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| Charles Boyer; Unknown date. |
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| Charles Boyer with Edward G. Robinson, Charles Laughton, Henry Fonda and Rita Hayworth |
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| Forecourt Ceremony held on Friday, July 24, 1942 |
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Born: August 28, 1899, in Figeac, France
Age at the time of the ceremony: 42
Died: August 26, 1978, in Scottsdale, Arizona, age 78 |
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Charles Boyer defined the exotic European leading man of the 1930s and into the 1940s. Graced with a magnetic voice and accent, Boyer excelled in roles where he would worm his way into a woman's life, only to dump her in the end. Almost never without his cigarette, Boyer continued to work to the end.
Boyer was born to provencial merchants, and was shy as a boy. Discovering movies and the theatre at age 11, Boyer eventually outgrew his shyness by performing comic skits for soldiers during World War I. He studied for a time at the Sorbonne, but bailed in order to make it on the Paris stage, where his incredible memory landed him leading roles almost immediately.
Boyer was starring in French films at the end of the silent era, including: La ronde infernale - The Infernal Circle (released in February 1928), and La capitaine Fracasse - Captain Fricasse (released in February 1929). He was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1929, but was only offered smallish roles in silents. With the addition of sound, Boyer became more marketable for his romantically accented voice. His first break in Hollywood came with Red-Headed Woman (released in June 1932), where he became seduced by Jean Harlow.
He was starred in the musical Caravan (released in September 1934) with Loretta Young over at Fox, (also filmed in French as Caravane with Annabella as his co-star). He then co-starred in Private Worlds (released in April 1935) with Claudette Colbert. Realizing stardom was within reach, Boyer became a free agent, making films both in Hollywood and in France.
Break of Hearts (released in May 1935) with Katherine Hepburn, was made at R-K-O, while Mayerling (released in France in January 1936), was produced in France. Boyer became a very busy actor, appearing in The Garden of Allah (which played the Chinese in January 1937) with Marlene Deitrich, History Is Made at Night (played the Chinese in April 1937) with Jean Arthur, his spectacular turn as Napoleon in Conquest (played in December 1937) with Greta Garbo, then traveling to France to make Orage - Storm (released in France in January 1938).
Boyer co-starred
with Hedy Lamarr in the caper film Algiers (released in August 1938), which provided him with a line (not really in the film), which was forever associated with his exotic seductive powers: "Come with me to the Casbah." He continued to excel at playing cads preying on women in Love Affair (released in April 1939), All This and Heaven Too (released in July 1940) with Bette Davis, Back Street (released in February 1941) with Margaret Sullivan, and Hold Back the Dawn (released in September 1941) with Olivia de Havilland.
Boyer was one of the five actors from the film Tales of Manhattan to be imprinted on the same day at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Tales would have its World Premiere at the Chinese two weeks later, on Wednesday, August 5, 1942. Boyer became a US citizen that year as well.
Boyer's most famous role came with the film Gaslight (released in May 1944), with Ingrid Bergman, where his character tries to convince his wife that she is losing her mind — a perfect fit for Boyer's blend of sophisticated cruelty.
After World War II, Boyer co-starred with Ingrid Bergman again in Arch of Triumph (released in March 1948), but the film flopped. After that, Boyer began looking for supporting roles, and worked on the stage, appearing in the title role in Shaw's Don Juan in Hell on Broadway in 1951, with fellow Tales of Manhattan star Charles Laughton as both The Devil and director.
Boyer continued to play Frenchmen (or Quebecois) in films like The Happy Time (released in October 1952), but occasionally starred in French films, such as Madame de . . . - The Errings of Madame de . . . (released in France in September, 1953) with Danielle Darrieux, Nana (released in France in July 1955) with Martine Carol, and took part in the superproduction Around the World in 80 Days (released in October 1956).
Boyer became a founder (with Dick Powell and David Niven) of Four Star Productions, which produced many early television shows. He co-starred with Claudette Colbert on Broadway in The Marriage-Go-Round from 1958-1960, then returned to the cameras for Fanny (released in June 1961) where he played the bar owner César to Leslie Caron's Fanny.
Continuing to hop between mediums, he starred with partner David Niven and Gig Young in the television show The Rogues which aired during the 1964-65 season on NBC, then took roles in How to Steal a Million (released in August 1966) with Audrey Hepburn, Paris brûle-t-il? - Is Paris Burning? (released in France in October 1966), Casino Royale (released in April 1967), Barefoot in the Park (released in May 1967) with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, and The Madwoman of Chaillot (released in October 1969) with Katherine Hepburn. Boyer played the High Lama in Ross Hunter's musical remake of Lost Horizon (released in March 1973), Stavisky (released in France in May 1974) with Jean-Paul Belmondo, and finally re-uniting with Ingrid Bergman in Vincete Minnelli's last film, A Matter of Time (released in October 1976).
Boyer's wife of 44 years, Pat, died of cancer in 1978. Two days later, Boyer overdosed on Seconal and died in the hospital at the age of 78. |
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Charles Boyer Forecourt block. Executed by Jean Klossner, Friday, July 24, 1942. 40 x 35 inches. |
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Charles Boyer Forecourt ceremony, Friday, July 24, 1942. Sid Grauman poses with Chales Boyer, who has just made his hand imprints. The man on the left is producer Sam Spiegel. |
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Charles Boyer Forecourt ceremony, Friday, July 24, 1942. Sid Grauman presides over the co-stars of the film Tales of Manhattan: Henry Fonda, Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth , Charles Laughton, and Edward G. Robinson. |
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