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Norma Shearer
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Norma Shearer was an ambitious actress who learned to compensate for her less than perfect appearance and worked hard at her craft. She set her cap for Irving Thalberg, MGM's powerful head of production and in 1928 married him, then worked equally hard at being the perfect wife. Thalberg had been carrying a torch for the flighty Constance Talmadge, while being pursued by his former Universal Studio boss's daughter, Rosabelle Laemmele. But Norma understood the competing forces in Thalberg's life, his domineering mother (she had one, too, but not as bad) his bad heart, his workaholism. Her marriage with one of Hollywood's most powerful figures, her career and maintaining her beauty were vital forces in her life. As Gavin Lambert says in his excellent biography, "For a star, image superceded identity."
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Norma Shearer was one of MGM's — and Hollywood's — biggest stars of the 1930s, the "queen of the lot," without doubt. (She was ... very popular in the 1920s, but her films of this period are largely forgotten.) Suggesting in turn the masochistically faithful wife and the sexually adventurous (and gorgeously dressed) modern woman, Shearer mesmerized Depression-era audiences who longed for both the escapist fantasy of sexual freedom (and equality) and the reassuring return to dreary conventional roles. Many of her films combined these elements. In The Divorcee, for example, the emphasis is on modern — she and her husband vow to be equal partners (he even compliments her on how much "like a man" she is!). When Shearer discovers her husband has a momentary drunken lapse into infidelity, she's disturbed, but he says "it doesn't matter." She tests his — and society's — view by purposely having a "lapse" of her own, which she then confesses to him.
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A very young Norma Shearer and a fine supporting cast that includes Adolphe Menjou and Mae Busch all suffered from a hackneyed screenplay in this silent society melodrama from Metro-Goldwyn, the forerunner of MGM. Shearer plays Grace Durland, a debutante forced to leave college when her father (George Fawcett) goes bankrupt. Reduced to working for a living, Grace falls in love with married Ward Trenton (James Kirkwood), whose disagreeable wife (Winifred Bryson) refuses to grant him a divorce. But when Ward sustains severe injuries in a car accident and may not be able to work again, Mrs. Trenton promptly begins divorce proceedings. Happily, Ward makes a full recovery and proposes to Grace. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
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During the Great Depression, Norma Shearer represented all the glamour and chic associated with MGM. Although her acclaimed talent as an actress rested on little more than fan magazine publicity, she was, undeniably, a major star. She consistently ranked among Hollywood's most popular performers during the 1930s, winning six Academy Award nominations for best actress between 1929 and 1938. Her marriage to Irving Thalberg was of great importance; his position made her a first lady of Hollywood while his power secured for Shearer some of her best roles. This is not to imply that Shearer's career depended upon her husband's connections. She had learned from working in silent films for such marginal outfits as Allied Producers, New Brunswick, and FBO Studios, how best to utilize her limited talents to create the ultimate image of a glamorous woman.
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Norma Shearer was born in Westmount, Quebec, in a wealthy family. Norma's mother encouraged her to perform in plays and entered her in beauty contests, before auditioning to join the Ziegfield Follies. Norma did not become a Ziegfield girl, but she did get many modeling assignments, and eventually landed a small part in a film called "The Sign on the Door", followed by several roles in famous director D.W. Griffith's silent features.
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Norma Shearer was nominated for the Actress in a Leading Role award for Their Own Desire but didn't win because she won for her role in The Divorcée. Shearer was nominated for the Actress in a Leading Role award four more times for her roles in A Free Soul (1930-31), The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934), Romeo and Juliet (1936), and Marie Antoinette (1938).
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Norma Shearer