Editing Claudette Colbert (section)

=== The beginnings, 1924–1927 ===
Colbert worked in a string of mostly short-lived shows in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Boston and Connecticut, which enabled her to gain experience in different genres. In 1924 the actor [[Leslie Howard]] met her, was impressed by her ability to speak with both Mid-Atlantic and British accents, and contacted the producer [[Albert H. Woods|Al Woods]] to cast her in [[Frederick Lonsdale]]'s ''[[The Fake (play)|The Fake]]'', but she was replaced by [[Frieda Inescort]] before it opened.<ref name="Tom Vallance">{{cite web |last=Vallance |first=Tom |title=Obituary:Claudette Colbert |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-claudette-colbert-1307640.html |work=The Independent |access-date=2023-08-21 |date=1996-08-01}}</ref><ref name="becoming">Dick, Bernard F. ''Claudette Colbert: She Walked in Beauty''. pp. 24–25</ref> After signing a five-year contract with Woods, Colbert played ''ingenue'' roles on Broadway from 1925 to 1929. During this period she rejected being typecast as a French maid.<ref name="richardson">{{cite web |title=Claudette Colbert |author=Jan Richardson |work=The Movie Profiles & Premiums Newsletter – Immortal Ephemera |url=http://www.things-and-other-stuff.com/movies/profiles/claudette-colbert.html |access-date=March 25, 2013}}</ref> By 1925 she was having success in the comedy ''A Kiss in a Taxi'', which ran for 103 performances over a two-month period.<ref name="Kiss">{{cite web |title=A Kiss in a Taxi |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/a-kiss-in-a-taxi-7842#OpeningNightCast |website=IBDB |access-date=November 16, 2020}}</ref> Columnists sang the praises of her unconventional beauty and her power to enrapture an audience.<ref name="netflix"/> Colbert was again acclaimed as a carnival snake charmer in the Broadway production of ''The Barker'' (1927), and she reprised the role in [[West End theatre|London's West End]].<ref name="Basinger">{{cite web |last=Basinger |first=Jeanine |author2=Audrey E. Kupferberg |url=http://www.filmreference.com/Actors-and-Actresses-Ca-Co/Colbert-Claudette.html |title=Claudette Colbert&nbsp;– Films as actress |access-date=December 3, 2007}}</ref> She was noticed by theatrical producer [[Leland Hayward]], who suggested her for the heroine role in the silent film ''[[For the Love of Mike (1927 film)|For the Love of Mike]]'' (1927). Now believed to be [[Lost film|lost]],<ref>[http://www.classicfilmguide.com/index.php?s=essays&item=26 Classic Film Guide].</ref> the film did not fare well at the box office.<ref name="Pace1996" /><ref name="ultimate">{{cite web|url=http://www.ultimatemovierankings.com/claudette-colbert-movies|title=Claudette Colbert Movies|work=Ultimate Movie Rankings|date=January 29, 2016|access-date=October 22, 2016}}</ref>