Norma Shearer
Known for
A Canadian star of silent Hollywood and the early sound era, Norma Shearer was one of MGM's most glamorous actresses and won the Oscar for 'The Divorcee'. The undisputed queen of the studio alongside her husband, producer Irving Thalberg, she shone in sophisticated dramas such as 'The Women' and in prestige adaptations like 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Marie Antoinette'. Her range combined aristocratic refinement with a surprising modernity in portraying independent women. She died in 1983, remembered as one of the great ladies of the studio era.
Norma Shearer
63 Movies
A Canadian star of silent Hollywood and the early sound era, Norma Shearer was one of MGM's most glamorous actresses and won the Oscar for 'The Divorcee'. The undisputed queen of the studio alongside her husband, producer Irving Thalberg, she shone in sophisticated dramas such as 'The Women' and in prestige adaptations like 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Marie Antoinette'. Her range combined aristocratic refinement with a surprising modernity in portraying independent women. She died in 1983, remembered as one of the great ladies of the studio era.
Movies
Plays Mary Haines
The Women
1939
Plays Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
1936
Plays Irene Fellara
Idiot's Delight
1939
Plays Owner of Stolen Jewels
The Stolen Jools
1931
Plays Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
1938
Plays Lady Mary Rexford
Riptide
1934
Plays Consuelo
He Who Gets Slapped
1924
Plays Elizabeth Barrett
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
1934
Plays Countess Ruby von Treck
Escape
1940
Plays Jan Ashe
A Free Soul
1931
Plays Lucia 'Lally' Marlett
Their Own Desire
1929
Plays Jerry
The Divorcee
1930
Plays Kathleen / Moonyeen
Smilin' Through
1932
Plays Consuelo Croyden
Her Cardboard Lover
1942
Plays Molly Helmer / Florence Banning
Lady of the Night
1925
Plays Nina Leeds
Strange Interlude
1932
Plays Nina Duane
The Waning Sex
1926
Plays Frances White
Pretty Ladies
1925
Plays Jeanne Thornton
The Man Who Paid
1922
Plays Kitty Brown
Let Us Be Gay
1930
Plays Kathi
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
1928
Plays Lisbeth Corbin
Strangers May Kiss
1931
Plays Grace Durland
Broken Barriers
1924
Plays Amanda Prynne
Private Lives
1931
Plays Elizabeth Gordon
The Wolf Man
1924
Plays Victoria Anastasia Wilomirska
We Were Dancing
1942
Plays Fay Cheyney
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
1929
Plays Rose Dulane
Broadway After Dark
1924
Plays Dolly Morgan
A Lady of Chance
1928
Plays Mary
The Devil's Circus
1926
Plays Mary Elizabeth Dugan
The Trial of Mary Dugan
1929
Plays Dolly Haven
Upstage
1926
Plays Rose Trelawny
The Actress
1928
Plays Glory/Goldie
The Tower of Lies
1925
Latest Trailers
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Her Cardboard Lover
Full Filmography
Her Cardboard Lover
Consuelo Croyden
1942
Film
We Were Dancing
Victoria Anastasia Wilomirska
1942
Film
Escape
Countess Ruby von Treck
1940
Film
The Women
Mary Haines
1939
Film
Idiot's Delight
Irene Fellara
1939
Film
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
1938
Film
Romeo and Juliet
Juliet
1936
Film
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
Elizabeth Barrett
1934
Film
Riptide
Lady Mary Rexford
1934
Film
Photos
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Norma Shearer still alive?
Norma Shearer passed away on June 12, 1983 at age 80.
What are the most famous roles of Norma Shearer?
Norma Shearer is best known for roles in The Women, Way Down East, He Who Gets Slapped.
How many movies has Norma Shearer been in?
Over a 64-year career (since 1919), Norma Shearer has appeared in 62 movies and 0 TV shows.
What was Norma Shearer's first movie?
The career of Norma Shearer began with The Star Boarder (1919).
What is Norma Shearer's most recent movie or series?
Norma Shearer's most recent release is MGM Parade, which premiered on September 14, 1955.
Norma Shearer
1902-08-10 · Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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.Norma Shearer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.