Paulette Goddard
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| Paulette Goddard | |
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| Birth name | Marion Pauline Levy |
| Born | June 3, 1910 Whitestone Landing, Queens, Long Island, New York, USA |
| Died | April 23, 1990 (age 79) Ronco sopra Ascona, Ticino, Switzerland |
| Spouse(s) | Erich Maria Remarque (1958-1970) Burgess Meredith (1944-1950) Charles Chaplin (1936-1942) Edgar James (1927-1931) |
Paulette Goddard (June 3, 1910 – April 23, 1990), an Oscar-nominated American film and theatre actress. A former child fashion model and in several Broadway productions as Ziegfeld Girl, she was a major star of the Paramount Studio in the 1940s. Her exceptional beauty and fame led to several marriages to notable men, including Charlie Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich Maria Remarque, although she never had any children.
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[edit] Early life
Paulette Goddard's birth name is Marion Pauline Levy. She was an only child, born in Whitestone Landing, Queens, Long Island, New York. Her father, Joseph Russell Levy, was Jewish, and her mother, Alta Mae Goddard, was Episcopalian.[1] Her parents divorced while she was young, and she was raised by her mother. Her father virtually vanished from her life, only later to resurface in the 1940s after she became a star. At first, their relationship seemed genial as she used to take him to her film premieres, but then he sued her over a magazine article that claimed he abandoned her when she was young. They were never to reconcile and upon his death, he left her just one dollar in his will. Goddard offered to pay for his funeral expenses. She and her mother struggled those early years, with her uncle, Charles Goddard (her mother's brother) lending a hand.
It was Charles Goddard who helped his niece to find jobs as a fashion model, and with the Ziegfeld Follies as a teen in 1924. She attended Washington Irving High School in Manhattan at the same time as Claire Wemlinger, who would become acclaimed Oscar-winning actress Claire Trevor.
[edit] Career
Her stage debut was in the Ziegfeld revue production No Foolin in 1926. The next year she made her stage acting debut in The Unconquerable Male. She also changed her first name to Paulette and took her mother's maiden name (which also happens to be her favorite uncle Charle's last name) as her own last name. She married an older, wealthy businessman Edgar James in 1926 or 1927 and moved to North Carolina to be a socialite, but divorced him in 1930 and received a huge divorce settlement.
In 1929 she came to Hollywood with her mother after signing a contract with Hal Roach Studios, and appeared in small parts of several films over the next few years, starting with Laurel & Hardy short subjects.
At Samuel Goldwyn Productions, she also joined other such future notables as Betty Grable, Lucille Ball and Jane Wyman as "Goldwyn Girls" with Cantor in films such as The Kid from Spain, Roman Scandals and Kid Millions.
In 1932, she met Charlie Chaplin and began an eight year personal and cinematic relationship with him. Chaplin bought Goddard's contract from Roach Studios and cast her as a street urchin opposite his Tramp character in the 1936 film Modern Times, which made Goddard a star. During this time she lived with Chaplin in his Beverly Hills home.[2]
Their actual marital status was and has remained a source of controversy and speculation. During most of their time together, both remained silent on the matter. At the premier of The Great Dictator in 1940, Chaplin first introduced Goddard as his wife. The couple split amicably soon afterward, and Goddard allegedly obtained a divorce in Mexico in 1942, with Chaplin agreeing to a generous settlement.[2] For years afterward, Chaplin stated that they were married in China in 1936, but to private associates and family, he claimed they were never legally married, except in common law. It is almost certain that Chaplin was attempting to limit further damage to Goddard's career by making this claim.
Goddard began gaining star status after appearing in The Young In Heart (1938), Dramatic School (1938), and a strong supporting role in The Women (1939) which starred Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, and Rosalind Russell.
During filming of The Women, Goddard was considered as a finalist for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, but after several auditions, and a Technicolor screen test, lost the part to Vivien Leigh. It has been suggested that questions regarding her marital status with Chaplin, in that era of morals clauses, may have cost her the role.[2]
Nonetheless, in 1939, Goddard signed a contract with Paramount pictures and her next film The Cat and the Canary (1939) with Bob Hope, was a turning point in the careers of both actors.
Goddard starred with Chaplin again in his 1940 film classic The Great Dictator, and then was Fred Astaire's leading lady in the musical Second Chorus (1940), where she met Burgess Meredith. One of her best-remembered film appearances was in the variety musical Star Spangled Rhythm (1943) in which she sang a comic number "A Sweater, a Sarong, and a Peekaboo Bang" with contemporary sex symbols, Dorothy Lamour and Veronica Lake. She received her only Academy Award nomination, for Best Supporting Actress, in 1944 for So Proudly We Hail! (1943). Her most successful film was Kitty (1945), where she played the title role. In The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), she starred opposite Meredith, by then her husband.
Her career faded in the late 1940s. In 1949, she formed Monterey Pictures with John Steinbeck. Her last starring roles were the English production A Stranger Came Home (known as The Unholy Four in the USA), and Charge of the Lancers in 1954. She also acted in summer stock and on television, including in the 1955 television remake of The Women, playing a different character than she played in the 1939 feature film. In 1964, she attempted a comeback in films with a supporting role in the Italian film Time of Indifference, but that turned out to be her last feature film. Her last acting role was in The Snoop Sisters (1972) for television.
[edit] Later life
Goddard was married to actor Burgess Meredith from 1944 to 1949. She suffered a miscarriage while married to him. She had no children. In 1958 she married the author Erich Maria Remarque. They remained married until his death in 1970.
Goddard was treated for breast cancer, apparently successfully, although the surgery was very invasive and the doctor had to remove several ribs. She later settled in Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland, where she died a few months before her 80th birthday, following a short battle with emphysema. She is buried in Ronco cemetery, next to her husband and her mother.
In her will, she left US$20 million to New York University (NYU), in recognition of her friendship with Indiana-born politician and former NYU President John Brademas. Goddard Hall, an NYU freshman residence hall on Washington Square, is named in her honour.
There is much inconsistency among published sources regarding Goddard's birth year, largely due the documents recording her death incorrectly reporting a birth year of 1905. However, U.S. Census documents dated April 15, 1910, show her parents living in Manhattan and childless. January 1, 1920 Census documents show Pauline G. Levy, age 9, living with her parents in Kansas City, Missouri.[citation needed]
She was portrayed by Diane Lane in Chaplin.
[edit] Filmography
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[edit] References
- ^ The Religious Affiliation of Actress Paulette Goddard. Adherents.com (2005). Retrieved on March 20, 2007.
- ^ a b c Charlie Chaplin’s Wives. ednapurviance.org. Retrieved on March 20, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Paulette Goddard at the Internet Movie Database
- Paulette Goddard at the TCM Movie Database
- A Tribute To Paulette Goddard (fan site)
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1910 births | 1990 deaths | American people | American film actors | American stage actors | American television actors | Breast cancer patients | Deaths from emphysema | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Jewish American actors | Jewish American models | People from Kansas City | People from New York City | Showgirls appearing as Ziegfeld Girls | American models
