Charles Boyer
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| Charles Boyer | |
 from the film Love Affair (1939) |
|
| Born | August 28, 1899 Figeac, Lot, Midi-Pyrénées, France |
| Died | August 26, 1978, aged 78 Phoenix, Arizona, USA |
| Spouse(s) | Pat Paterson (1934-1978, until her death) |
| Notable roles | Gregory Anton in Gaslight (1944) |
| Academy Awards | |
|---|---|
| 1943 Lifetime Achievement Award | |
Charles Boyer (August 28, 1899 – August 26, 1978) was a French-American actor who starred in several classic Hollywood films, TV director and TV producer.
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[edit] Early years
Born in Figeac, Lot, Midi-Pyrénées, France, the ultimate romantic ladies' man - suave and sophisticated beyond any woman's wildest dreams - was just a shy small-town boy who discovered the movies and theater at the age of eleven. Working as a hospital orderly during World War I, Charles Boyer started to come out of himself performing comic sketches for the soldiers there. He went to Paris to finish his education but spent most of his time pursuing a theatrical career. Though committed to an acting career in his teens, Boyer nevertheless acceded to his mother's request that he graduate from the Sorbonne (with a degree in philosophy) before studying acting at the Conservatoire de Paris. In 1920, his quick memory won him a shot at replacing the leading man in a stage production, and he scored an immediate hit. In the 1920s he was not only the most popular romantic leading man on the Paris stage but was steadily employed in silent films. He had done many films in France and been very successful. His first film was Man of the Sea (1920). He went to Hollywood to make the French remake of Wallace Beery's great American movie, The Big House (1930). Since he had been such a big star in France he was taking a great risk by leaving the French film industry. He fell for Hollywood and decided to stay to take his chance in American films. At first Boyer did film roles only for the money, but with the coming of sound, his deep voice made him the perfect romantic star.[1]
[edit] Stardom
MGM signed him to a contract, and he loved life in the United States. First stay in Hollywood was from 1929-31. Hollywood beckoned despite the fact that, though quite fluent in German, Italian and Spanish, Charles had absolutely no English. But it wasn't much of a handicap during the silent era. MGM kept him busy, and once sound came in he made foreign-language versions of US hits for overseas distribution while he polished his English. Follow-up roles were unsatisfying, so he returned for a while to France. His first big break in a Hollywood role was a very small part of a chauffeur to Jean Harlow in Red Headed Woman, 1932. He became a star with this role, and came to the United States again in 1934. In 1935, he starred in the psychiatric drama Private Worlds, and although the film was not a huge success, Charles Boyer was.[2] And he went on to play opposite the most alluring actresses of the 30's and 40's such as Katharine Hepburn and Claudette Colbert.
During this period, Boyer had continued making European films, and with Mayerling in 1936 it made him an international star. The offscreen Boyer was bookish and private, far removed from the Hollywood high life. But onscreen he made women swoon as he romanced Marlene Dietrich in The Garden of Allah (1936), Greta Garbo in Conquest (1937), and Irene Dunne in Love Affair (1939).[3] He became a true star in The Garden of Allah.[4]
In 1938, he landed his famous role, as Pepe Le Moko, the thief on the run, in Algiers. Although he never invited costar Hedy Lamarr to "Come with me to the Casbah", the line would stick with him, thanks to generations of impressionists.[5][6] Boyer's role as Pepe Le Moko was already world famous when animator Chuck Jones based the character of Pepe le Pew, the romantic skunk introduced in 1945's Odor-able kitty, on Boyer and his most well-known performance.[7]
He played in three classics of unrequited love with some of greatest leading ladies : All This and Heaven Too (1940), opposite Bette Davis, Hold Back the Dawn (1941), opposite Olivia de Havilland, and Back Street (1941), opposite Margaret Sullavan.[8] Charles was made a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1942.
In contrast to his glamorous image, Boyer began losing his hair early, had a pronunced paunch, and was noticeably shorter than leading ladies like Ingrid Bergman. When Bette Davis first saw him on the set of All This and Heaven Too, she did not recognize him and tried to have him removed from the set.[9]
In 1943, he was awarded a Honorary Oscar Certificate for "progressive cultural achievement" in establishing the French Research Foundation in Los Angeles as a source of reference.. He never won an Oscar for acting, though he was nominated four times in Conquest (1937), Algiers (1938), Gaslight (1944) and Fanny (1961).
Charles Boyer is best known for his role in the 1944 film Gaslight in which he tried to convince Ingrid Bergman's character that she was going insane. He became famous for his whispered declarations of love in movies with Garbo, Dietrich or Bergman.[10] And in the 1940's he was the voice of Capt. Daniel Gregg in Lux Radio Theater's presentation of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.
[edit] After World War II
After World War II, he continued to appear on Broadway stage, TV, films and the London stage. In 1948, Charles Boyer was made a chevalier of the French Legion of Honor.
When another film with Bergman, Arch of Triumph (1948), failed at the box office, he started looking for character parts. He also moved into television as one of the pioneering producers and stars of Four Star Theatre; Four Star Productions would make him and partners David Niven and Dick Powell rich.[11] In the 1950's he was a guest star on I Love Lucy. Charles was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor in The Happy Time (1952), and for the Emmy for Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Dramatic Series for his work in Four Star Playhouse (1952-1956).
In 1950, he appeared on the Broadway stage in one of his most notable roles, that of Don Juan, in a dramatic reading of the third act of George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman. This is the act popularly known as Don Juan in Hell. In 1952, he won Broadway's 1951 a special Tony Award for Don Juan in Hell. It was directed by actor Charles Laughton. Laughton co-starred as the Devil, with Cedric Hardwicke as the statue of the military commander slain by Don Juan, and Agnes Moorehead as Dona Anna, the commander's daughter, one of Juan's former conquests. The production was a critical success, and was subsequently recorded complete by Columbia Records, one of the first complete recordings of a non-musical stage production ever made. As of 2006, however, it has never been released on CD. He was also nominated for Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic) for his performance in the 1963 Broadway production of Lord Pengo.
[edit] Later career
Onscreen, he continued to shine with older roles in Fanny (1961), Barefoot in the Park (1967) with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, and Stavisky (1974), the latter winning him the New York Film Critics Circle Award and the Cannes Film Festival Special Tribute.[12]
Boyer's career lasted longer than any other romantic male of his era, earning him the title "the last of the cinema's great lovers."[13] His career dropped after the suicide of his 21-year-old son in 1965. He recorded a very dark album called Where Does Love Go ? in 1966. The album consisted of famous love songs sung (or rather talked) with Charles Boyer's distinctive deep voice and French accent. That was Elvis Presley's favorite album for the last 11 years of his life, the one he most listened to. His last major film role being that of the High Lama in a musical version of Lost Horizon (1973). His long, distinguished career included the motion pictures Around the World in 80 Days (1956), How to Steal a Million (1966), Is Paris Burning ? (1966), and, both his and director Vincente Minelli's final film, A Matter of Time (1976), with Ingrid Bergman and Liza Minelli.
For his contribution to the motion picture and television industries, Charles Boyer has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6300 Hollywood Blvd.
[edit] Personal life
Boyer's marriage to British actress Pat Paterson, his first and only wife, was as romantic as his movies. It was love at first sight when they met at a dinner party in 1934. Two weeks later, they were engaged. Three months later, they were married.[14] The marriage would last 44 years.
Two days after his wife died from cancer in 1978, Boyer committed suicide with an overdose of Seconal. He was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, United States alongside his wife, and son Michael Charles Boyer, who had committed suicide playing Russian roulette after breaking up with his girlfriend in 1965 at the age of 21.
[edit] Partial filmography
- Liliom (1934)
- Break of Hearts (1935)
- The Garden of Allah (1936)
- History Is Made At Night (1937)
- Conquest (1937)
- Algiers (1938)
- Love Affair (1939)
- All This and Heaven Too (1940)
- Hold Back the Dawn (1941)
- Back Street (1941)
- Tales of Manhattan (1942)
- The Constant Nymph (1943)
- Gaslight (1944)
- The Earrings of Madame de... (1953)
- The Cobweb (1955)
- Fanny (1961)
- Casino Royale (1967)
- Barefoot in the Park (1967)
[edit] Television
- Four Star Playhouse (1952-1956)
- I Love Lucy (1956)
- The Rogues (1964-1965)
[edit] Quotes
"Mostly I've played other roles, but even when I've played other parts people see me differently. In America, when you have an accent, in the mind of the people they associate you with kissing hands and being gallant. I think that has harmed me, just as it has harmed me to be followed and plagued by a line I never said."
"That love at first sight should happen to me was Life's most delicious revenge on a self-opinionated fool."
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 29.
- ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 29.
- ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 29.
- ^ Charles Boyer - Filmography - Movies - New York Times
- ^ Boller, Jr., Paul F.; George, John (1989). They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505541-1.
- ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 29.
- ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 31.
- ^ Charles Boyer - Yahoo! Movies
- ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 31.
- ^ MovieTreasures
- ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 29.
- ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 29.
- ^ Charles Boyer - Yahoo! Movies
- ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 31.
[edit] References
- TCM Film Guide The 50 Most Unforgettable Actors of the Studio Era: Leading Men, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, California, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Charles Boyer at the Internet Movie Database
- Charles Boyer at the TCM Movie Database
- Charles Boyer's Gravesite
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Boyer, Charles |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 28, 1899 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Figeac, Lot, Midi-Pyrénées, France |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 26, 1978 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Phoenix, Arizona, USA |
Categories: American film actors | French film actors | American television actors | American stage actors | Academy Honorary Award recipients | Légion d'honneur recipients | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Naturalized citizens of the United States | French Americans | Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery | Drug-related deaths | Drug-related suicides | 1899 births | 1978 deaths
