Paulette Goddard

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Paulette Goddard (born Marion Levy; June 3, 1910 – April 23, 1990) was an American actress, a child fashion model and a performer in several Broadway productions as a Ziegfeld Girl; she became a major star of Paramount Pictures in the 1940s.

Her most notable films were her first major role, as Charlie Chaplin's leading lady in Modern Times, and Chaplin's subsequent film The Great Dictator.

She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in So Proudly We Hail! (1943).

Her husbands included Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich Maria Remarque.

Early life

Goddard was born in New York City, as Marion Levy, the daughter of Joseph Russell Levy, the son of a prosperous cigar manufacturer from Salt Lake City, and Alta Mae Goddard. Her father was of Russian Jewish heritage, while her mother an Episcopalian of English ancestry. They had married on December 28, 1908, in Manhattan. Although named Marion, her mother had called her Pauline from a young age. Goddard moved with her parents to Kansas City, Missouri when she was young, where her father worked for a film company. Shortly thereafter, her parents separated and divorced in 1926. According to Goddard, her father left them, but according to J. R. Levy, Alta absconded with the child; to avoid a custody battle, she and her mother moved often during her childhood, including relocating to Canada at one point. Goddard did not meet her father again until the late 1930s, after she had become famous. In a 1938 interview published in Collier's, Goddard claimed Levy was not her biological father. In response, Levy filed a suit against his daughter, claiming that the interview had ruined his reputation and cost him his job, and demanded financial support from her; Goddard admitted her loss in the case in a December 1945 interview with Life, and was forced to pay her father $35 a week.

Goddard began modeling after her parents' separation, working for Saks Fifth Avenue, Hattie Carnegie, and others. An important figure in her childhood was her mother's paternal uncle Charles Goddard, the owner of the American Druggists Syndicate. He played a central role in Goddard's career, introducing her to Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld. In 1926, she made her stage debut as a dancer in Ziegfeld's summer revue, No Foolin' under the stage name Paulette Goddard. Ziegfeld hired her for another musical, Rio Rita, which opened in February 1927, but she left the show after only three weeks to appear in the play The Unconquerable Male, produced by Archie Selwyn. However, it was a flop and closed after only three days following its premiere in Atlantic City. Soon after, Goddard was introduced to Edgar James, president of the Southern Lumber Company, located in Asheville, North Carolina, by Charles Goddard. Aged 17, considerably younger than James, she married him on June 28, 1927, in Rye, New York. It was a short marriage, and they separated in 1929; Goddard was granted a divorce in Reno, Nevada, in 1932, receiving a divorce settlement of $375,000.

Later life

In 1958, Goddard remarried for the final time to writer Erich Maria Remarque, who was twelve years her senior. Wealthy from shrewd investments, she largely retired from acting and moved with him to Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland. However, she did continue to act occasionally, appearing in the unsold television pilot The Phantom, a supporting role in the Italian film Time of Indifference (1964), and a small role in the pilot of The Snoop Sisters. Remarque died on September 25, 1970, from heart failiure in Locarno.

In addition to her own wealth, Goddard inherited much of Remarque's money and several important properties across Europe, including a wealth of contemporary art, which augmented her own long-standing collection. During this period, her talent at accumulating wealth became a byword among the old Hollywood elite. She also became a fairly well known and highly visible socialite in New York City, appearing covered with jewels at many high-profile cultural functions with several well-known men, including Andy Warhol, with whom she sustained a friendship for many years until his death in 1987. Goddard underwent invasive treatment for breast cancer in 1975, which by all accounts was successful.

Personal life

Goddard married the much older lumber tycoon Edgar James on June 28, 1927, when she was 17 years old; the couple moved to North Carolina. They separated two years later and divorced in January 1932.

In 1932, Goddard began a relationship with Charlie Chaplin. She later moved into his home in Beverly Hills. They were reportedly married in secret in Canton, China, in June 1936. Years later, Chaplin privately told relatives that they were married only in common law. Aside from referring to Goddard as "my wife" at the October 1940 premiere of The Great Dictator, neither Goddard nor Chaplin publicly commented on their marital status. On June 4, 1942, Goddard was granted a Mexican divorce from Chaplin. The two maintained a friendly relationship, and Goddard remained close with Chaplin's elder two sons Charles Chaplin Jr. and Sydney Chaplin.

In May 1944, Goddard married Burgess Meredith at David O. Selznick's home in Beverly Hills. In October 1944, she suffered the miscarriage of a son; it was the only pregnancy of hers reported, and she had no children from any of her marriages. In the latter part of their marriage, Meredith was placed on the Hollywood blacklist. On the way to a premiere, the two were mobbed by a baying crowd screaming "Communists!"; Goddard was reported to have said "Shall I roll down the window and hit them with my diamonds, Bugsy?" They divorced in June 1949.

In 1958, Goddard married writer Erich Maria Remarque. They remained married until Remarque's death in 1970.

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Film career

Goddard first appeared in two films, the Laurel and Hardy short film Berth Marks (1929) and George Fitzmaurice's drama The Locked Door (1929). Following her exile from James, Goddard, and her mother briefly travelled around Europe before returning to Hollywood. Goddard completed her first film with producer Samuel Goldwyn to appear as a Goldwyn Girl in Whoopee. (1930): A.k.a. She appeared in City Streets (1931), Ladies of the Big House (1931), and The Girl Habit (1931) for Warners (1932). However, Goddard and Goldwyn did not get along, and she started working for Hal Roach Studios in 1932, appearing in a number of uncredited supporting roles for the next four years.

Goddard began dating Charlie Chaplin in 1998, a relationship that attracted significant attention from the media. According to Modern Times (1936), Chaplin cast her as Goddard's leading lady in his next box office appearance. Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times characterized her role as "The Gamin," an orphanage girl who runs away from the authorities and becomes the Tramp's companion, her first credited film appearance and primarily positive reviews.

Following the success of Modern Times, Chaplin had other projects in mind with Goddard as a co-star, but Goddard feared that the public would lose notice if she did not continue to make regular film appearances. She began a life with David O. Selznick and appeared in The Young in Heart (1938). Selznick, who was ecstatic with Goddard's appearance in the film, was well-chosed to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind. Selznick and director George Cukor knew that Goddard would need training to be effective in the role, but that she kept the choices narrowed down to Goddard and Vivien Leigh, who performed the first Technicolor screen tests for the role. The reason for Goddard's inability on the position was due to several factors. Russell Birdwell, Selznick's public relations manager, had serious reservations about Goddard, writing, "Briefly, I believe she is dynamite that will explode in our very faces if she were to perform." Selznick's biographer Joyce Milton argued that signing Goddard to a deal that could conflict with her pre-existing Chaplin studio employment, she was also concerned about legal issues.

Selznick lent Goddard to MGM for two films during this period: Dramatic School (1938) and The Women (1939), both a male ensemble. The first, directed by Luise Rainer, received poor reviews and failed to find a following. However, The Women, directed by Cukor following his departure from Gone with the Wind, was one of the year's most well-received films. Miriam Aarons, film critic Pauline Kael later wrote of Goddard, "she is a standout." It's fun!"

Goddard signed a Paramount Pictures film in 1939 and was immediately joined by comedian Bob Hope for the horror comedy The Cat and the Canary (1939). The film was a turning point for both their lives and they were reteamed for The Ghost Breakers (1940) and Nothing but the Truth (1941), both of which also included Willie Best. She appeared in Fred Astaire's musical comedy Second Chorus as well as future husband Burgess Meredith. Astaire later described it as "the worst film I ever made," although Shaw admitted that the film made him reconsider an acting career. Chaplin began production on his next film, The Great Dictator (1940), in which Goddard co-starred alongside him as Hannah. The film was released the following year to critical and audience acclaim. However, it would also be her last film with Chaplin, as their union broke soon after.

Goddard made the Cecil B. DeMille Western film North West Mounted Police opposite Gary Cooper and Madeleine Carroll in 1940. The film, Paramount's first dramatic role, became one of the year's top ten grossing films. She also appeared in another musical comedy Pot o' Gold opposite James Stewart, which was released the following year. Stewart expressed similar feelings toward his film as Astaire, but Goddard's biographer Julie Gilbert said Goddard did not like Stewart's acting, "anyone can gulp." Hold Back the Dawn, Charles Boyer's 1941 romantic drama, received rave reviews.

Goddard made one of her best-remembered film appearances in the variety musical Star Spangled Rhythm, in which she performed "A Sweater, a Sarong" and a Peek aboo Bang" with Dorothy Lamour and Veronica Lake in 1942. Ray Milland was also paired in the studio with her. Her first match with Milland, The Lady Has Plans, was sluggish by critics and had a mediocre box office appearance. However, she and DeMille were reunited with him and DeMille for the adventure film Reap the Wild Wind. Goddard appeared in a Scarlett O'Hara-type film for the year, as well as Susan Hayward. United Artists, a Chaplin-founded studio, purchased Crystal Ball, a balloon film, and the following year was a disappointing box office revenue. So Proudly We Hail was published in the same year as Goddard's headline So Proudly We Hail! Claudette Colbert and Veronica Lake were among Claudette Colbert and Veronica Lake. At the 16th Academy Awards, Goddard's appearance as Lt. Joan O'Doul, a nurse serving in the Battle of the Philippines, earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She resurfaced in I Love a Soldier, alongside her co-star Sonny Tufts the following year, but with less successful results.

Goddard renegotiated her Paramount film contract in May 1944 to produce two films a year for the first time over a seven-year period. Kitty, the first film under this contract, reunited her with Milland. For the film, Goddard had to learn a cockney accent, for which she was coached by Connie Lupino, mother of actress Ida Lupino. The film was released the following year, becoming the studio's most popular film. She appeared in The Diary of a Chambermaid opposite her husband Burgess Meredith the following year; the couple also made the film for United Artists.

She appeared in two box office tragedies in 1947, including the acclaimed epic Unconquered, which reunited her with Cooper and DeMille; and the comedy An Ideal Husband, which she produced in Britain for Alexander Korda. Despite being one of the year's most popular films, Unconquered's budget was still inflated by going beyond its shooting schedule, causing it to miss money for The film's plot was also mocked, but Goddard and Cooper's performances were lauded. Goddard and DeMille clashed on the set over Goddard's reluctance to do a risky stunt during filming. An Ideal Husband suffered from behind-the-scenes challenges that included a crew attack on Goddard using her personal, Swedish-born hairdresser over an English one. Besides for the United Kingdom, the film greatly underperformed at the box office, being pulled in the United States with several other British films due to a boycott by the radical Zionist organisation Sons of Liberty over British policies in the Palestine Mandate. Goddard reunited with Meredith in a segment of the comedies film On Our Merry Way, which he also produced, later this year. Meredith was also placed on the Hollywood blacklist in the same year as a result of an investigation carried out by the House Un-American Activities Committee (Chaplin would later be added to the blacklist). In two films for Paramount, Hazard (1948) and Bride of Vengeance (1949), Goddard was paired with MacDonald Carey; and, in 1949, he was loaned to Columbia Pictures for the film noir Anna Lucasta. However, all three of the films lost money, and she left the studio in 1949.

Goddard, a retired Paramount and divorcing Meredith, appeared in The Torch (1950), where he also served as an associate producer. In an episode of Four Star Revue, she made her television debut the following year. Her roles in films including film noir opposite Edward G. Robinson and Jezebel's biblical tale Sins of Jezebel failed to capture her earlier work's fascination. "A third-rate British-made whodunit," she said, and "Most likely fly-by-nights like this one would remain"; "Most charming Miss Goddard" may find herself collecting the pieces of a career; in the second episode of Sherlock Holmes starring Ronald Howard (son of Leslie Howard) as Holmes. She continued to appear in summer stock and television, as guest starring on episodes of Adventures in Paradise, The Joseph Cotten Show, and The Ford Television Theatre.

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