Norma Shearer
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Some sources list August 11 as the date of Ms. Shearer's birth, but public records indicate that the August 10 date is correct.
Besides Oscar win for "The Divorcee" (1930), Shearer was also nominated for "Their Own Desire" (1930, multiple nominations for the same year then possible under Academy rules of the time), "A Free Soul" (1931), "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" (1934), "Romeo and Juliet" (1936), and "Marie Antoinette" (1938).
Biography
A child model and bit player in New York-based films whose appearance in "The Stealers" (1920) caught the attention of producer Irving Thalberg. Thalberg signed Shearer to a long-term contract with MGM in 1923 and she quickly became a popular star in such films as "He Who Gets Slapped" (1924), "His Secretary" (1925) and "The Student Prince" (1927), typically as a gentle but vivacious ingenue. Thalberg married his star in 1927, after which she had her pick of films, parts and directors. A striking and often lovely brunette actress with a great profile, Shearer compensated for a slight lack of conventional beauty with great poise, elegance and charm. She played a wide range of roles in a glittering array of films; among her most notable efforts were "The Divorcee" (1930), for which she won an Oscar, "A Free Soul" (1931), "Private Lives" (1931; an especially fine and rare comic performance at this stage in her career), "Smilin' Through" (1932; one of her loveliest performances, and most romantic films) and "Romeo and Juliet" (1936).
One of MGM's biggest stars of the 1930s, the ultra-chic Shearer eschewed the more innocent image of her silent stardom during the racy pre-Code period of the early 30s to play a series of wronged wives who fight the double standard by turning into silken sinners in films including "The Divorcee," "Strangers May Kiss" (1931) and "Riptide" (1934). She quickly became, along with Garbo, the studio's resident "prestige" star, and later in the decade played in several classy costume dramas, the most popular of which was "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" (1934, as poet Elizabeth Barrett).
Shearer lost interest in her career after Thalberg's death in 1936; this, coupled with a poor choice of roles (she turned down the leads in "Gone With the Wind" 1939 and "Mrs. Miniver" 1942 and opted instead for fluffy comedies) led her to retire from the screen in 1942. She did, however, leave her admirers with two excellent performances, easily among her finest, in two of her best-remembered films: as the tragic title heroine of the lavish, underrated "Marie Antoinette" (1938), and as the cheated-upon wife who must endure the "help" of her catty girlfriends in the all-star, all-female comedy, "The Women" (1939, in which she was first-billed over longstanding rival Joan Crawford).
As with Garbo, Shearer did receive offers after she left MGM and considered return vehicles to the cinema; in several cases, she backed out or else the projects never really got off the ground. Her glamorous image, though, was more accessible, less distant than Garbo's and so her absence from films never really contributed to any aloof star mystique; as the decades progressed she unjustly became somewhat forgotten and by the time the vogue in classical Hollywood nostalgia reached its apex her health had already begun to decline. Shearer did enjoy four decades of marriage, though, to her second husband, a former ski instructor and land developer she met and married in 1942. Her brother, Douglas Shearer (1899-1971), was a pioneering sound technician who won 12 Oscars and developed several key technical innovations.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Short)
Misc. Crew (Short)
Life Events
1920
Moved with mother, brother, and sister to New York; began appearing in films in bit parts (e.g., "The Flapper" and D.W. Griffith's "Way Down East")
1923
Signed with MGM; moved to California
1924
Began appearing in leading roles; had major successes in "He Who Gets Slapped" and "The Snob"
1925
Appeared in single loan-out during two-decade tenure at MGM, in "Waking Up the Town"
1929
Made successful talkie debut, "The Trial of Mary Dugan"
1932
Appeared on exhibitors' poll of ten most popular boxoffice stars for three years in a row, in sixth, ninth and tenth place, respectively
1933
Took lengthy vacation in Europe with Thalberg as he recovered from heart attack
1934
Returned to films; made two popular films, "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" and "Riptide"
1935
Took another year off from filmmaking to give birth to daughter Katherine; began preliminary work toward the end of the year on "Romeo and Juliet" (1936)
1937
Resisted a flat settlement with MGM regarding Thalberg's estate; held MGM executives to an agreement Thalberg had forged: successfully fought for her stock and for a percentage of the profits made on all films produced from the inception of MGM in 1924 through the end of December, 1938
1937
Successfully returned to films to make "Marie Antoinette", which Thalberg had prepared for production; signed six-picture deal with MGM at $150,000 per film
1939
Starred in what is perhaps her best-remembered film, the all-star, all-female "The Women"
1942
Last film, "Her Cardboard Lover"
1943
Turned down co-starring but secondary role opposite Bette Davis in "Old Acquaintance"
1946
Made preliminary agreement to star in films for producer David Lewis' Enterprise Productions; company had financial problems; no films made
1947
Discovered Janet Leigh (nee Jeanette Morrison) while on skiing vacation; helped set up screen test for her at MGM
1957
Selected Robert Evans to play the role of Irving Thalberg in a film about the life of film star Lon Chaney, "Man of a Thousand Faces"
Photo Collections
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Some sources list August 11 as the date of Ms. Shearer's birth, but public records indicate that the August 10 date is correct.
Besides Oscar win for "The Divorcee" (1930), Shearer was also nominated for "Their Own Desire" (1930, multiple nominations for the same year then possible under Academy rules of the time), "A Free Soul" (1931), "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" (1934), "Romeo and Juliet" (1936), and "Marie Antoinette" (1938).
Shearer had a slight cast in her left eye as a child which became less noticeable as she grew into adulthood. The observant can still notice it in some shots in her films, but cinematographers filmed her carefully and Shearer did therapeutic exercises to minimize its presence.
Among Shearer's admirers were F. Scott Fitzgerald, who wanted her to play Nicole in a film version of his novel, "Tender Is the Night" and used her as the model for a character in his short story, "Crazy Sunday".
Actor Robert Morley, appearing with Shearer in "Marie Antoinette" (1938), reportedly once asked her, "How did you become a movie star?" She replied, "I wanted to!" --reported by Lambert's "Norma Shearer" 1990.
"In her final years, Norma Shearer, looking and behaving more like Miss Haversham than one of the 1930s big movie stars, would clutch the wrists of friends visiting her at the Motion Picture Country House hospital in the San Fernando Valley and ask, 'Are you Irving? Were we married?'" --Leah Rozen in her review of Gavin Lambert's "Norma Shearer" in People, June 25, 1990.
In his later years, Alfred Hitchcock would reportedly lament the absence of movie queens in contemporary cinema by asking, "Where are the Norma Shearers?" --reported by Gavin Lambert in his 1990 biography "Norma Shearer".
