Norma Shearer
Norma Shearer ( born August 10, 1902 in Montreal, Canada, † June 12, 1983 in Woodland Hills, California ) was an American actress.
Life
Edith Norma Shearer was born after her siblings and Athole Shearer Douglas, the youngest child of Andrew Shearer and Edith Shearer Fisher in Canada. Early 1920 Norma returned back to America. A first contact to show business could be produced over a mother's brother, who was manager of a theater company and had connections to New York. Trying to perform at the Ziegfield Follies of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., came to nothing. Instead, Shearer worked occasionally as a model, for example as Miss Lotta Miles in a campaign of car tire brand Kelly - Springfield. In later years, this nickname for Shearer was among those in the film company who were her well-disposed not necessarily naturalized. Soon, Norma Shearer played minor roles in films and quickly became a popular supporting actress. Encouraged by the success she went to Hollywood in the early 1920s.
Producer Irving Thalberg Norma Shearer saw in their early recordings and put them in front of Louis B. Mayer, who in 1923 gave her a five -year contract at the old Metro Studios. She starred in numerous films and rose rapidly to become one of the stars of the society. Especially after the surprise success of He Who Gets Slapped, where she appeared alongside Lon Chaney and William Haines, directed by Victor Sjöström, the popularity of the actress grew. Was in the internal hierarchy at MGM to the Metro merged with other companies in 1924, she stood directly to Marion Davies and Lillian Gish in third place. The meteoric rise of Greta Garbo then overshadowed, however, the ever-growing popularity of Norma Shearer. In 1927, she married Irving Thalberg, production head of MGM was then, and her career in the studio took a huge upswing. This was revealed when the actress was seen in the same year in the prestige production of The Student Prince Ramon Novarro next directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The studio wanted to build on the success of The Merry Widow with Mae Murray and John Gilbert directed by Erich von Stroheim and La Boheme from the following year with Lillian Gish and John Gilbert directed by King Vidor, previously provided for full cinema had.
With the beginning of the sound film era, the real heyday of the actress began. Irving Thalberg ensured that Shearer got the best roles and they soon had the title Queen of MGM. Shearer was notorious for their ambition and they oversaw every detail during the filming personally. With iron discipline she got used off to squint front of the camera and with the best cinematographers of the studio, she worked on a special skylight that gave her flat se face more contour. Became famous a developed specifically for them Make-Up, with the almost alabaster colors looked her skin on the canvas and was so bright that it made particular demands on the illumination of the other players. At the same time she let each individual still photograph, which should be published by it, personally submit for approval. Since Shearer was not the best character, she was very strict on it to cover their legs. During the time, the bitterness grew up with Joan Crawford on the preference of Shearer. When asked why Norma became a star, although they would still squint so strong and short legs and a very wide hips have, Crawford replied: Well, she sleeps with the boss.
Shearer, who had played mostly ladies of high society in the silent film era, was with advent of the talkies increasingly dissatisfied with their image and also wanted to play in romantic melodramas, such as those with which Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich were famous. On the advice of Ramon Novarro Shearer could be accommodate by the then completely unknown photographer George Hurrell in a series of provocative poses lasciviously. So she could convince Thalberg to give her the role in The Woman for all, the film adaptation of a more permissive novel about a newly divorced woman who has numerous affairs. Shearer won the Academy Award / Best Actress and played in the subsequent period usually self-confident women with their own ideas about love and marriage. The actress stayed out, however, not to be set too much on a role type. So she turned in succession, the film adaptation of Noel Coward's comedy Private Lives Salon, the remake of Love's Sorrow, a sentimental love story that takes place at different time levels and in the adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude. After Thalberg, whose ailing health forced him to a cure in Europe, in 1934 returned to MGM, he gave his wife usually rolls in opulent filmed stage classics such as The Barretts of Wimpole Street, the biggest success of Broadway legend Katharine Cornell or Romeo and Juliet. However, the film did not meet the approval of all the critics who complained that Shearer something ripe with 36 was for the role and also her partner Leslie Howard had already passed a critical age at 42.
Died in 1936 Irving Thalberg. The actress was involved in the following months in a bitter dispute with Louis B. Mayer to financial arrangements in Thalberg's Testament. The agreement was made after much negative publicity and provided inter alia that the actress should still turn six more films for $ 150,000 each. In addition, their percentage revenue stood at the last Thalberg productions.
Norma Shearer turned after her favorite production, the expensive and produced with great detail Biography of Marie- Antoinette, who came in 1938 in the rental and grossed less money than they had cost. The now well-known film of Norma Shearer 's The Women of 1939, the film adaptation of the Broadway hit of the same name. Film was the second most successful commercial of the year. Norma and Joan Crawford did not get on well together, but what gives the common scenes an added level of authenticity. Most critics did not like the appearance of Miss Shearer and compared their role even with those who Ann Harding always took over. In the following years, the actress refused leading roles from in Gone with the Wind, Susan and God, as well as Mrs. Miniver and adopted in 1942 after two financially successful comedies little We Were Dancing and Her Cardboard Lover of the canvas. Offers for a longer-term contract with Warner Brothers, which wanted to use the actress alongside Bette Davis connected in friendship, they refused. Contrary to popular rumors was the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, not oriented to Norma Shearer, but Broad took from the character of Norma Talmadge on.
In 1942 she learned in Sun Valley ski instructor Marti Arrougé know. They married in the same year and Norma Shearer retired now finally back from the screen. They prefer cared for the small family with two children from his marriage to Irving Thalberg. Norma Shearer nevertheless continued to maintain contact with MGM. So she discovered during a ski holiday Janet Leigh, she arranged for the screen test, which led to a contract with MGM.
On the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6638 Hollywood Blvd remembers a star on the actress.
Awards
Oscar / Best Actress
- Academy Awards 1930 (November) - Won for the woman and for all nominated for Their Own Desire
- Academy Awards 1931 - Nomination for The courage to happiness
- Oscars 1935 - The Barretts of Wimpole nomination for Street
- Academy Awards 1937 - Nominations for Romeo and Juliet
- Academy Awards 1939 - Nominations for Marie -Antoinette
According to the Statutes of the Academy actors were nominated during the first three awards for one or more films. In the case of Norma Shearer Oscar, however, was then awarded only for a movie.