Norma Shearer

Born: 1902-08-10 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Died: 1983-06-12

Known For: Acting

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.

Filmography

2015

Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn as Self (archive footage)

2011

Vito as Self (archive)

2008

Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood as Various Roles (archive footage)

2004

Judy Garland: By Myself as Self (archive footage)
Checking Out: Grand Hotel as Self (archive footage)

2003

Complicated Women as Self (archive footage)

1997

Sports on the Silver Screen as Self (archive footage)

1983

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

1974

That's Entertainment! as (archive footage) (uncredited)

1972

Hollywood: The Dream Factory as Self (archive footage)

1970

Brasileiros em Hollywood as Self (archive footage)

1963

Anniversary as Herself - Archive Footage (uncredited)

1955

MGM Parade

1944

Twenty Years After as (archive footage)

1942

Her Cardboard Lover as Consuelo Croyden
We Were Dancing as Victoria Anastasia Wilomirska

1940

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards as Self
Escape as Countess Ruby von Treck
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound as Self
Hollywood: Style Center of the World as Self

1939

The Women as Mary Haines
Idiot's Delight as Irene Fellara
From the Ends of the Earth as Self
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8 as Norma Shearer

1938

Marie Antoinette as Marie Antoinette
Another Romance of Celluloid as Self (uncredited)
Hollywood Goes to Town as Self

1937

The Romance of Celluloid as Self (archive footage)

1936

Romeo and Juliet as Juliet
Master Will Shakespeare as Juliet (uncredited)

1934

Riptide as Lady Mary Rexford
The Barretts of Wimpole Street as Elizabeth Barrett

1933

Going Hollywood as Herself - Premiere Clip (archive footage)
The Film Parade as (archive footage) (uncredited)

1932

The Movie Album as (archive footage)
Smilin' Through as Kathleen / Moonyeen
Strange Interlude as Nina Leeds

1931

The Stolen Jools as Owner of Stolen Jewels
A Free Soul as Jan Ashe
Private Lives as Amanda Prynne
Strangers May Kiss as Lisbeth Corbin
We’re Switching to Hollywood as Self
The Christmas Party as Herself

1930

The Divorcee as Jerry
Let Us Be Gay as Kitty Brown

1929

A Man's Man as Norman Shearer (uncredited)
Their Own Desire as Lucia 'Lally' Marlett
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 as Self / Juliet
The Trial of Mary Dugan as Mary Elizabeth Dugan
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney as Fay Cheyney

1928

The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg as Kathi
A Lady of Chance as Dolly Morgan
The Actress as Rose Trelawny
The Latest from Paris as Ann Dolan

1927

The Demi-Bride as Criquette
After Midnight as Mary Miller

1926

The Waning Sex as Nina Duane
The Devil's Circus as Mary
Upstage as Dolly Haven

1925

Lady of the Night as Molly Helmer / Florence Banning
The End of the World as Mary Ellen Hope
A Slave of Fashion as Katherine Emerson
The Tower of Lies as Glory/Goldie
Excuse Me as Marjorie Newton
1925 Studio Tour as Self
His Secretary as Ruth Lawrence
Pretty Ladies as Frances White
Waking Up the Town as Mary Ellen Hope
The End of the World as Mary Ellen Hope

1924

The Wolf Man as Elizabeth Gordon
He Who Gets Slapped as Consuelo
Broadway After Dark as Rose Dulane
The Trail of the Law as Jerry Vardon
Empty Hands as Claire Endicott
The Snob as Nancy Claxton
Broken Barriers as Grace Durland
Married Flirts as Norma Shearer (uncredited)
Blue Water as Lillian Denton

1923

Pleasure Mad as Elinor Benton
The Devil's Partner as Jeanne
A Clouded Name as Marjorie Dare
Man and Wife as Dora Perkins
Lucretia Lombard as Mimi Winship
The Wanters as Marjorie

1922

The Bootleggers as Helen Barnes
The Man Who Paid as Jeanne Thornton
The Taming of the Shrewd as Rose Del Mar
Channing of the Northwest as Jess Driscoll

1920

Way Down East as Barn Dancer (uncredited)
Torchy's Millions as (uncredited)
The Flapper as Schoolgirl (uncredited)
The Restless Sex as Reveler at Artists Ball (uncredited)
The Stealers as Julie Martin

1919

The Star Boarder as Big V Beauty Squad Member (uncredited)