Norma Shearer
Actor
10 August 1902 — 12 June 1983 (80 years)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Edith Norma Shearer (August 10, 1902 – June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress. Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid-1920s through the 1930s. Her early films cast her as the girl next door, but for most of the Pre-Code film era, beginning with the 1930 film The Divorcee, for which she won an Oscar for Best Actress, she played sexually liberated women in sophisticated contemporary comedies. Later she appeared in historical and period films.
Unlike many of her MGM contemporaries, Shearer's fame declined steeply after retirement. By the time of her death in 1983, she was largely remembered at best for her "noble" roles in The Women, Marie Antoinette, and Romeo and Juliet. Shearer's legacy began to be re-evaluated in the 1990s with the publication of two biographies and the TCM (Turner Classic Movies) and VHS release of her films, many of them unseen since the implementation of the Production Code some sixty years before. Focus shifted to her pre-Code "divorcee" persona, and Shearer was rediscovered as "the exemplar of sophisticated [1930's] woman-hood... exploring love and sex with an honesty that would be considered frank by modern standards".
Simultaneously, Shearer's ten-year collaboration with portrait photographer George Hurrell and her lasting contribution to fashion through the designs of Adrian were also recognized.
Shearer is widely celebrated by some as one of cinema's feminist pioneers: "the first American film actress to make it chic and acceptable to be single and not a virgin on screen". In March 2008, two of her most famous pre-code films, The Divorcee and A Free Soul, were released on DVD.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Norma Shearer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Edith Norma Shearer (August 10, 1902 – June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress. Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid-1920s through the 1930s. Her early films cast her as the girl next door, but for most of the Pre-Code film era, beginning with the 1930 film The Divorcee, for which she won an Oscar for Best Actress, she played sexually liberated women in sophisticated contemporary comedies. Later she appeared in historical and period films.
Unlike many of her MGM contemporaries, Shearer's fame declined steeply after retirement. By the time of her death in 1983, she was largely remembered at best for her "noble" roles in The Women, Marie Antoinette, and Romeo and Juliet. Shearer's legacy began to be re-evaluated in the 1990s with the publication of two biographies and the TCM (Turner Classic Movies) and VHS release of her films, many of them unseen since the implementation of the Production Code some sixty years before. Focus shifted to her pre-Code "divorcee" persona, and Shearer was rediscovered as "the exemplar of sophisticated [1930's] woman-hood... exploring love and sex with an honesty that would be considered frank by modern standards".
Simultaneously, Shearer's ten-year collaboration with portrait photographer George Hurrell and her lasting contribution to fashion through the designs of Adrian were also recognized.
Shearer is widely celebrated by some as one of cinema's feminist pioneers: "the first American film actress to make it chic and acceptable to be single and not a virgin on screen". In March 2008, two of her most famous pre-code films, The Divorcee and A Free Soul, were released on DVD.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Norma Shearer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Filmography
| 2011 | Vito · as Mrs. Stephen Haines - Mary |
| 2008 | Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood · as Various Roles (archive Footage) |
| 1994 | That's Entertainment! III · as (archive Footage) |
| 1993 | The Eye of Vichy · as Undetermined Film Role: Dancing |
| 1992 | MGM: When the Lion Roars · as Cast |
| 1990 | Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths · as CastOn Plex |
| 1974 | That's Entertainment! · as (archive Footage) (uncredited) |
| 1955 | |
| 1944 | Some of the Best · as Jan Ashe |
| 1942 | We Were Dancing · as Victoria Anastasia Wilomirska |
| 1942 | Her Cardboard Lover · as Consuelo Croyden |
| 1940 | Escape · as Countess Ruby Von Treck |
| 1939 | The Women · as Mary Haines |
| 1939 | Idiot's Delight · as Irene Fellara |
| 1938 | Marie Antoinette · as Marie Antoinette |
| 1936 | Romeo and Juliet · as Juliet |
| 1934 | The Barretts of Wimpole Street · as Elizabeth Barrett |
| 1934 | Riptide · as Lady Mary Rexford |
| 1932 | Strange Interlude · as Nina Leeds |
| 1932 | Smilin' Through · as Kathleen / Moonyeen |
| 1931 | Private Lives · as Amanda Prynne |
| 1931 | A Free Soul · as Jan Ashe |
| 1931 | The Stolen Jools · as Owner Of Stolen Jewels |
| 1931 | Strangers May Kiss · as Lisbeth Corbin |
| 1930 | Let Us Be Gay · as Kitty Brown |
| 1930 | The Divorcee · as Jerry |
| 1929 | Their Own Desire · as Lucia 'lally' Marlett |
| 1929 | The Last of Mrs. Cheyney · as Fay Cheyney |
| 1929 | The Trial of Mary Dugan · as Mary Elizabeth Dugan |
| 1929 | A Man's Man · as Norman Shearer (uncredited) |
| 1928 | A Lady of Chance · as Dolly Morgan |
| 1927 | The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg · as Kathi |
| 1927 | After Midnight · as Mary Miller |
| 1926 | Upstage · as Dolly Haven |
| 1926 | The Waning Sex · as Nina Duane |
| 1926 | The Devil's Circus · as Mary |
| 1925 | The Tower of Lies · as Glory/goldie |
| 1925 | Pretty Ladies · as Frances White |
| 1925 | A Slave of Fashion · as Katherine Emerson |
| 1925 | Waking Up the Town · as Mary Ellen Hope |
| 1925 | Lady of the Night · as Molly Helmer / Florence Banning |
| 1924 | He Who Gets Slapped · as ConsueloOn Plex |
| 1924 | Empty Hands · as Claire Endicott |
| 1923 | Lucretia Lombard · as Mimi Winship |
| 1923 | A Clouded Name · as Marjorie Dare |
| 1920 | The Restless Sex · as Reveler At Artists Ball (uncredited) |
| 1920 | Way Down East · as Barn Dancer (uncredited)On Plex |
| 1920 | The Flapper · as Schoolgirl (uncredited) |