ProfileCarole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters; October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actress, particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in screwball comedies. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in My Man Godfrey (1936). After marrying Clark Gable, "The King of Hollywood", Lombard and Gable became the supercouple of Hollywood. After making To Be or Not to Be (1942) with her favorite director Ernst Lubitsch, Lombard's career was cut short when she died at the age of 33 aboard TWA Flight 3, which crashed while returning from a war bond tour. Today, she is remembered as one of the definitive actresses of the screwball comedy genre and American comedy, and as an icon of American cinema. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard 23rd on its list of the greatest female stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema. BiographyLombard was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on October 6, 1908. Christened with the name Jane Alice Peters, she was the third child and only daughter of Frederic Christian Peters (1875–1935) and Elizabeth Jayne Peters (1876–1942). Lombard's parents both descended from wealthy families and her early years were lived in comfort. The marriage between her parents was strained, however, and in October 1914, her mother took the children and moved to Los Angeles. Although the couple did not divorce, the separation was permanent. Her father's continued financial support allowed the family to live without worry. The young Lombard was passionately involved in sports and enjoyed watching movies. At Virgil Junior High School, she participated in tennis, volleyball, and swimming, and won trophies for her achievements in athletics. At the age of 12, this hobby unexpectedly landed Lombard her first screen role. With the encouragement of her mother, Lombard happily took a small role in the melodrama A Perfect Crime (1921). In October 1924, 16-year-old Lombard was signed to a contract with the Fox Film Corporation. The teenager abandoned her schooling to embark on this new career. From this point, she became "Carol Lombard", the new name taken from a family friend. The majority of Lombard's appearances with Fox were bit parts in low-budget Westerns and adventure films. But Lombard embraced the flapper lifestyle and became a regular at the Coconut Grove nightclub, where she won several Charleston dance competitions. In March 1925, Fox gave Lombard a leading role in the drama Marriage in Transit. Her performance was well received, but the studio heads were unconvinced that Lombard was leading lady material, and her one-year contract was not renewed. Lombard signed a contract with Mack Sennett afterwards. On 9 September 1927, Lombard suffered an accident while out on a date with a young man Harry Cooper whose car crashed into another car; the windshield shattered and shards of glass cut "Lombard’s face from her nose and across her left cheek to her eye." Lombard underwent reconstructive surgery, and faced a long recovery period. For the remainder of her career, Lombard learned to hide the mark with make-up and careful lighting. In October 1927 Lombard and her mother, Bess, sued Harry Cooper for $35,000 in damages, citing in the lawsuit that "where she formerly was able to earn a salary of $300 monthly as a Sennett girl, she is now unable to obtain employment of any kind." The lawsuit was settled out of court, and Lombard received $3000. Although Lombard initially had reservations about performing in slapstick comedies, the actress joined his company as one of the "Sennett Bathing Beauties". She appeared in 18 short films (all as Lillian Smith in the Smith Family series) between September 1927 and March 1929, and greatly enjoyed her time at the studio. It gave Lombard her first experiences in comedy and provided valuable training for her future work in the genre. Paramount Pictures recruited Lombard and signed her to a $350-per-week contract. For the film Fast and Loose (1930) Paramount mistakenly credited the actress as "Carole Lombard". She decided she liked this spelling and it became her permanent screen name. Lombard appeared in five films released during 1931, two of them, Man of the World and Ladies Man, both featured William Powell, Paramount's top male star. Lombard had been a fan of the actor before they met, attracted to his good looks and debonair screen persona, and they were soon in a relationship. Despite their disparate personalities, Lombard married Powell on 6 June 1931, at her Beverly Hills home. Lombards' marriage to Powell increased her fame. But the marriage was not a success. In August 1933, Lombard and Powell divorced after 26 months of marriage, although they remained very good friends until the end of Lombard's life. The year 1934 marked a high point in Lombard's career. She began with Wesley Ruggles's musical drama Bolero, where George Raft and she showcased their dancing skills in an extravagantly staged performance to Maurice Ravel's "Boléro". Bolero was favorably received, while her next film, the musical comedy We're Not Dressing with Bing Crosby, was a box-office hit. Lombard was then recruited by the director Howard Hawks, a second cousin, to star in his screwball comedy film Twentieth Century which proved a watershed in her career and made her a major star. Lombard's success continued as she was recruited by Universal Studios to star in the screwball comedy My Man Godfrey (1936). William Powell, who was playing the eponymous Godfrey, insisted on her being cast as the female lead Irene, a zany heiress who employs a "forgotten man" as the family butler. My Man Godfrey was released to great acclaim and was a box office hit. It received six nominations at the 9th Academy Awards, including Lombard for Best Actress. Biographers cite it as her finest performance, By 1937, Lombard was one of Hollywood's most popular actresses, and also the highest-paid star in Hollywood following the deal which Myron Selznick negotiated with Paramount that brought her $450,000, more than five times the salary of the U.S. President. True Confession was the last film Lombard made on her Paramount contract, and she remained an independent performer for the rest of her career. In 1932, Lombard was cast as the wife of a con artist in No Man of Her Own. Her co-star for the picture was Clark Gable, who was rapidly becoming one of Hollywood's top stars. The film was a critical and commercial success. It was the only picture that Gable and Lombard made together. There was no romantic interest at this time, however. Four years after their teaming on No Man of Her Own, the pair had reunited at a Hollywood party and began a romance early in 1936. Gable was separated from his wife, Rhea Langham, but she did not want to grant him a divorce. As his relationship with Lombard became serious, Langham eventually agreed to a settlement worth half a million dollars. The divorce was finalized in March 1939, and Gable and Lombard eloped to Kingman, Arizona on 29 March. The couple, both lovers of the outdoors, bought a 20-acre ranch in Encino, California, where they kept barnyard animals and enjoyed hunting trips. Almost immediately, Lombard wanted to start a family, but her attempts failed; after two miscarriages and numerous trips to fertility specialists, she was unable to have children. In early 1938, Lombard officially joined the Baháʼí Faith, of which her mother had been a member since 1922. While continuing with a slower work-rate, Lombard decided to move away from comedies and return to dramatic roles as she was eager to win an Academy Award. But after a few failed attempt, she returned to comedy. Through her agent, Lombard heard of Ernst Lubitsch's upcoming film: To Be or Not to Be (1942), a dark comedy that satirized the Nazi takeover of Poland. The actress had long wanted to work with Lubitsch, her favorite comedy director, Lombard accepted the role of actress Maria Tura, despite it being a smaller part than she was used to. Filming took place in the fall of 1941, and was reportedly one of the happiest experiences of Lombard's career. That was Carole Lombard's last film. When the U.S. entered World War II at the end of 1941, Lombard traveled to her home state of Indiana for a war bond rally with her mother, Bess Peters, and Clark Gable's press agent, Otto Winkler. Lombard raised more than $2 million in defense bonds in a single evening. Her party had initially been scheduled to return to Los Angeles by train, but Lombard was eager to reach home more quickly and wanted to travel by air. Her mother and Winkler were afraid of flying and insisted that the group follow their original travel plans. Lombard suggested that they flip a coin; they agreed, and Lombard won the toss. In the early morning hours of January 16, 1942, Lombard, her mother and Winkler boarded a Transcontinental and Western Air Douglas DST (Douglas Sleeper Transport) aircraft to return to California. After refueling in Las Vegas, the airplane crashed near the 8,300-foot (2,530 m) level of Potosi Mountain shortly after taking off. All 22 aboard, including Lombard, her mother, and 15 U.S. Army soldiers, were killed instantly. Lombard was 33 years old. Lombard's funeral was on January 21 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. She was interred beside her mother under the name of Carole Lombard Gable. Lombard's final film, To Be or Not to Be was in post-production at the time of her death. The film's producers decided to cut part of the film in which Lombard's character asks, "What can happen on a plane?" out of respect for the circumstances surrounding her death. At the time of her death, Lombard had been scheduled to star in the film They All Kissed the Bride; she was replaced by Joan Crawford who donated all of her salary for the film to the Red Cross, which had helped extensively in the recovery of bodies from the air crash. Shortly after Lombard's death, Gable, who was devastated by his loss, joined the United States Army Air Forces. Gable settled his claim against the airline for $10. He did not want to repeat his grief in court. Despite remarrying twice following her death, Gable was interred beside Carole Lombard when he died in 1960. Lombard's Fort Wayne childhood home has been designated a historic landmark. The city named the nearby bridge over the St. Mary's River the Carole Lombard Memorial Bridge.
In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard 23rd on its list of the 25 greatest American female screen legends of classic Hollywood cinema, and she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6930 Hollywood Blvd.
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Profile Charles BoyerCharles Boyer (28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American films during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised, in romantic dramas such as The Garden of Allah (1936), Algiers (1938), and Love Affair (1939), as well as the mystery-thriller Gaslight (1944). He received four Oscar nominations for Best Actor. Charles Boyer, né le 28 août 1899 à Figeac, Lot et mort le 26 août 1978 à Phoenix, Arizona, est un acteur franco-américain. Après avoir débuté sa carrière en France, il devient l'un des acteurs français les plus célèbres à Hollywood durant les années 1930 et 1940. Se montrant aussi à l'aise dans les mélodrames, Le Jardin d'Allah (1936), Casbah (1938) et Elle et lui (1939), que dans les thrillers, Hantise (1944), il est nommé à quatre reprises à l'oscar du meilleur acteur. Biographie Charles BoyerFils unique, Charles Boyer naît prématurément le 28 août 1899, boulevard Labernade à Figeac. Son père, Maurice Boyer tient un commerce familial de moissonneuses-batteuses, fourneaux de cuisine et faucheuses et sa mère, Louise, est mère au foyer. Dès son plus jeune âge, il a l'habitude de s'installer sur le comptoir où il récite des poésies ou des tirades pour amuser les clients. En 1909, son père décède brutalement. Peu de temps après, il assiste pour la première fois à une pièce de théâtre, Samson, dans laquelle se produit le comédien Lucien Guitry. Impressionné par son talent, il fait alors le vœu de devenir acteur, au grand désarroi de sa mère. En 1914, la guerre éclate. Au cours de ces années noires, Figeac accueille des soldats convalescents. Pour les distraire, Charles Boyer crée et joue des spectacles. En 1917, à 19 ans, il part à Paris et s'inscrit à la Sorbonne. Après avoir suivi le conservatoire, Charles Boyer commence sa carrière par le théâtre. Mais c'est au cinéma, en France, notamment grâce à Marcel L'Herbier, puis à Hollywood, qu'il connaît ses plus grands succès comme « jeune premier » au cours des années 1920 et 1930. En 1934, il épouse une jeune actrice britannique, Pat Paterson, rencontrée quelques semaines plus tôt lors d'une soirée entre deux tournages de Caravane. En 1938, il décroche le fameux rôle de Pépé le Moko, le voleur en fuite dans Casbah, un remake en langue anglaise du film français Pépé le Moko avec Jean Gabin, son grand rival. Durant les années 1930 et 1950, il est une grande vedette et les studios se l'arrachent. Les plus grandes actrices de son époque sont ses partenaires : -Bette Davis (L'Étrangère), -Greta Garbo (Marie Walewska), -Marlene Dietrich (Le Jardin d'Allah), -Danielle Darrieux (Mayerling, Madame de...), -Irene Dunne (Elle et lui), -Olivia de Havilland (Par la porte d'or), -Ingrid Bergman (Hantise, Nina), -Michèle Morgan (Maxime). Ce rôle d'amoureux malgré lui le suivra toute sa carrière. « C'était l'élégance et la courtoisie personnifiées ». Exempté de service militaire (étant orphelin de père), il revient à Figeac en 1939 pour s'engager dans l'armée. Au bout de onze semaines, il est démobilisé par le président du conseil, Edouard Daladier, qui lui demande de retourner aux États-Unis pour convaincre ses amis américains du show-business du bienfondé de cette guerre. Peu de temps après, il fonde un centre intellectuel à Los Angeles à partir des six cents volumes de sa bibliothèque, la French Research Foundation, qui en 1945 comptait plus de quinze mille livres. Ce don de sa part avait pour mission en période de guerre d'incarner l'esprit français aux États-Unis. Durant la même période, il participe à la création et au financement du « French War Relief Committee » (Comité français de secours de guerre). Le 13 février 1942, il obtient la citoyenneté américaine. Peu disert sur ce sujet, Charles Boyer explique qu'il ne se sentait plus « en Amérique » mais « d'Amérique ». Le 22 septembre 1965, son fils unique, Michael Charles Boyer, né en 1944, se suicide accidentellement d'une balle dans la tête en jouant à la roulette russe dans sa chambre à son domicile de Beverly Hills. Charles Boyer se trouve alors à Paris. Le 26 août 1978, Charles Boyer se suicide à l'aide d'une dose de barbituriques deux jours après le décès de sa femme, l'actrice Pat Paterson, des suites d'un cancer, et deux jours avant de fêter son 79e anniversaire. Il est enterré au cimetière Holy Cross à Los Angeles. Biography Charles BoyerBoyer was born in Figeac, Lot, France, the son of Augustine Louise Durand and Maurice Boyer, a merchant. Boyer (which means "cowherd" in the Occitan language) was a shy, small town boy who discovered the movies and theatre at the age of eleven. During World War I, Boyer performed comic sketches for soldiers while working as a hospital orderly. He went to the capital city to finish his education in Sorbonne, but spent most of his time pursuing a theatrical career. In 1920, his quick memory won him a chance to replace the leading man in a stage production, Aux jardins de Murcie. He was successful. Then he appeared in a play La Bataille and Boyer became a theatre star overnight. In the 1920s, he not only played a suave and sophisticated ladies' man on the stage but also appeared in several silent films. Boyer's first film was L'homme du large (1920), directed by Marcel L'Herbier. He focused on theatre work for a number of years, then returned to the screen. With the coming of sound, his deep voice made him a romantic star. Boyer was first brought to Hollywood by MGM who wanted him to play the Chester Morris part in a French version of The Big House (1930), Révolte dans la prison (1931). But His first English speaking role was The Magnificent Lie (1931) of Paramount directed by Berthold Viertel. In early 1934, as production on Charlie Chan Goes To Egypt in which Pat Paterson starred was wrapping, French actor Maurice Chevalier persuaded his lifelong best friend Charles Boyer, to attend a Fox Studios post-New Year dinner party at which Pat Paterson was a guest. In interviews over the years, Boyer declared their meeting to have been a case of love at first sight. The two became engaged after two weeks of courtship and they married within four weeks of the party, on St. Valentine's Day, 14 February 1934, in Yuma, Arizona. Boyer became an international star with Mayerling (1936), co-starring Danielle Darrieux and directed by Anatole Litvak. Boyer played Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria. In 1938, he landed his famous role as Pepe le Moko, the thief on the run in Algiers, an English-language remake of the classic French film Pepe le Moko with Jean Gabin, produced by Wanger. Boyer was making the movie in Nice when France declared war on Germany in September 1939. Boyer joined the French army. By November, Boyer was discharged from the army and back in Hollywood as the French government thought he would be of more service making films. Boyer became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1942. In 1943, Boyer was awarded an Honorary Oscar Certificate for "progressive cultural achievement" in establishing the French Research Foundation in Los Angeles as a source of reference. At the end of the year, on 9 December 1943, Charles Boyer's wife Pat Paterson gave birth to their only child, Michael Charles Boyer, in Los Angeles, California. In contrast to his glamorous image, Boyer began losing his hair early, had a pronounced paunch, and was noticeably shorter than leading ladies like Ingrid Bergman. In 1948, Boyer was made a chevalier of the French Légion d'honneur. That same year, he made another film with Ingrid Bergman, Arch of Triumph (1948), which failed at the box office, which means Charles Boyer was no longer the box office star he had been. Boyer went to Broadway, where he made his first appearance in Red Gloves (1948–49), based on Dirty Hands by Jean-Paul Sartre, which went for 113 performances. In 1951, 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, for which he won Broadway's 1951 Special Tony Award. Boyer also moved into television as one of the pioneering producers and stars of the anthology show Four Star Playhouse (1952–56). It was made by Four Star Productions which would make Boyer and partners David Niven and Dick Powell rich. Charles Boyer was nominated for the Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic) in the 1963 Broadway production of Lord Pengo, which ran for 175 performances. Two years later in 1965 his son Michael Charles Boyer killed himself accidentally at age 21 while playing Russian roulettev in his own room, and Boyer was finding it traumatic to continue living in Los Angeles so in March 1970 he decided to relocate to Europe. Boyer's final performance was in A Matter of Time (1976) with Liza Minnelli and Ingrid Bergman, directed by Vincente Minnelli. Charles Boyer's movie career had lasted longer than that of other romantic actors, winning him the nickname "the last of the cinema's great lovers.". And an International lover: In addition to French and English, Boyer spoke Italian, German, and Spanish. During his prime years, Charles Boyer has played opposited the greatest female Hollywood stars such as: -Claudette Colbert in The Man from Yesterday (1932), Private Worlds (1935), Tovarich (1937); -Loretta Young in Caravan (1934); -Marlene Dietrich (The Garden of Allah (1936)/Le Jardin d'Allah); -Jean Arthur in History Is Made at Night (1937); -Greta Garbo in Conquest (1937); -Michèle Morgan in Orage (1938), Maxime (1958); -Irene Dunne in Love affair(1939), When Tomorrow Comes (1939); Together Again(1944); -Bette Davis in All This, and Heaven Too (1940); -Danielle Darrieux in Mayerling, The Earrings of Madame de... /Madame de...(1953); -Olivia de Havilland and Paulette Goddard in Hold back the Dawn(1941); -Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight (1944); Arch of Triumph (1948) -Joan Fontaine in The Constant Nymph (1943); -Lauren Bacall in Confidential Agent (1945); -Jennifer Jones in Cluny Brown (1946); -Sophia Loren in What a Woman!(1956); -Brigitte Bardot in La Parisienne (1957). On 24 August 1978, Charles Boyer's wife Pat Paterson died in Phoenix, Arizona of brain cancer. Two days later, On 26 August 1978, Boyer died by suicide with an overdose of Seconal while at a friend's home in Scottsdale. He was taken to the hospital in Phoenix, where he died. It was just two days before his own 79th birthday, He was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, alongside his wife and son. In 1966, Boyer recorded a laid-back album called Where Does Love Go. The album consisted of famous love songs sung (or rather spoken) with Boyer's distinctive deep voice and French accent. The record was reportedly Elvis Presley's favorite album for the last 11 years of his life, the one he most listened to. Further interestArticlesOriginal name: Charlene Lynette Wittstock birth place: Bulawayo, Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe) birth date: 25 January 1978 zodiac sign: Aquarius Height: 1.77m Weight: 63kg/139b Feet size: US 8.5 Dress size: US 6 Occupation: Athlete, Socialite Languages: English, French Biography of Princess Charlène Charlène, Princess of Monaco is a former South African Olympic swimmer and currently wife of Prince Albert II of Monaco. Charlene Lynette Wittstock was born in Bulawayo Africa and the family relocated to Transvaal Prince South Africa in 1989. Wittstock was passionate about swimming from a very young age and she gave up study to concentrate on competitive swimming and at 18 won the Championship of South Africa for juniors. In 2000, Wittstock represented South Africa at Sydney Olympics, with her team finishing fifth in the 4 × 100 metre medley relay. Wittstock retired from competitive swimming in 2007 due to shoulder injury. Wittstock met Prince Albert at the Mare Nostrum swimming competition in Monte Carlo, Monaco, in 2000 and they went public at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. In June 2010, Prince Albert and Charlene Wittstock announced their engagement, the future princess's engagement ring (reported to be created by Parisian jeweller Repossi) features a pear-shaped three-carat diamond at the center and round diamond brilliants surrounding it. Since then Charlene Wittstock accompanied him on many of his official duties and engagements such as the weddings of the Crown Princess of Sweden in June 2010 and the Duke of Cambridge in 2011. Charlene, who was raised a Protestant, converted to Roman Catholicism for the preparation of her role as royal consort, even though this is not a requirement of the Constitution of Monaco. She was also instructed in the French language and the Monégasque dialect, as well as European court protocol. On 1 July 2011 the couple were married in a civil ceremony in the Throne Room of the Prince's Palace. Charlene wore a powder blue jacket with long dress by Chanel, cocreated by her and Karl Lagerfeld. And the religious ceremony was held in the Palace courtyard, with the bride wearing white silk Duchesse wedding gown of Giorgio Armani Prive, with a 15-ft veil made of tulle anchored by a "Diamond Spray" tiara by Lorez Baumer that featured eleven encrusted diamond pears. The gown was embellished with 40,000 Swarovski crystals, 20,000 mother of pearl teardrops, and 30,000 stones in gold shades. It took 2,500 hours to make, with the embroidery taking 700 hours, on 130m of off-white silk. After the wedding ceremonies, Charlene Wittstock became Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco replacing her mother-in-law, Grace Kelly. After her marriage, Charlène, Princess of Monaco devoted herself increasingly to charity and humanitarian works and is involved in various organizations: Princess Charlène of Monaco Foundation, Ladies Lunch Monte-Carlo, Special Olympics, Nelson Mandela Foundation, asfAR, The Giving Organisation, and Monaco Against Autism. “I salute Kevin Richardson and am honored to be the patron of his foundation. In an ideal world no wild animal would be kept in captivity and canned lion hunting should be declared illegal. I willingly lend my influence to rekindle respect for lions and the African wilderness, they so beautifully inhabit – in the hope that this is the ultimate guarantee of their survival.” On 10 December 2014, Charlène, Princess of Monaco gave birth to fraternal twins Princess Gabriella and Hereditary Prince Jacques. In 2016, Princess Charlène accepted to become the patron of the South African Red Cross Society and attended the World First Aid Day in Geneva, as ambassador of the event. In May 2021, while on a trip to raise awareness about the issue of rhinoceros poaching in Southern Africa, Charlene caught an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) infection. She had had a sinus lift and bone grafting procedure earlier in the spring. The condition led to problems with equalizing pressure and prevented her from flying above 20,000 feet. After multiple procedures, Princess Charlene was medically advised to remain in South Africa, away from her family. Subsequently, she missed the tenth anniversary commemorations of her marriage in June 2021. In August 2021, she underwent a four-hour surgery that required general anesthetic. In September 2021, she was hospitalised again because of a "medical emergency" pertaining to ENT complications. On 8 October 2021, it was announced that she had undergone a final procedure. She returned to Monaco on 8 November 2021.
On 16 November 2021, the palace announced that Charlene would be resting and that she had cancelled all her activities, including those of Monaco's national celebrations, owing to ill-health, especially "deep fatigue." It was reported that she would spend her recovery period in a location outside Monaco. After a 4-month stay at a Swiss clinic, the palace stated in March 2022 that Charlene was back in Monaco with her family and was expected to start her duties gradually as her health further improved. |
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