At one time, Norma Shearer was the reigning “queen” of Hollywood films. It didn’t hurt that her husband was one of the heads of a major movie studio.
She was born Edith Norma Shearer on August 10, 1902 in Montreal, Canada. Though she came from a privileged household, her family lost their fortune in 1910. Norma’s good looks were obvious at an early age and she won a beauty contest at 14-years-old, which gave her mother the idea to take her to NewYork, with the hopes of getting the girl show biz work. In 1920, Norma was modeling and appearing as a film extra. Talent scout Irving Thalberg, was impressed by her and was pivotal in helping her get a contract in 1925. She also won his heart, a very fortunate thing for her career, since Thalberg became chief of production at MGM. She became his wife and also got the juiciest female film roles, to the frustration of the other studio actresses on the lot.
The parts Shearer usually played were sophisticated, free-spirited women involved in complicated love affairs. She appeared in silent movies and then easily made the switch to talkies. Her great beauty was used to full advantage in all of her films and she starred in movies that had great public appeal. Her starring vehicles included He Who Gets Slapped, The Trial of Mary Dugan, The Divorcée, A Free Soul, Private Lives, Strange Interlude, Riptide, Smilin’ Through, Their Own Desires, The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Romeo and Juliet, Idiot’s Delight, Marie Antoinette and The Women.
Whether Norma Shearer received six Best Actress Oscar nominations during her career because of the strength of her acting ability or because of her status as the wife of an influential movie studio head is a debatable issue, but I personally believe her work was worthy of the honor. She received the Best Actress Oscar in 1930 for The Divorcée.
In 1936, Irving Thalberg, always delicate health-wise, died at age 37 of pneumonia. Though grieving, his widow Norma Shearer continued to make motion pictures, although, with her husband deceased, other MGM actresses were at last able to get good roles and give her the kind of competition she had not had to deal with prior to her spouse’s demise. She did some good work, but , by 1942, it was clear to her that her star was on the wane, so she wisely left the film industry.
She married one other time, to ski instructor Martin Arrouge. It created a small scandal, since her groom was a good 20 years younger than she was. He appeared, however, to have been a devoted spouse and they stayed together until the time of her death from pneumonia in 1983 in Woodland Hills, California.
Norma Shearer will ever be remembered as “The First Lady of MGM”.
