Norma Shearer filmography

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Woman in a poster, smiling and wearing a hat
Norma Shearer on the January 1936 cover of Photoplay magazine

Norma Shearer (1902–1983) was a Canadian American film actress who was nominated five times for an Academy Award.[1] She and her sister Athole were assisted in their pursuit of show business careers by their mother Edith Fisher Shearer. After amassing numerous letters of introduction from a variety of show business-related people in Canada, the trio relocated to New York, hoping to get into musical theatre.[2]

She gained an introduction to impresario Florence Ziegfeld, who was unimpressed and turned her down.[3] Shearer continued to pursue her career ambitions and spent five years being cast in bit parts in silent movies before landing a contract in 1923 with Louis B. Mayer, who had just formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), with Irving Thalberg as his head of production.[4] After a start in silent films, Shearer made a transition to sound film. She remained with MGM for the rest of her career, with occasional loan-outs to other studios. Shearer and Thalberg eventually married.

Shearer chose her own roles, frequently going against the professional advice of others. Her husband did not believe she would be well suited for the lead character in 1930 American pre-Code drama film The Divorcee. Nevertheless, she went against his counsel and made the movie, hiring celebrity photographer George Hurrell for a photo session to prove her sexual allure could translate to film.[5] Her performance earned her the 1930 Academy Award for Best Actress. She was also nominated that same year for her performance in Their Own Desire.[6] Shearer was nominated four more times for Academy Award for Best Actress: the 1931 film A Free Soul, the 1934 film The Barretts of Wimpole Street, the 1936 film Romeo and Juliet, and the 1938 film Marie Antoinette.

When her husband died in 1936, Shearer continued with her film career at MGM. Coming on the heels of her success in Marie Antoinette, a nationwide publicity campaign was launched to cast Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind. Producer David O. Selznick, however, had offered the role to Shearer. Her fans were incensed that she would portray a woman of such questionable character, and she eventually turned down the offer.[7]

Norma's brother Douglas had remained in Canada until around 1925, when she introduced him to Louis B. Mayer, who arranged training for him at Bell Labs in the technique of adding sound to film. Her brother went on to earn 12 Academy Awards for his sound contributions to MGM.[8]

Shearer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960.[9]

Norma Shearer (1921)
Man an woman taking bows before a crowd
Shearer and John Gilbert in He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
A woman looking past her right shoulder
Norma Shearer in A Slave of Fashion (1925)
A man and a woman looking into the camera
Norma Shearer and her husband, film producer Irving Thalberg (1928)
Norma Shearer silent films
Title Year Role Notes Ref(s)
The Star Boarder 1919 Member of the Beauties Squad Vitagraph Studios [10]
The Flapper 1920 Extra Selznick Pictures [11]
The Stealers 1920 Julia Martin Robertson-Cole Studios, Inc. [12]
Way Down East 1920 Barn dancer United Artists [13]
The Restless Sex 1920 Extra Cosmopolitan Productions [11]
The Sign on the Door 1921 Uncredited
Edited out		 First National Pictures [11]
Torchy's Millions 1921 Unknown Educational film [14]
The Leather Pushers 1922 Unknown Universal Pictures [14]
The Man Who Paid 1922 Jeanne Apfel Productions [15]
The Bootleggers 1922 Helen Barnes Al Gilbert Film Productions [16]
Channing of the Northwest 1922 Jes Driscoll Selznick Pictures [17]
A Clouded Name 1923 Marjorie Dare Logan Productions [18]
Man and Wife 1923 Dora Perkins Arrow Film Corporation [14]
The Devil's Partner 1923 Jeanne Iroquois Productions [19]
Pleasure Mad 1923 Elinor Benton Metro Pictures [20]
The Wanters 1923 Marjorie First National Pictures [21]
Lucretia Lombard 1923 Mimi Warner Bros. [22]
The Trail of the Law 1923 Jerry Vardon Producers Security Corporation [23]
The Wolf Man 1924 Elizabeth Gordon Fox Film [24]
Blue Water 1924 Lillian Denton New Brunswick Films [25]
Broadway After Dark 1924 Rose Dulane Warner Bros. [26]
Broken Barriers 1924 Grace Durland MGM [27]
Married Flirts 1924 Herself, cameo appearance MGM [28]
Empty Hands 1924 Claire Endicott Paramount [29]
The Snob 1924 Nancy Claxton MGM [30]
He Who Gets Slapped 1924 Consuelo MGM [31]
Excuse Me 1925 Marjorie Newton MGM [32]
Lady of the Night 1925 Molly/Florence MGM [33]
Waking Up the Town 1925 Mary Ellen Hope United Artists [34]
A Slave of Fashion 1925 Katherine Emerson MGM [35]
Pretty Ladies 1925 Frances White MGM [36]
The Tower of Lies 1925 Glory MGM [37]
His Secretary 1925 Ruth Lawrence MGM [38]
The Devil's Circus 1926 Mary MGM [39]
The Waning Sex 1926 Nina Duane MGM [40]
Upstage 1926 Dolly Haven MGM [41]
The Demi-Bride 1927 Criquette MGM [42]
After Midnight 1927 Mary MGM [43]
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg 1927

Kathi

MGM [44]
The Latest from Paris 1928 Ann Dolan MGM [45]
The Actress 1928 Rose Trelawny MGM
Shearer's final silent film		 [46]
A Lady of Chance 1928 Dolly MGM [47]

Sound films: 1928–1963

Bibliography

References

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