Though she won a beauty contest at age fourteen and traveled to New York looking to Broadway, Ziegfeld rejected her for his "Follies". She did however, find some work as a movie extra. Producer Irving Thalberg saw these early efforts and, when he joined Louis B. Mayer in 1923, signed her to a five year contract. Of course Thalberg had even bigger plans and married Norma in 1927. He thought she should retire after their marriage, but Norma (thankfully) had other plans. Her first talkie was in The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929) and just four films later she won an Oscar as lead actress in The Divorcee (1930). Though that was to be her only Oscar, she was nominated four more times, the last for her leading role in Marie Antoinette (1938). She and her brother Douglas Shearer were the first Oscar-winning brother and sister. Norma made 61 films before her screen retirement in 1942.
She is one of the celebrities whose picture Anne Frank placed on the wall of her bedroom in the "Secret Annex" while in hiding during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam.
Norma died in California in June, 1983.
Norma Shearer - What do you think? Allure?
2 comments:
Alluring? Definitely! I love Norma Shearer and am so happy to find someone giving her the acknowledgment she deserves. I personally think she is one of the most beautiful actress of her time (or any for that matter). The Women, Private Lives, etc. She was stunning.
With the releases of the FORBIDDEN HOLLYWOOD collections on dvd, my appreciation for Miss Shearer has increased quite a bit. She was simply Angelic and Sexy.
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