Career Of Paulette Goddard

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 98, 19 January 1940, Page 5

Career Of Paulette Goddard

PAULETTE GODDARD was born on June 3, .1911, at Long Island, New York. Leaving school at fifteen, she accepted a small part in Ziegfeld’s “Rio Rita” on Broadway. In that part she had little chance to win recognition from the audience, but she did attract a number of other theatre managers, and she was engaged to play the lead in “The Conquering Male,” after which she had been in the Ziegfeld show for two seasons. She was an immediate success, and her star began to rise. New York society took her up, and when “The Conquering Male” closed, site was showered with more stage offers. But she wanted a vacation. She spent several months touring Europe, and on her return trip to America she received a number of film offers, but none of them good enough to attract her. Six months later Paulette was offered a small part in the Eddie Cantor picture, "The Kid from Spain.” It was not much, but Paulette was impatient. She took it, and she met Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin was preparing his next picture, “Modern Times,” and had not been able to find a suitable leading lady. He decided that Paulette was just the one for it. She attracted great attention in the picture. Important offers began to come in from other producers, but Chaplin, to whom she was under personal contract, held her back. First he wanted her for another Chaplin picture, “The Dictator.” However, this was a long time materializing, and at last Paulette persuaded the comedian, now her husband, to let her accept other roles, the latest of which is in Paramount’s “The Cat and the Canary.” She is five feet four inches in height, weighs 110 pounds, has light blonde hair and blue eyes.