Paulette Goddard

Paulette Goddard
Studio publicity portrait from the 1940s
Born	Marion Levy (1910-06-03)June 3, 1910 Whitestone Landing, Queens, New York, U.S.
Died	April 23, 1990(1990-04-23) (aged 79) Ronco sopra Ascona, Ticino, Switzerland
Cause of death	Heart failure and emphysema
Resting place	Ronco Village Cemetery, Ticino, Switzerland
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actress, film producer, dancer, model
Years active	1926–1972
Spouse(s)	Edgar James (m. 1927; div. 1932) Charlie Chaplin (m. 1936; div. 1942) Burgess Meredith (m. 1944; div. 1949) Erich Maria Remarque (m. 1958; his death 1970)
Parent(s)	Joseph Russell Levy Alta Mae 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 the Paramount Studio in the 1940s. Her most notable films were her first major role, as Charles Chaplin's leading lady in Modern Times, and Chaplin's 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 Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich Maria Remarque.

Goddard was the only child of Joseph Russell Levy (1881–1954), who was Jewish, and the son of a prosperous cigar manufacturer from Salt Lake City, and of Alta Mae Goddard (1887–1983), who was Episcopalian and of English heritage. 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 Collier's, 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 Magazine, Goddard admitted to having lost the case and being forced to pay her father $35 a week.

To avoid a custody battle, her mother and she moved often during her childhood, even relocating to Canada at one point. Goddard began modelling at an early age to support her mother and herself, working for Saks Fifth Avenue and Hattie Carnegie, among 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 Goddard's career, introducing her to Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld.