Norma Shearer
Biography
Norma Shearer was a Canadian-American actress who appeared in films from 1919 to 1942 and became known for playing spunky, sexually liberated women. Born in Montreal, she moved to New York in 1920, worked as an extra and a model, and won a small role in The Stealers before signing with Louis B. Mayer Pictures in 1923. In Hollywood she appeared with Lon Chaney and John Gilbert in He Who Gets Slapped (1924), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's first official production, and soon became one of the studio's biggest stars. Her first prestige production was The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927), and she moved to sound films with The Trial of Mary Dugan. Shearer won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Divorcee (1930) and was nominated six times, including for A Free Soul (1931), Romeo and Juliet (1936), and Marie Antoinette (1938). She starred in The Women (1939) and retired in 1942. She died in 1983.
80years old at death
- Born Montreal
- Died Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
- Star sign: LeoThe sign runs July 23 to August 22
- Edith Norma Shearer (birth name)
Movie Career
- Films
- 11
- Career span
- 19 years1920 to 1939
First and latest
Photos
Share
Did you know?!
First role
A year after she arrived in New York, Shearer got a break in film: fourth billing in the B-movie The Stealers in 1920.
A role that slipped away
Among the many actresses considered for Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind, Shearer was one, and in 1938 some publications even said she had won the part. Negative feedback from movie fans led her to withdraw from consideration.
A role that slipped away
Shearer turned down parts in the hit movies Now, Voyager and Mrs. Miniver so she could appear in We Were Dancing and Her Cardboard Lover, and both of those films flopped at the box office.
A first
The Trial of Mary Dugan, Shearer's first talking film, proved a tremendous success. Critics applauded her Canadian accent, described as medium-pitched, fluent and flexible, and other actresses soon imitated it.
Norma Shearer movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
George Cukor directed two of these films. Leslie Howard appears in three of them, more than any other actor. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Leslie Howard's page
Bess Flowers's page
Joan Crawford's page
George Irving's page
John Barrymore's page
Robert Montgomery's page
All films by George Cukor
Also two films together5 more actors
- John GilbertThe Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) and He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
- Ralph ForbesRomeo and Juliet (1936) and Smilin' Through (1932)
- Conrad NagelThe Divorcee (1930) and The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
- Mary DoranThe Divorcee (1930) and Their Own Desire (1929)
- Helene MillardThe Divorcee (1930) and Their Own Desire (1929)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Awards
Four awards and honors from 1930 to 2008, two of them major.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | |||
| 1930 | Best Actress | The Divorcee | Won |
| Venice Film Festival | |||
| 1938 | Volpi Cup for Best Actress | Marie Antoinette | Won |
| Other honors | |||
| 2008 | Canada's Walk of Fame (posthumous) | Honored | |
| Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame | Honored | ||
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.