Charles Boyer

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Charles Boyers star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Charles Boyer (born August 28, 1899 in Figeac , France , † August 26, 1978 in Phoenix , Arizona ) was a French actor . He experienced the peak of his career in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s, where he often starred as the leading man in romance films . In the course of his career Boyer received four nominations for Best Actor , in addition he was awarded an honorary Oscar for his engagement in the Second World War at the Academy Awards in 1943 .

life and work

Boyer dropped out of his philosophy studies at the Sorbonne to attend the Paris Conservatory and then began his acting career at the theater. Boyer made his debut in the film L'homme du large as early as 1920 and quickly became a well-known actor of romantic heroes. In 1929 he went to Hollywood , where he appeared in numerous version films , including the French versions of The Trial of Mary Dugan and Hell behind bars . Overall, however, his popularity lagged behind that of his compatriot Maurice Chevalier . In 1932 he played a small role in Feuerkopf alongside Jean Harlow and returned to France shortly afterwards. After his great success in Liliom , he went back to America in 1934 and played alongside stars like Loretta Young (Caravan) , Katharine Hepburn (Break of Hearts) and Marlene Dietrich ( The Garden of Allah ) . In the meantime he had his greatest success so far in France under the direction of Anatole Litvak as Crown Prince Rudolf alongside Danielle Darrieux in Mayerling . He then shot mainly in America, alongside Claudette Colbert in Tovarich , with Jean Arthur under the direction of Frank Borzage in Love forever wins and as Napoleon alongside Greta Garbo in Maria Walewska . His appearance in Algiers , a remake of the French film Pépé le Moko , with which he was to be launched as a new romantic lover, suffered from the presence of Hedy Lamarr , who made her American debut in a supporting role and Boyer stole the show. Billed as the "Most Beautiful Woman in the World", Lamarr started a fashion trend by making brunette the fashion hair color of the late 1930s. Throughout his life, Boyer followed the alleged phrase “Come with me to the Casbah!”, Even though he had never actually said it in the film.

In the following years, Boyer established himself as an actor in love films. Especially his appearances next to Irene Dunne in Restless Love from 1939 and Bette Davis in Hell, where is your victory from the following year earned him recognition from critics. He was seen next to Margaret Sullavan three times , including in 1941 in Seitenstrasse . A departure from the previous roles was the appearance in Mitchell Leisen's The Golden Gate , which used him in 1941 gigolo, who uses Olivia de Havilland as an inexperienced young teacher emotionally to get a visa for the USA. Incomparably more upright was his character in Liebesleid , which was based on a popular book and where he enters into a tragic relationship with Joan Fontaine under the direction of Edmund Goulding . In the 1944 film The House of Lady Alquist , he tried to drive Ingrid Bergman insane in order to get hold of her aunt's jewels. This earned him his fourth Oscar nomination for Best Actor. A short time later, he was back in Reluctant Model with Irene Dunne . From 1945 Boyer mainly took on character roles in film, television and theater. In 1952 he received a Special Tony Award for his performance in George Bernard Shaw's Don Juan in Hell . One of his greatest successes on Broadway was the comedy The Marriage-Go-Round , in which he was able to celebrate a success alongside Claudette Colbert in the 1958/59 season. In 1951, Boyer founded the television production company Four Star Television with David Niven and Dick Powell . Boyer spoke five languages, including German. In 1962 he spoke his dialogues in the Austrian comedy Julia, You are magical yourself.

Especially during the Second World War, Boyer was also committed to a cultural rapprochement between France and the United States, for which he founded the French Research Foundation . For his commitment he finally received an honorary Oscar at the 1943 Academy Awards . Charles Boyer was married to actress Patricia Paterson since 1934. Boyer committed suicide using secobarbital on August 26, 1978, two days after his wife died from cancer and only two days before his own 79th birthday . His only child, a son, had died playing Russian roulette in 1965 at the age of 21 . He is buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City . A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6300 Hollywood Boulevard commemorates the actor.

Filmography

Awards

Oscar

Golden Globe

New York Film Critics Circle Award

  • 1974: Best Supporting Actor Award for Stavinsky

International Cannes Film Festival 1974

  • 1974: Best Actor Award for Stavisky

Special Tony Award

  • 1952: Award for Don Juan in Hell

literature

  • Frank Miller: Leading Men. The 50 most unforgettable Actors of the Studio Era. Chronicle Books, San Francisco CA 2006, ISBN 0-8118-5467-1 .
  • Larry Swindell: Charles Boyer. The Reluctant Lover. Doubleday & Company, Garden City NY 1983, ISBN 0-385-17052-1 .

Web links

Commons : Charles Boyer  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Encyclopedia of American Cinema ( Memento of the original from January 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / books.google.fr
personal data
SURNAME Boyer, Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French actor
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Figeac , France
DATE OF DEATH August 26, 1978
Place of death Phoenix , Arizona , United States