Probably Charles Boyer’s best-known role was in Gaslight, in which he was cast against type as a scheming husband trying to drive insane his new wife, played by Ingrid Bergman.
In 1945 came a different kind of immortality. Legendary Warner Bros. animator Chuck Jones modeled his passionate cartoon skunk Pepe Le Pew after the French star. The name was an obvious play on Pepe Le Moko, and completing the homage was voice specialist Mel Blanc, whose imitation of Boyer was spot on.
After the war, Boyer’s international career continued with film work in Europe (including The Earrings of Madame De…) and stage roles in London and New York. He won a 1951 Special Tony Award for Don Juan in Hell, directed by and co-starring Charles Laughton.
Boyer Partnered With Other Stars in Television Production Company
Boyer also became a powerful television presence in the United States. He partnered with movie greats David Niven, Dick Powell and Ida Lupino in Four Star Productions, appearing in the company’s Four Star Theatre series in the early 50s. A decade later, he appeared regularly on Four Star’s short-lived anthology series The Rogues.
On film, the aging actor moved into character parts in the 1950s and 60s, with diverse supporting roles in Around the World in 80 Days, Barefoot in the Park, Is Paris Burning?, Casino Royale, a remake of the Frank Capra classic Lost Horizon and The Madwoman of Chaillot.
Suicide Plagues Boyer Family
Boyer endured the loss of his only child, son Michael Charles Boyer, in 1965. Michael Boyer shot himself to death at 21 playing Russian Roulette, reportedly after his girlfriend broke up with him.
In August, 1978, Boyer was retired and living in Paradise Valley, Arizona when his wife of 44 years, Pat, died of cancer. Two days later, a deeply grieving Charles Boyer decided he could not live without her and took an overdose of the powerful barbiturate Seconal. He was two days shy of his 79th birthday.
Charles Boyer is buried beside his wife and son, and near many entertainment luminaries, at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California, not far from the studios where he made many of his films.
