It happened one career: Colbert's enduring appeal: Star embodied sexy sophistication, especially in romantic comedy.(Arts)(Appreciation)

The fame of Claudette Colbert, who died last week at the age of 92, probably will depend on the enduring appeal of her flair for sophisticated romantic comedy, the genre most likely to preserve her reputation as a distinctive leading lady, a snazzy specimen also adept at fun-loving and passionate character traits.

Colbert acquired a kind of patrician American authority as her popularity ripened and sparkled in the middle and late 1930s, then matured reliably throughout the 1940s. She rivaled Greer Garson as an image of virtuous femininity in certain World War II…