Anecdotes

Took a fatal dose of barbiturates two days after his wife's death, which was also two days before his own seventy-ninth birthday.

Chuck Jones used his French voice and mannerisms when he created famed cartoon skunk Pépé Le Pew.

Half bald by his twenties, he only wore a toupee for his movie roles. Out in public, he never wore it.

Off-screen was a happily married bookworm, referred to by his friends as a "stick-in-the-mud".

Received a degree in philosophy from the Sorbonne.

In addition to English and French, he spoke German, Italian and Spanish.

Became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1942.

His favorite film was the romantic drama Elle et lui (1939).

Had one son: Michael Charles Boyer (born December 9, 1943); committed suicide September 21, 1965. He apparently played Russian roulette with a .38-caliber revolver after quarreling with a girlfriend.

Won a special Tony Award in 1952 "for distinguished performance in 'Don Juan in Hell', thereby assisting in a new theatre trend". He was also nominated for Broadway's 1963 Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic) for "Lord Pengo".

Vice president of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1964.

Always considered the right side of his face to be the more expressive, and was consistently photographed from that side, right up to the end of his film career.

His surname is pronounced "Boy-yay". He often wrote the pronunciation in brackets and eventually he became famous enough for most people to pronounce it the right way.

Lost the Best Actor Oscar to Spencer Tracy twice consecutively for films released in 1937 and 1938.

Charles Boyer founded the French Research Foundation in 1941 as a French research library used in motion picture pre-production work. He moved his library to West Hollywood during WWII and used it for his film 'Arch of Triumph' (1946) for research on costumes, buildings and furnishings of French history.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6300 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

Boyer reportedly turned down offers to star in Le roi des gueux (1938), Toute la ville danse (1938), Les hauts de Hurlevent (1939).

Appears in six Oscar Best Picture nominees: Elle et lui (1939), L'étrangère (1940), Par la porte d'or (1941), Hantise (1944), Le tour du monde en 80 jours (1956) and Fanny (1961), with Around the World in 80 Days the only winner.

Studied philosophy at the Sorbonne and drama at the Paris Conservatoire.

Signed with Ufa in 1928 to make French versions of German films in Berlin.

He has appeared in one film that has been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Hantise (1944).

Anatole Litvak thought Boyer was the best actor he ever worked with.

Following his death, he was interred with his wife Pat Paterson at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Often associated with the catchphrase "Come with me to the Casbah", though he never said it on screen.

Boyer was the first choice of director Claude Chabrol in 1959 for "A Double Tour", but the role was ultimately played by Jacques Dacqmine.

He was considered for the role of Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind" (1939).