Queen Norma Shearer

Norma Shearer photographed by George Hurrell in 1934.

Norma Shearer is my favorite actress and she's more or less forgotten to the modern film viewer. But not me! She was one of the most popular actresses working in Hollywood during the 1920's and 1930's. 

Norma Shearer was born on August 10, 1902 in Montreal Canada. She played a Queen onscreen (in 1938's Marie Antoinette) and was the Queen of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which is where she made around 40 or so films from 1923-1942. She was married to Irving Thalberg in 1927, who was a film producer and co-ran MGM with Louis B. Mayer, until his untimely death in 1936. I cannot even imagine being a widow in my mid-thirties with two young children. That must have been such a tough thing to go through for her and her family! She retired in 1942 after her last film, Her Cardboard Lover (1942). It's a shame that she retired so young, she could have had many more years of an acting career left in her. 

Norma Shearer played women who were strong, independent, and who were just plain human. Her characters were flawed, complicated, and beautiful. I find Norma to be incredibly pretty. She was stunning both onscreen and off.

Norma Shearer excelled well at both drama and comedy. Take the two films that she made The Divorcee (1930) and Private Lives (1931), for example. A drama and a comedy film and she was fabulous in both of them. She even won a much deserved Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Divorcee (1930)! I hope this post inspires you to watch some of her films. Watch her films on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) and or there are plenty of her films available on Warner Archive DVD'S. She deserves to be remembered for her contribution to films and film history now and in the future as well. I know that I will not forget her. All Hail Queen Norma!

Norma Shearer photographed by George Hurrell in 1929.

Norma Shearer wanted to have these photographs taken by George Hurrell to prove to her husband Irving Thalberg and others that she could star in The Divorcee (1930).

Norma Shearer with her Best Actress Oscar in 1930 for The Divorcee.

Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery in Their Own Desire (1929).

Robert Montgomery is my favorite co-star of hers. He was one of her favorite leading man that she worked with! They starred in five films together starting in 1929's Their Own Desire and ending with 1934's Riptide.

Norma Shearer photographed by George Hurrell for the 1934 film Riptide.

Norma Shearer as the last Queen of France in Marie Antoinette (1938).

Marie Antoinette (1938) was the first film that I saw her in! I wrote a historical/film analysis paper on this film in high school comparing what happened in history to what happened in the film. Watching this film inspired me to watch more of her films!