Charles Boyer

Charles Boyer was a French-American actor born on 28 August 1899 in Figeac, Lot, France, the son of Augustine Louise Durand and Maurice Boyer, a merchant. He died on 26 August 1978. Over the course of a career spanning more than five decades, Boyer appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976, received four Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, and earned a Tony Award Special Award in 1952 for his Broadway work.

Boyer's introduction to movies and theatre came at the age of eleven. During World War I, he performed comic sketches for soldiers while working as a hospital orderly. He subsequently began studies at the Sorbonne before pursuing formal actor training at the Paris Conservatory. In 1920, his ability to quickly memorize lines earned him the opportunity to replace a leading man in the stage production Aux jardins de Murcie. A subsequent appearance in the play La Bataille established him as a theatre star. Throughout the 1920s, Boyer played charming and charismatic characters on both stage and in silent films.

His first film credit was L'homme du large in 1920, directed by Marcel L'Herbier, followed by roles in Chantelouve (1921), Le grillon du foyer (1922), and Esclave (1922). Boyer initially regarded film work primarily as a source of income, finding supporting roles unsatisfying. The arrival of sound changed his trajectory, as his deep voice positioned him as a romantic leading man. He returned to the screen with Infernal Circle (1928), Captain Fracasse (1929), and La barcarolle d'amour (1930).

MGM first brought Boyer to Hollywood to appear in Révolte dans la prison (1931), the French-language version of The Big House. Paramount then cast him in a supporting role in The Magnificent Lie (1931) with Ruth Chatterton, directed by Berthold Viertel, which marked his first English-speaking screen performance. He returned to MGM for Le procès de Mary Dugan (1931), the French version of The Trial of Mary Dugan, and subsequently made Tumultes (1932) for director Robert Siodmak and The Man from Yesterday (1932) with Claudette Colbert at Paramount. He also appeared in a supporting role in Jean Harlow's Red-Headed Woman (1932) at MGM.

Boyer returned to France to star in several productions including F.P.1 Doesn't Answer (1932), La bataille (1933) with Annabella, and The Only Girl (1933) with Lilian Harvey. He also performed on the Paris stage in Le Bonheur, which proved a success and would be his final appearance on the Parisian stage. He then starred in Liliom (1934), directed by Fritz Lang, and co-starred with Claudette Colbert in the psychiatric drama Private Worlds (1935) for producer Walter Wanger at Paramount, with whom he signed a five-year contract. Boyer romanced Katharine Hepburn in Break of Hearts (1935) and Loretta Young in Shanghai (1935).

International stardom arrived with Mayerling (1936), in which Boyer played Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, opposite Danielle Darrieux and directed by Anatole Litvak. He was subsequently paired with Marlene Dietrich in The Garden of Allah (1936) for David O. Selznick, with Greta Garbo in Conquest (1937) at MGM, where he portrayed Napoleon Bonaparte, and with Jean Arthur in History Is Made at Night (1937). In 1938, Boyer took on the role of Pepe le Moko in Algiers, an English-language remake of the French film Pépé le Moko. Though the line "Come with me to the Casbah" appeared in the film's trailer rather than in the film itself, it became permanently associated with Boyer through impressionists and parody. Animator Chuck Jones later based the character of Pepé Le Pew on Boyer and this performance. Boyer made three films with Irene Dunne: Love Affair (1939), When Tomorrow Comes (1939), and Together Again (1944).

When France declared war on Germany in September 1939, Boyer was filming Le corsaire in Nice. Production halted and Boyer joined the French army, though he was discharged by November as the French government determined he would be of greater service making films. He became a United States citizen in 1942. That same year he signed a three-year contract with Universal to act and produce, covering nine films. In 1943, he received an Honorary Oscar Certificate for his role in establishing the French Research Foundation in Los Angeles as a cultural reference source. One of his most celebrated performances came in Gaslight (1944), opposite Ingrid Bergman and Joseph Cotten. Boyer also appeared as himself on the CBS sitcom I Love Lucy.

Boyer's Broadway career ran from 1948 to 1963. He appeared in Don Juan in Hell, Kind Sir, The Marriage-Go-Round, Lord Pengo, and Man and Boy, among other productions. In 1952, the Tony Awards recognized his contributions to Broadway with a Special Award.