Page "Claudette Colbert" Paragraph 45

Other actors noted Colbert's comic timing ; David Niven related in his biography that Gary Cooper was " terrified " at the prospect of working with Colbert in his first comedy, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, because he considered Colbert to be an expert in the genre.

The film gave Niven one of his first significant parts, and he wrote that Colbert took a nurturing role towards him and " was the soul of fun and a most generous performer ," although he noted that her insistence that she be filmed only from her left side created difficulties for the cameramen.

Her fastidious attitude in this regard became well known, with Doris Day quoted as saying, " God wasted half a face on Claudette ".

During her heyday, film technicians described the right side of her face as " the dark side of the moon.

" In a 1930s interview Constance Bennett replied to questions about her own demands, with the comment that Colbert's idiosyncrasies were far more excessive, but Bennett acknowledged that it was an integral part of Colbert's success.

Colbert was generally respected for her professionalism, with the New York Times stating that she was known for giving " 110 percent " to any project she worked on, and she was highly regarded for learning the technical aspects of studio lighting and cinematography that allowed her to maintain a distinctive film image.

In her biography, Myrna Loy stated that Colbert, along with Joan Crawford, " knew more about lighting than the experts did.