’s why I used to say my name Col-bert just as it is spelled instead of Col-baire. I did not want to be typed as ‘that French girl.’"〔Quirk, Lawrence J. ''Claudette Colbert : An Illustrated Biography.'' New York: Crown, 1985.〕 She received critical acclaim on Broadway in the production of ''The Barker'' (1927) as a carnival snake charmer. She reprised this role for the play's run in London's West End. Colbert was noticed by the theatrical producer Leland Hayward, who suggested her for the heroine role in ''For the Love of Mike'' (1927), a silent film now believed to be lost.〔(Classic Film Guide ).〕 The film didn't fare well at the box office.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Claudette Colbert」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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