Charles Boyer

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Charles Boyer

from the film Love Affair (1939)
Born August 28, 1899(1899-08-28)
Figeac, Lot, Midi-Pyrenees, France
Died August 26, 1978 (aged 78)
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Years active 1920-1976
Spouse(s) Pat Paterson (1934-1978)

Charles Boyer (August 28, 1899 – August 26, 1978) was a four-time Academy Award-nominated French actor who starred in a number of classic Hollywood films, and made a long successful career. His most famous role was in the 1944 film Gaslight. After moving to the U.S., he became an American citizen.

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[edit] Early years

Born in Figeac, Lot, Midi-Pyrenees, France, to Maurice and Louise Boyer - 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.[1] Boyer began studies briefly at the Sorbonne, and was waiting for chance to study acting at the Paris Conservatory.[2] He went to the capital city to finish education but spent most of his time pursuing a theatrical career. 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 popular ultimate ladies' man on the stage - suave and sophisticated beyond woman's wild dreams - also appeared in silent films.[3]

MGM signed him to a contract, and nothing much came of his first Hollywood stay from 1929-31. At first Boyer did film roles only for the money, and supporting roles were unsatisfying, but with the coming of sound, his deep voice made him the romantic star.[4][5]

His first break was a very small role in Jean Harlow's Red-Headed Woman (1932).[6] He eventually settled down in Hollywood since 1934, after starring in a French adaptation of Liliom directed by Fritz Lang. Later the same year his films began to receive public favor; Boyer played first major role in the romantic musical Caravan with Loretta Young, though the psychiatric drama Private Worlds (1935) was not well received, either by critics or audiences.[7] He loved life in the United States, and went on to play opposite the glamorous leading ladies of the 1930s and 1940s.

[edit] Stardom

During this period, Boyer had continued making European films, and with Mayerling opposite Danielle Darrieux 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), Jean Arthur in History Is Made at Night (1937), Greta Garbo in Conquest (1937), and Irene Dunne in Love Affair (1939).[8] He became a major star in The Garden of Allah, which was his first film in Technicolor.[9]

In 1938, he landed his famous role, as Pepe le Moko, the thief on the run, in Algiers an English-language remake of the hit French film Pepe le Moko with Jean Gabin. 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.[10][11] 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.[12]

in All This, and Heaven Too (1940)
in All This, and Heaven Too (1940)

Boyer played in three classics of unrequited love opposite some of alluring actresses: Bette Davis' All This, and Heaven Too (1940), Olivia de Havilland's Hold Back the Dawn (1941), and Margaret Sullavan's Back Street (1941). He was made a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1942.[13]

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. 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.[14]

In 1943, he was awarded an Honorary Oscar Certificate for "progressive cultural achievement" in establishing the French Research Foundation in Los Angeles as a source of reference (certificate). He never won an Oscar for Best Actor, though 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 well known for declarations of love in films with greatest co-stars.[15] In the 1940s 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 the international career in movies and on television, Broadway 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. Apart from notable part such as Max Ophuls' The Earrings of Madame de... (1953), 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.[16] In the 1950s Boyer was a guest star on I Love Lucy. He was nominated for the Golden Globe as Best Actor in the 1952 film The Happy Time; and also 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 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 Masterworks, 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 the Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic) in the 1963 Broadway production of Lord Pengo.

[edit] Later career

Onscreen, he continued to shine with older roles: in Fanny (1961) starring Leslie Caron; 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.[17]

Another notable TV program, The Rogues, starred Boyer with David Niven and Gig Young; the series only lasted through the 1964-65 season but remains fondly remembered for its sophistication and humor by many who saw it.

Boyer's distinguished career lasted longer than other romantic leading men, earning him the title of "the last of the cinema's great lovers."[18] 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. The record was reportedly Elvis Presley's favorite album for the last 11 years of his life, the one he most listened to.[19]

His last major film role was that of the High Lama in a poorly received musical version of Lost Horizon (1973), although he also had a notable part as a corrupt city official in the 1969 film version of The Madwoman of Chaillot, featuring Katharine Hepburn. His many movie appearances included: Around the World in 80 Days (1956), How to Steal a Million (1966), Is Paris Burning? (1966), and, his final film, A Matter of Time (1976), with Ingrid Bergman and Liza Minnelli.

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 only marriage was to British actress Pat Paterson whom he met at a dinner party in 1934. The two became engaged after two weeks of courtship and were married after a three month engagement.[20] Later, they would move from Hollywood to Paradise Valley, Arizona.[21] The marriage lasted 44 years.

Two days after his wife died from cancer in 1978, Boyer committed 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. He was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, United States alongside his wife and son Michael Charles Boyer. At the age of 21, Michael had committed suicide by playing Russian roulette with a gun after a breakup with his girlfriend.

[edit] Partial filmography

[edit] Television

[edit] References

  1. ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 29.
  2. ^ Swindell, Larry (1983). Charles Boyer: The Reluctant Lover. Doubleday. 
  3. ^ Charles Boyer - Britannica Concise
  4. ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 29.
  5. ^ Charles Boyer (1899 - 1978) - Find A Grave Memorial
  6. ^ Charles Boyer @ Classic Movie Favorites - Biography
  7. ^ The Ravin' Maven of Classic Film - Biography
  8. ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 29.
  9. ^ All-Movie Guide: Charles Boyer
  10. ^ 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. 
  11. ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 29.
  12. ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 31.
  13. ^ MovieTreasures
  14. ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 31.
  15. ^ MovieTreasures
  16. ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 29.
  17. ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 29.
  18. ^ TCM Movie Database
  19. ^ Clambake - United Artists 1967, By: For Elvis Fans Only, Source: EPE
  20. ^ TCM Film Guide, p. 31.
  21. ^ Bankruptcy & Debt Information from Doney & Associates - Around Arizona - Celebrity Sightings
  • TCM Film Guide The 50 Most Unforgettable Actors of the Studio Era: Leading Men, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, California, 2006.

[edit] External links

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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, U.S.