Early Life
Paulette Goddard was born Marion Goddard Levy on June 3, 1910, to Alta Mae Goddard and Joseph Levy in Queens, New York. Her parents separated when she was very young. Goddard remained with her mother and her father vanished from the picture completely. Goddard and her mother moved around often, not staying in any one place for long, including a brief residency across the Canadian border.
It wasn’t long before her stunning good looks, even as a young child, had her working as a model for department store print ads, including Saks Fifth Avenue. By the time Goddard was 13 years old, she was part of “The Ziegfield Follies” in New York City. Goddard was cast in the Follies when her great uncle, Charles Goddard, the owner of the American Druggists Syndicate, introduced her to famed Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfield.
“Life was easy as a blonde. I didn’t have to think, I didn’t have to talk. All I had to do was waltz around”
– Paulette Goddard
In 1926, Goddard gained a larger role as a dancer in Ziegfield’s summer review, No Foolin’. She followed this up in 1927 by landing a role in another Ziegfield musical, Rio Rita. However, she left that show after a few weeks to take a part in Archie Selwyn’s play The Unconquerable Male, which was a massive flop, closing in 3 days.
Four months after the closing of the play, on June 28, 1927, Goddard married the president of the Southern Lumber Company, Edgar James, moving to his home in North Carolina. They were introduced by Charles Goddard in 1926 and began seeing each other. She was just 17 years old, young enough to be his daughter.
The marriage was effectively over in 1929 when they separated. Their divorce was eventually finalized three years later in 1932, with Goddard receiving a divorce settlement to the tune of $375,000 ($6,000,000 when adjusted for inflation).
Early Hollywood Years
Just prior to her divorce being finalized, Goddard made her way to Hollywood where she appeared in two uncredited roles as an extra: The Laurel and Hardy short Berth Marks (1929), which was their second movie to feature sound, and The Locked Door (1929), which was Barbara Stanwyck’s first sound picture.
After a European holiday in 1930, Goddard returned to Hollywood and was signed by producer Samuel Goldwyn. She was featured as a “Goldwyn Girl” dancer in the Technicolor movie Whoopie (1930). Other actresses to fill the Goldwyn Girl lineup in this movie include Betty Grable, Ann Sothern Virginia Bruce, and Claire Dodd.
Other notable things about this particular movie are that it was the first Hollywood movie of acclaimed choreographer Busby Berkeley as well as the first composition job for the movies by legendary composer and conductor Alfred Newman.
Goldwyn and Goddard frequently butted heads and she only appeared in a handful of his productions over the next few years: The Kid From Spain (1932), The Bowery (1933), Roman Scandals (1933), and Kid Millions (1934). Goldwyn would loan her out to Paramount and Hal Roach Studios for a string of movies in minor, uncredited roles.
Chaplin and Selznick
In 1932, Goddard began to date Charlie Chaplin. Eventually, the actress moved into his home in Beverly Hills. In 1936, she got her “big break” when Chaplin cast her as the female lead in his last silent movie, Modern Times. This was her first credited role. That same year they secretly married in Canton, China.
“He (Chaplin) asked to call on Mother and me, and began to take me out. I was thrilled and delighted at his attentions, of course. And then, one night he said, “I am writing a screen play for you.” And he was. It was Modern Times.”
– Paulette Goddard
Chaplin planned to make more movies with his wife and muse, Goddard. However, he was writing at a snail’s pace, so Goddard signed a contract with David O. Selznick. She starred in The Young in Heart (1938) alongside Janet Gaynor. Selznick then lent her out to MGM, where she appeared in Dramatic School (1938) and The Women (1939) with Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell.
“He (Chaplin) wrote four scripts – four complete scripts for me – and destroyed them every one! He wasn’t satisfied with them, he said. And so, I broke my contract with him and signed with Selznick for The Young in Heart.”
– Paulette Goddard
Goddard made one final movie with Chaplin, The Great Dictator. Released in 1940, this classic film was Chaplin’s first true film using sound. The couple amicably split soon after the production was finished. They divorced in 1942.
When the time came for Selznick to cast the role of Scarlet O’Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939) a nationwide search was conducted with over two and a half dozen granted screen tests. Goddard was a frontrunner for the role and Selznick’s first choice until an unknown actress from England was tested, Vivian Leigh. Leigh ultimately won the part.
“I was terribly disappointed at the time, but now I am glad I shan’t be Scarlett. You see, if I had succeeded, I should probably never have been able to duplicate my performance with a subsequent success. And if I had failed – well, I don’t like to think about that, either! And so, honestly, cross-my-heart, I am glad it all turned out the way it did. Miss Leigh is an established actress, and no matter how her Scarlett turns out, she can go on. But it might have finished me!”
– Paulette Goddard
Paramount and Beyond
In 1938, Goddard’s father J.R. Levy reappeared on the scene. Goddard wanted nothing to do with him claiming he had abandoned her and her mother, which he disputed by saying that her mother actually had left him taking young Paulette away from him. Goddard went as far as to publicly state that Levy was not her biological father in an interview with Collier’s Magazine. In response, he sued her for defamation and won a settlement of $35 per week from her.
The following year Goddard began to appear in Paramount films, signing a contract with the studio. She made The Cat and the Canary (1939) and The Ghost Breakers (1940) with Bob Hope. Other notable roles included Second Chorus (1940) with Fred Astaire, Star Spangled Rhythm (1943) with Veronica Lake and Dorothy Lamour and So Proudly We Hail! (1943), which earned Goddard her only Oscar nomination.
While working on Second Chorus, Goddard met fellow actor Burgess Meredith. The couple was married in May of 1944 at the Beverly Hills home of David O. Selznick. They would appear in two subsequent films together, Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), and On Our Merry Way (1948). Meredith and Goddard would divorce in June 1949.
In 1949, Goddard left Paramount. She would work for various studios including Columbia and United Artists through the mid-1950s. Goddard also made television appearances including on The Joseph Cotten Show and The Ford Television Theatre.
“I love doing TV. It’s such a breakneck pace you know. It’s kiss and go with your leading man. You meet them in the morning and go right into a clinch. The filming is over before you know their last names.”
– Paulette Goddard
In 1958, Goddard married acclaimed German novelist Erich Maria Remarque. They remained married until his death in 1970. After his death, Goddard split time between the Swiss home they shared and New York City, where she was a prominent socialite. Paulette Goddard died from heart failure in Switzerland on April 23, 1990. She was 79 years old.
At the time of her death, Goddard left an endowment of $20 million dollars to New York University, who named a residence hall after her. Paulette Goddard Hall is located at 79 Washington Square East in New York City. NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts also named its main staircase after her and awards several scholarships to students in her honor.
