Erich Maria Remarque
Who was Paulette Goddard 's spouse from 1958 to 1970?
Paulette Goddard 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 Chaplins leading lady in Modern Times , and Chaplins 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 Charlie Chaplin , Burgess Meredith , and Erich Maria Remarque . Early life . Goddard was 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 married in 1908 and separated while their daughter was very young , although the divorce did not become final until 1926 . According to Goddard , her father left them , but according to J . R . Levy , Alta absconded with the child . Goddard was raised by her mother , and did not meet her father again until the late 1930s , after she had become famous . In a 1938 interview published in Colliers , 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 . In a December 17 , 1945 , article written by Oliver Jensen in Life , Goddard admitted to having lost the case and being forced to pay her father $35 a week . To avoid a custody battle , she and her mother moved often during her childhood , including relocating to Canada at one point . Goddard began modeling at an early age to support her mother and herself , working for Saks Fifth Avenue , Hattie Carnegie , and others . An important figure in her childhood was her great uncle , Charles Goddard , the owner of the American Druggists Syndicate . He played a central role in Goddards career , introducing her to Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld . In 1926 , she made her stage debut as a dancer in Ziegfelds summer revue , No Foolin , which was also the first time that she used 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 . It was , however , a flop and closed after only three days following its premiere in Atlantic City . Soon after the play closed , 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 Goddard was granted a divorce in Reno , Nevada , in 1929 , receiving a divorce settlement of $375,000 . Film career . Early films . Goddard first visited Hollywood in 1929 , when she appeared as an uncredited extra in two films , the Laurel and Hardy short film Berth Marks ( 1929 ) , and George Fitzmaurices drama The Locked Door ( 1929 ) . Following her divorce , she briefly visited Europe before returning to Hollywood in late 1930 with her mother . Her second attempt at acting was no more successful than the first , as she landed work only as an extra . Sam Goldwyn . In 1930 , she signed her first film contract with producer Samuel Goldwyn to appear as a Goldwyn Girl in Whoopee ! ( 1930 ) . She also appeared in City Streets ( 1931 ) , Ladies of the Big House ( 1931 ) , and The Girl Habit ( 1931 ) for Paramount , Palmy Days ( 1931 ) for Goldwyn , and The Mouthpiece ( 1932 ) for Warners . Goldwyn and she did not get along , and she began working for Hal Roach Studios , appearing in a string of uncredited supporting roles for the next four years , including Show Business ( 1932 ) , Young Ironsides ( 1932 ) , Pack Up Your Troubles ( 1932 , with Laurel and Hardy ) , and Girl Grief with Charley Chase . Goldwyn used Goddard in The Kid from Spain ( 1932 ) , The Bowery ( 1933 ) , Roman Scandals ( 1933 ) , and Kid Millions ( 1934 ) . Charlie Chaplin . The year she signed with Goldwyn , Goddard began dating Charlie Chaplin , a relationship that received substantial attention from the press . It marked a turning point in Goddards career when Chaplin cast her as his leading lady in his next box office hit , Modern Times ( 1936 ) . Her role as The Gamin , an orphan girl who runs away from the authorities and becomes The Tramps companion , was her first credited film appearance and garnered her mainly positive reviews , Frank S . Nugent of The New York Times describing her as the fitting recipient of the great Charlots championship . David O . Selznick & MGM . Following the success of Modern Times , Chaplin planned other projects with Goddard in mind as a co-star , but he worked slowly , and Goddard worried that the public might forget about her if she did not continue to make regular film appearances . She signed a contract with David O . Selznick and appeared with Janet Gaynor in the comedy The Young in Heart ( 1938 ) before Selznick lent her to MGM to appear in two films . The first of these , Dramatic School ( 1938 ) , co-starred Luise Rainer , but the film received mediocre reviews and failed to attract an audience . Her next film , The Women ( 1939 ) , was a success . With an all-female cast headed by Norma Shearer , Joan Crawford , and Rosalind Russell , the films supporting role of Miriam Aarons was played by Goddard . Pauline Kael later wrote of Goddard , she is a stand-out . Fun . Scarlett OHara . Selznick was pleased with Goddards performances , particularly her work in The Young in Heart , and considered her for the role of Scarlett OHara . Initial screen tests convinced Selznick and director George Cukor that Goddard would require coaching to be effective in the role , but that she showed promise , and she was the first actress given a Technicolor screen test . Russell Birdwell , the head of Selznicks publicity department , had strong misgivings about Goddard . He warned Selznick of the tremendous avalanche of criticism that will befall us and the picture should Paulette be given this part...I have never known a woman , intent on a career dependent upon her popularity with the masses , to hold and live such an insane and absurd attitude towards the press and her fellow man as does Paulette Goddard...Briefly , I think she is dynamite that will explode in our very faces if she is given the part . Selznick remained interested in Goddard for the role of Scarlett . After he was introduced to Vivien Leigh , he wrote to his wife that Leigh was a dark horse and that his choice had narrowed down to Paulette , Jean Arthur , Joan Bennett , and Vivien Leigh . After a series of tests with Leigh that pleased both Selznick and Cukor , Selznick cancelled the further tests that had been scheduled for Goddard , and the part was given to Leigh . It has been suggested that Goddard lost the part because Selznick feared that questions surrounding her marital status with Charlie Chaplin would result in scandal . However , Selznick was aware that Leigh and Laurence Olivier lived together , as their respective spouses had refused to divorce them , and in addition to offering Leigh a contract , he engaged Olivier as the leading man in his next production Rebecca ( 1940 ) . Chaplins biographer Joyce Milton wrote that Selznick was worried about legal issues by signing her to a contract that might conflict with her pre-existing contracts with the Chaplin studio . Paramount . Goddard signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and her next film , The Cat and the Canary ( 1939 ) with Bob Hope , was a turning point in the careers of both actors . They promptly were re-teamed in The Ghost Breakers ( 1940 ) . Goddard starred with Chaplin again in his film The Great Dictator ( 1940 ) . The couple split amicably soon afterward , and Goddard allegedly obtained a divorce in Mexico in 1942 , with Chaplin agreeing to a generous settlement . At Paramount , Goddard was cast by Cecil B . De Mille in the action epic North West Mounted Police ( 1940 ) , playing the second female lead . She was Fred Astaires leading lady in Second Chorus ( 1940 ) , where she met actor Burgess Meredith , who became her third husband . Goddard made Pot o Gold ( 1941 ) , a comedy with James Stewart , then supported Charles Boyer and Olivia de Havilland in Hold Back the Dawn ( 1941 ) , from a script by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett , directed by Mitchell Leisen . Goddard was teamed with Hope for a third time in Nothing But the Truth ( 1942 ) , then made The Lady Has Plans ( 1942 ) , a comedy with Ray Milland . She did Reap the Wild Wind ( 1942 ) , playing the lead , a Scarlett OHara type character . Co-starring Milland and John Wayne , it was a huge hit . Goddard did The Forest Rangers ( 1942 ) . One of her better-remembered film appearances was in the variety musical Star Spangled Rhythm ( 1943 ) , in which she sang A Sweater , a Sarong , and a Peekaboo Bang with Dorothy Lamour and Veronica Lake . She and Milland did The Crystal Ball ( 1943 ) . Oscar nomination . Goddard received one Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for the film So Proudly We Hail ! ( also 1943 ) . Goddard was teamed with Fred MacMurray in Standing Room Only ( 1944 ) and Sonny Tufts in I Love a Soldier ( 1944 ) . She was one of many Paramount stars in Duffys Tavern ( 1945 ) . Goddards most successful film was Kitty ( 1945 ) , in which she played the titular role . Producer . In The Diary of a Chambermaid ( 1946 ) , Goddard starred with Burgess Meredith , to whom she was married at the time , under the direction of Jean Renoir . It was made for United Artists . At Paramount she did Suddenly Its Spring ( 1947 ) and De Milles Unconquered ( 1947 ) . During the Hollywood Blacklist , when she and blacklisted husband Meredith were mobbed by a baying crowd screaming Communists ! on their way to a premiere , Goddard is said to have turned to her husband and said , Shall I roll down the window and hit them with my diamonds , Bugsy ? She made An Ideal Husband ( 1947 ) in Britain for Alexander Korda , and was accompanied on a publicity trip to Brussels by Clarissa Spencer-Churchill , niece of Sir Winston Churchill , and later the wife of future Prime Minister Anthony Eden . Goddard and her husband were among several stars in On Our Merry Way ( 1948 ) . At Paramount , she did two movies with MacDonald Carey : Hazard ( 1948 ) and Bride of Vengeance ( 1949 ) . She then left the studio . Freelance . In 1949 , she formed Monterey Pictures with John Steinbeck . Goddard starred in Anna Lucasta ( 1949 ) , then went to Mexico for The Torch ( 1950 ) . In England , she was in Babes in Bagdad ( 1952 ) ; then she went to Hollywood for Vice Squad ( 1953 ) , Sins of Jezebel ( 1953 ) , Paris Model ( 1953 ) , and Charge of the Lancers ( 1954 ) . Her last starring role was in the English production A Stranger Came Home ( known as The Unholy Four in the United States ) . Television . Goddard began appearing in summer stock and on television , guest starring on episodes of Sherlock Holmes , an adaptation of The Women , this time playing the role of Sylvia Fowler , The Errol Flynn Theatre , The Joseph Cotten Show , and The Ford Television Theatre . She was in an episode of Adventures in Paradise and a TV version of The Phantom . Later life . After her marriage in 1958 to Erich Maria Remarque , Goddard largely retired from acting and moved to Ronco sopra Ascona , Switzerland . She attempted a comeback in films with a supporting role in the Italian film Time of Indifference ( 1964 ) , which was her last feature film . After Remarques death in 1970 , she made one last attempt at acting , when she accepted a small role in an episode of The Snoop Sisters ( 1972 ) for television . Goddard inherited much of Remarques 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 élite . During the 1980s , she 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 . Death . Goddard underwent invasive treatment for breast cancer in 1975 , successfully by all accounts . On April 23 , 1990 , aged 79 , she died at her home in Switzerland from heart failure while under respiratory support due to emphysema . She is buried in Ronco Village Cemetery , next to Remarque and her mother . 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 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 . In May 1944 , she married Burgess Meredith at David O . Selznicks home in Beverly Hills . They divorced in June 1949 . In 1958 , Goddard married author Erich Maria Remarque . They remained married until Remarques death in 1970 . Goddard had no children . In October 1944 , she suffered the miscarriage of a son with Burgess Meredith . Legacy . Arguably , Goddards foremost legacies remain her two feature films with Charles Chaplin , Modern Times and The Great Dictator , and a large donation to a prominent American educational institution . Goddard , whose own formal education did not go beyond high school , bequeathed US$20 million to New York University ( NYU ) in New York City . This contribution was also in recognition of her friendship with the Indiana-born politician and former NYU President John Brademas . Goddard Hall , a residence hall for NYU freshmen in Greenwich Village , is named in her honor . Efforts to raise CHF 6.2M ( $7M ) to purchase and save Remarque and Goddards villa from demolition are underway , proposing to transform the Casa Monte Tabor into a museum and home to an artist-in-residence program , focused on creativity , freedom , and peace . Fictional portrayals . Goddard was portrayed by Gwen Humble in the made-for-TV movie ( 1980 ) , by Diane Lane in the 1992 film Chaplin , and by actress Natalie Wilder in the 2011 play Puma , written by Julie Gilbert , who also wrote Opposite Attraction : The Lives of Erich Maria Remarque and Paulette Goddard . External links . - Photographs and literature - Paulette Goddard portrait gallery NY Public Library ( Billy Rose collection ) - Paulette Goddards site ( English ) - Photos of Paulette Goddard in Pot O Gold by Ned Scott