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Myrna Loy


1905 - 1993

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The actress Myrna Loy was born as Myrna Adele Williams in Montana. When her family moved to Los Angeles, she attended the Westlake School for Girls where she discovered her interest for acting.

At the age of 15 she appeared at local theaters, among others at the Grauman's Theater. There she was spotted by the wife of Rudolph Valentino who paved the way to the film business for her.

Myrna Loy made her film debut in 1925 with the movie "What Price Beauty" and was soon engaged as a exotic seductress because of her remarkable beauty. For the time being she played only very small roles in the movies "The Caveman" (26), "The Gilded Highway" (26), "Exquisite Sinner" (26), "Satan in Sables" (26), "Don Juan" (26) and "Across the Pacific" (26).

When she took part in the movie "Bitter Apples" (27) she caught the attention of the audience for the first time but the following movies offered her again only small roles. To her other silent movies belong "The Climbers" (27), "The Heart of Maryland" (27), "The Girl from Chicago" (27), "The Crimson City" (28) and "The Midnight Taxi" (28).

It lasted till to the talkies when Myrna Loy was changed from a vamp into a comedienne and character actress. Her early talkies were "Isle of Escape" (30), "Bride of the Regiment" (30), "Renegades" (30), "A Connecticut Yankee" (31), "Transatlantic" (31), "Hush Money" (31), "Body and Soul" (31), "Emma" (32), "The Mask of Fu Manchu" (32) and "The Barbarian" (33).

With the movie "The Prizefighter and the Lady" (33) she laid the foundation for her breakthrough which took shape for good with her role as Nora Charles in the movie "The Thin Man" (34) at William Powell's side.

The duo Myrna Loy / William Powell harmonized so well as the married couple Charles that they took part in five more movies with "The Thin Man" in the following years. With these movies they became the most popular comedian couple of the 30's and 40's.

Because of the constant successful movies Myrna Loy was called "Queen of the Movies" in 1936 and she underpinned this reputation with movies like  "The Great Ziegfeld" (36), "Petticoat Fever" (36), "After the Thin Man" (36), "Man-Proof" (38), "Too Hot to Handle" (38) and "Another Thin Man" (39). Myrna Loy was on the height of her career.

The role offers dropped off in the 40's. Myrna Loy acted only in few movies like "I Love You Again" (40), "Love Crazy" (41), "Shadow of the Thin Man" (41), "The Best Years of Our Lives" (46), "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" (48) and "That Dangerous Age" (49).

Her career came to an end in the 50's and 60's. In those years she only took part in few movies like "Cheaper by the Dozen" (50), "Lonelyhearts" (59), "From the Terrace" (60), "Midnight Lace" (60) and "The April Fools (69).

In the 70's she had some guest appearances in the movies "The Elevator" (74), "Airport 1975" (74), "The End" (78) and "Summer Solstice" (81).

Myrna Loy also devoted to the Red Cross (till the end of the war) after the attack against Pearl Harbor, from the 50's she also worked political. In 1973 she made her debut on Broadway with the play "The Women".
Her autobiography "Myrna Loy: Being and Becoming" was published in 1987. In 1991 she got the Honorary Award for her lifework.
 

Other movies with Myrna Loy:
Why Girls Go Back Home (26) So This Is Paris (26) Finger Prints (27) Simple Sis (27) A Sailor's Sweetheart (27) If I Were Single (27) Ham and Eggs at the Front (27) Beware of Married Men (28) Turn Back the Hours (28) Pay as You Enter (28) State Street Stadie (28) Fancy Baggage (29) Hardboiled Rose (29) The Desert Song (29) The Black Watch (29) The Squall (29) Noah's Ark (29) The Great Divide (29) The Show of the Shows (29) Evidence (29) Cameo Kirby (30) Under a Texas Moon (30) Cock o' the Walk (30) The Last of the Duanes (30) The Jazz Cinderella (30) The Bad Man (30) Rogue of the Rio Grande (30) The Truth About Youth (30) The Devil to Pay! (30) The Naughty Flirt (31) Rebound (31) Consolation Marriage (31) Arrowsmith (31) Skyline (31) Vanity Fair (32) The Wet Parade (32) The Woman in Room 13 (32) New Morals for Old (32) Love Me Tonight (32) Thirteen Women (32) The Animal Kingdom (32) Topaze (33) When Ladies Meet (33) Penthouse (33) Night Flight (33) Men in White (34) Manhattan Melodrama (34) Stamboul Quest (34) Evelyn Prentice (34) Broadway Bill (34) Wings in the Dark (35) Whipsaw (35) Wife vs. Secretary (36) To Mary - with Love (36) Libeled Lady (36) Parnell (37) Double Wedding (37) Test Pilot (38) Lucky Night (39) The Rains Came (39) Third Finger, Left Hand (40) The Thin Man Goes Home (44) So Goes My Love (46) The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (47) Song of the Thin Man (47) The Red Pony (49) Belles on Their Toes (52) Serie "General Electric Theater: It Gives Me Great Pleasure" (55) The Ambassador's Daughter (56) Meet Me in St. Louis (59) Serie  "Family Affair: A Helping Hand" (67) Serie "The Virginian: Lady of the House" (67) Death Takes a Holiday (71) Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate (71) Columbo: Etude in Black (72) The Couple Takes a Wife (72) Indict and Convict (73) Serie "Ironside: All About Andrea" (73) It Happened at Lakewood Manor (77) Just Tell Me What You Want (80)


 
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