HOME INDEX
SILENT MOVIE
THE INTERNATIONAL SILENT MOVIE MAIL English Version

 
Norma Shearer


Foto: Arnold Genthe (1869-1942)

1902 - 1983

.
.
The actress Norma Shearer began as a child model and made her film debut with "The Flapper" (20). In the following years she acted successfully in "The Restless Sex" (20), "The Sign on the Door" (21), "A Clouded Man" (23), "The Wanters" (23) and "Lucretia Lombard" (23). 
In the last mentioned movie she made such a great impression that Irving Thalberg signed her on for Metro.

Thalberg attached importance to the most beautiful clothes for her, that she had the best makeup and that she became the best cinematographers for her mvoies. All this was an important support for her way to a star. Norma Shearer was convincing in the movies "He Who Gets Slapped" (24), "The Tower of Lies" (25), "The Devil's Circus" (26), "Upstage" (26), Ernst Lubitsch's "The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg" (27) and "A Lady of Chance" (28).

Norma Shearer got married with Irving Thalberg in 1927 which ended with his death in 1936.

She made her debut in the sound film era with "The Last of Mrs. Cheyney" (29), it followed the even more successful productions "The Trial of Mary Dugan (29) and "Their Own Desire" (29) - for which she was nominated for an Oscar.

The 30's began much promising with the movie "The Divorcee" (30), for which she won the Oscar. But instead of trhrowing herself in one movie to another on the height of her career she select her roles very carefully, and this made itself felt in the quality of her work.

She played among others with Clark Gable in "A Free Soul" (31) and was nominated again for an Oscar moreover she took part in "Private Lives" (31), "Strange Interlude" (32) and "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" (34), which brought her in another Oscar nomination.

Norma Shearer rounded her career off with the likewise for an Oscar nominated parts in "Romeo and Juliet" (36) and "Marie Antoinette" (38) as well as "The Women" (39), "Escape" (40) and "We Were Dancing" (42).

She retired from the film business and got married a second time. Now she worked as a talent scout, among others she spotted the actress Janet Leigh at the end of the 40's and the actor Robert Evans in the 50's.

Norma Shearer's brother Douglas was also well-known in the film business for the sound department. He won a total of twelve Oscars for his works.
 

Other movies with Norma Shearer:
Way Down East (20) Torchy's Millions (20) The Stealers (20) Channing of the Northwest (22) The Man Who Paid (22) The Bootleggers (22) Man and Wife (23) Pleasure Mad (23) The Devil's Partner (23) The Trail of the Law (24) The Wolf Man (24) Blue Water (24) Broadway After Dark (24) Empty Hands (24) Broken Barriers (24) Married Flirts (24) The Snob (24) Excuse Me (25) Lady of the Night (25) Waking Up the Town (25) Pretty Ladies (25) A Slave of Fashion (25) His Secretary (25) The Waning Sex (26) The Demi-Bride (27) After Midnight (27) The Latest from Paris (28) The Actress (28) The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (29) Let Us Be Gay (30) Strangers May Kiss (31) Smilin' Through (32) Riptide (34) Idiot's Delight (39) Her Cardboard Lover (42)


 
Back