NORMA SHEARER
Name: Edith Norma Shearer
Born: 10 August 1900 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died: 12 June 1983 Woodland Hills, California
Edith Norma Shearer (August 10, 1900 - June 12, 1983) was an Academy Award-winning
Canadian-American actress.
Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in the world from the mid 1920's
until her retirement in 1942. Her early films cast her as the girl-next-door but
after her 1930 film The Divorcee, she played sexually liberated women in
sophisticated contemporary comedies and dramas, as well as several historical
and period films.
Unlike many of her MGM contemporaries, Shearer's reputation went into steep
decline after her retirement. By the time of her death in 1983, she was in
danger of being known only for her "noble" roles in the regularly-revived The
Women and Romeo and Juliet or, at worst, as a forgotten star.
However, Shearer's legacy began to be re-evaluated in the 1990's with the
publication of two biographies and the TCM and VHS release of her films, many of
them unseen since the implementation of the Production Code some sixty years
before. Focus shifted to her pre-Code "divorcee" persona, and Shearer was
rediscovered as "the exemplar of sophisticated [1930's] woman-hood... exploring
love and sex with an honesty that would be considered frank by modern standards".
Simultaneously, Shearer's ten year collaboration with portrait photographer
George Hurrell and her lasting contribution to fashion through the designs of
Adrian were also recognized.
Today, Norma Shearer is widely celebrated as one of cinema's feminist pioneers:
"the first American film actress to make it chic and acceptable to be single and
not a virgin on screen".
In March 2008, two of her most famous pre-code films, The Divorcee and A Free
Soul, will be released on DVD.
Name: Edith Norma Shearer
Born: 10 August 1900 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died: 12 June 1983 Woodland Hills, California
Edith Norma Shearer (August 10, 1900 - June 12, 1983) was an Academy Award-winning
Canadian-American actress.
Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in the world from the mid 1920's
until her retirement in 1942. Her early films cast her as the girl-next-door but
after her 1930 film The Divorcee, she played sexually liberated women in
sophisticated contemporary comedies and dramas, as well as several historical
and period films.
Unlike many of her MGM contemporaries, Shearer's reputation went into steep
decline after her retirement. By the time of her death in 1983, she was in
danger of being known only for her "noble" roles in the regularly-revived The
Women and Romeo and Juliet or, at worst, as a forgotten star.
However, Shearer's legacy began to be re-evaluated in the 1990's with the
publication of two biographies and the TCM and VHS release of her films, many of
them unseen since the implementation of the Production Code some sixty years
before. Focus shifted to her pre-Code "divorcee" persona, and Shearer was
rediscovered as "the exemplar of sophisticated [1930's] woman-hood... exploring
love and sex with an honesty that would be considered frank by modern standards".
Simultaneously, Shearer's ten year collaboration with portrait photographer
George Hurrell and her lasting contribution to fashion through the designs of
Adrian were also recognized.
Today, Norma Shearer is widely celebrated as one of cinema's feminist pioneers:
"the first American film actress to make it chic and acceptable to be single and
not a virgin on screen".
In March 2008, two of her most famous pre-code films, The Divorcee and A Free
Soul, will be released on DVD.