Charles Boyer : the French lover / John Baxter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baxter, John, 1939- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Actors--United States--Biography.

Actors.

Actors--France--Biography.

Boyer, Charles, 1899-1978.

Boyer, Charles.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 254 pages, 34 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations

Other Title:

Charles Boyer

Place of Publication:

Lexington, Kentucky : University Press of Kentucky, [2021]

Summary:

"Charles Boyer: The French Lover is the first biography of Boyer to exist in English in almost forty years. Author John Baxter artfully presents the often-tragic life of this often overlooked, yet profoundly impactful French actor. Baxter relates how Boyer established himself in the theatre and cinema of France, confidently transitioning from silent film to sound and making a name for himself as a romantic leading man in Hollywood through the early 1940s. During World War II, Boyer put his career on hold to become politically active on behalf of his occupied home country. Upon returning to the stage and screen, Baxter shows how Boyer adapted effortlessly to postwar character roles in both Europe and the United States. He entered television in the 1950s as both producer and performer, and then remade himself as a comedy performer in the 1960s. Nominated four times for Academy Awards, he was honored by the Academy only once for his activities on behalf of France during World War II. In an insightful analysis of Boyer's choice of roles during and after World War II, Baxter shows that the actor possessed a shrewd perception of his image. Baxter reveals how Boyer, realizing his accent would always mark him as an outsider, both embraced and subverted that identity. Far from clinging to the performances that made him famous, Boyer showed a readiness to break the mold. Yet above all, Baxter argues that Boyer's greatest achievement lies in being the embodiment of exiles everywhere"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The eyes of a stranger

All quiet on the Western Front

Paris

On the road

To be famous and to be loved

Movies

Bernstein

On trial

Ufa and after

Mid-Atlantic

A ride on the carousel

The Boyer type

The love of his life

Japanese sandman

Think American

Discord

The sleeping prince

"Only god and I know what is in my heart"

The best headwaiter in Europe

Immortal longings

Exiles

Lazy and hot and happy

"Come with me to the casbah"

Sex on the high seas

The gathering storm

Blood, toil, sweat, and tears

The world's best-dressed governess

The war at home

A voice singing in the snow

The golden door

The most popular Frenchman in America

Love and death

Not what it looks like

Love in a cold climate

Stranger in a strange land

"Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it"

No fixed place of abode

One star short

Superficially superficial

Great body, lovely soul

Sins of the father

Men of distinction

Calm before the storm

Man and boy : Michael

Fade to black

The role of a lifetime

Envoi.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780813155562

0813155568

9780813155555

081315555X