Norma Shearer
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- August 10, 1902
- Died
- June 12, 1983 (aged 80)
- Birthplace
- Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Biography
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.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
1939: Secrets of Hollywood's Golden Year
TV · 1 ep
Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Vito
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
Movie · as Various Roles (archive footage)
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Judy Garland: By Myself
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Sports on the Silver Screen
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment! III
Movie · as (archive footage) (uncredited)
You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood
TV · as Self (archive footage, uncredited) · 1 ep
That's Entertainment!
Movie · as (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Brasileiros em Hollywood
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Anniversary
Movie · as Herself - Archive Footage (uncredited)
MGM Parade
TV · 1 ep
Twenty Years After
Movie · as (archive footage)
Her Cardboard Lover
Movie · as Consuelo Croyden
We Were Dancing
Movie · as Victoria Anastasia Wilomirska
Escape
Movie · as Countess Ruby von Treck
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Movie · as Self
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Movie · as Self
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Movie · as Self
The Women
Movie · as Mary Haines
Idiot's Delight
Movie · as Irene Fellara
From the Ends of the Earth
Movie · as Self
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
Movie · as Norma Shearer
Marie Antoinette
Movie · as Marie Antoinette
Hollywood Goes to Town
Movie · as Self
Another Romance of Celluloid
Movie · as Self (uncredited)
The Romance of Celluloid
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Romeo and Juliet
Movie · as Juliet
Master Will Shakespeare
Movie · as Juliet (uncredited)
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
Movie · as Elizabeth Barrett
Riptide
Movie · as Lady Mary Rexford
Going Hollywood
Movie · as Herself - Premiere Clip (archive footage)
The Film Parade
Movie · as (archive footage) (uncredited)
Smilin' Through
Movie · as Kathleen / Moonyeen
Strange Interlude
Movie · as Nina Leeds
The Movie Album
Movie · as (archive footage)
A Free Soul
Movie · as Jan Ashe
The Stolen Jools
Movie · as Owner of Stolen Jewels
Strangers May Kiss
Movie · as Lisbeth Corbin
Private Lives
Movie · as Amanda Prynne
The Christmas Party
Movie · as Herself
We’re Switching to Hollywood
Movie · as Self
The Divorcee
Movie · as Jerry
Let Us Be Gay
Movie · as Kitty Brown
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Movie · as Self / Juliet
A Man's Man
Movie · as Norman Shearer (uncredited)
Their Own Desire
Movie · as Lucia 'Lally' Marlett
The Trial of Mary Dugan
Movie · as Mary Elizabeth Dugan
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
Movie · as Fay Cheyney
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
Movie · as Kathi
A Lady of Chance
Movie · as Dolly Morgan
The Actress
Movie · as Rose Trelawny
The Latest from Paris
Movie · as Ann Dolan
After Midnight
Movie · as Mary Miller
The Demi-Bride
Movie · as Criquette
Upstage
Movie · as Dolly Haven
The Waning Sex
Movie · as Nina Duane
The Devil's Circus
Movie · as Mary
Lady of the Night
Movie · as Molly Helmer / Florence Banning
Pretty Ladies
Movie · as Frances White
The Tower of Lies
Movie · as Glory/Goldie
1925 Studio Tour
Movie · as Self
Waking Up the Town
Movie · as Mary Ellen Hope
A Slave of Fashion
Movie · as Katherine Emerson
His Secretary
Movie · as Ruth Lawrence
Excuse Me
Movie · as Marjorie Newton
The End of the World
Movie · as Mary Ellen Hope
The End of the World
Movie · as Mary Ellen Hope
The Wolf Man
Movie · as Elizabeth Gordon
He Who Gets Slapped
Movie · as Consuelo
Empty Hands
Movie · as Claire Endicott
Married Flirts
Movie · as Norma Shearer (uncredited)
Broadway After Dark
Movie · as Rose Dulane
The Snob
Movie · as Nancy Claxton
Blue Water
Movie · as Lillian Denton
The Trail of the Law
Movie · as Jerry Vardon
Broken Barriers
Movie · as Grace Durland
Lucretia Lombard
Movie · as Mimi Winship
A Clouded Name
Movie · as Marjorie Dare
The Devil's Partner
Movie · as Jeanne
Man and Wife
Movie · as Dora Perkins
The Wanters
Movie · as Marjorie
Pleasure Mad
Movie · as Elinor Benton
Channing of the Northwest
Movie · as Jess Driscoll
The Man Who Paid
Movie · as Jeanne Thornton
The Taming of the Shrewd
Movie · as Rose Del Mar
The Bootleggers
Movie · as Helen Barnes
Way Down East
Movie · as Barn Dancer (uncredited)
The Restless Sex
Movie · as Reveler at Artists Ball (uncredited)
Torchy's Millions
Movie · as (uncredited)
The Stealers
Movie · as Julie Martin
The Flapper
Movie · as Schoolgirl (uncredited)
The Star Boarder
Movie · as Big V Beauty Squad Member (uncredited)