Norma Shearer photo

Norma Shearer

Acting
1902-08-10
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Edith Norma Shearer (August 10, 1902 – June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress. Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid-1920s through the 1930s. Her early films cast her as the girl next door, but for most of the Pre-Code film era, beginning with the 1930 film The Divorcee, for which she won an Oscar for Best Actress, she played sexually liberated women in sophisticated contemporary comedies. Later she appeared in historical and period films.

Unlike many of her MGM contemporaries, Shearer's fame declined steeply after retirement. By the time of her death in 1983, she was largely remembered at best for her "noble" roles in The Women, Marie Antoinette, and Romeo and Juliet. Shearer's legacy began to be re-evaluated in the 1990s with the publication of two biographies and the TCM (Turner Classic Movies) 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.

Shearer is widely celebrated by some 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, were released on DVD.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Norma Shearer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For 92 titles
Pleasure Mad (1923) subtitle poster
Pleasure Mad
1923 Movie
as Elinor Benton
Subtitles
The Flapper (1920) subtitle poster
The Flapper
1920 Movie
as Schoolgirl (uncredited)
Subtitles
The Latest from Paris (1928) subtitle poster
The Latest from Paris
1928 Movie
as Ann Dolan
Subtitles
Empty Hands (1924) subtitle poster
Empty Hands
1924 Movie
as Claire Endicott
Subtitles
The Devil's Circus (1926) subtitle poster
The Devil's Circus
1926 Movie
as Mary
Subtitles
Waking Up the Town (1925) subtitle poster
Waking Up the Town
1925 Movie
as Mary Ellen Hope
Subtitles
The Taming of the Shrewd (1922) subtitle poster
The Taming of the Shrewd
1922 Movie
as Rose Del Mar
Subtitles
Blue Water (1924) subtitle poster
Blue Water
1924 Movie
as Lillian Denton
Subtitles
Channing of the Northwest (1922) subtitle poster
Channing of the Northwest
1922 Movie
as Jess Driscoll
Subtitles
The Devil's Partner (1923) subtitle poster
The Devil's Partner
1923 Movie
as Jeanne
Subtitles
Man and Wife (1923) subtitle poster
Man and Wife
1923 Movie
as Dora Perkins
Subtitles
The Man Who Paid (1922) subtitle poster
The Man Who Paid
1922 Movie
as Jeanne Thornton
Subtitles
The Waning Sex (1926) subtitle poster
The Waning Sex
1926 Movie
as Nina Duane
Subtitles
The End of the World (1925) subtitle poster
The End of the World
1925 Movie
as Mary Ellen Hope
Subtitles
A Clouded Name (1923) subtitle poster
A Clouded Name
1923 Movie
as Marjorie Dare
Subtitles
The Bootleggers (1922) subtitle poster
The Bootleggers
1922 Movie
as Helen Barnes
Subtitles
The Trail of the Law (1924) subtitle poster
The Trail of the Law
1924 Movie
as Jerry Vardon
Subtitles
Brasileiros em Hollywood (1970) subtitle poster
Brasileiros em Hollywood
1970 Movie
as Self (archive footage)
Subtitles
The Star Boarder (1919) subtitle poster
The Star Boarder
1919 Movie
as Big V Beauty Squad Member (uncredited)
Subtitles
Torchy's Millions (1920) subtitle poster
Torchy's Millions
1920 Movie
as (uncredited)
Subtitles
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