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.
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Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood | Various Roles (archive footage) | 2008-03-03 |
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Checking Out: Grand Hotel | Self (archive footage) | 2004-02-03 |
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Judy Garland: By Myself | Self (archive footage) | 2004-02-25 |
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Complicated Women | Self (archive footage) | 2003-05-06 |
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Sports on the Silver Screen | Self (archive footage) | 1997-03-16 |
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Joan Crawford: Always the Star | Self (archive footage) | 1996-09-30 |
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That's Entertainment! III | (archive footage) | 1994-07-01 |
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You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story | Self (archive footage) | 1990-07-23 |
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The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind | Self (archive footage) | 1988-10-01 |
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Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1983-02-25 |
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That's Entertainment! | (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1974-06-21 |
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Hollywood: The Dream Factory | Self (archive footage) | 1972-01-10 |
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Anniversary | Herself - Archive Footage (uncredited) | 1963-01-01 |
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Twenty Years After | (archive footage) | 1944-01-01 |
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Her Cardboard Lover | Consuelo Croyden | 1942-07-16 |
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We Were Dancing | Victoria Anastasia Wilomirska | 1942-04-30 |
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Cavalcade of the Academy Awards | Self | 1940-07-31 |
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Escape | Countess Ruby von Treck | 1940-11-01 |
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A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound | Self | 1940-10-24 |
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Hollywood: Style Center of the World | Self | 1940-05-29 |
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From the Ends of the Earth | Self | 1939-05-28 |
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The Women | Mary Haines | 1939-09-01 |
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Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8 | Norma Shearer | 1939-04-08 |
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Idiot's Delight | Irene Fellara | 1939-01-27 |
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Another Romance of Celluloid | Self (uncredited) | 1938-02-05 |
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Hollywood Goes to Town | Self | 1938-07-07 |
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Marie Antoinette | Marie Antoinette | 1938-08-26 |
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The Romance of Celluloid | Self (archive footage) | 1937-08-27 |
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Master Will Shakespeare | Juliet (uncredited) | 1936-06-13 |
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Romeo and Juliet | Juliet | 1936-09-03 |
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The Barretts of Wimpole Street | Elizabeth Barrett | 1934-09-21 |
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Riptide | Lady Mary Rexford | 1934-03-29 |
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The Film Parade | (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1933-01-01 |
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Going Hollywood | Herself - Premiere Clip (archive footage) | 1933-12-22 |
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Smilin' Through | Kathleen / Moonyeen | 1932-09-24 |
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Strange Interlude | Nina Leeds | 1932-12-30 |
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The Stolen Jools | Owner of Stolen Jewels | 1931-04-04 |
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Private Lives | Amanda Prynne | 1931-12-12 |
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Strangers May Kiss | Lisbeth Corbin | 1931-04-04 |
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Wir schalten um auf Hollywood | Self | 1931-06-09 |
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A Free Soul | Jan Ashe | 1931-06-02 |
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The Christmas Party | Herself | 1931-12-17 |
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The Divorcee | Jerry | 1930-04-19 |
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Let Us Be Gay | Kitty Brown | 1930-07-11 |
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The Hollywood Revue of 1929 | Self / Juliet | 1929-11-23 |
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Their Own Desire | Lucia 'Lally' Marlett | 1929-12-27 |
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A Man's Man | Norman Shearer (uncredited) | 1929-05-25 |
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The Last of Mrs. Cheyney | Fay Cheyney | 1929-07-06 |
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The Trial of Mary Dugan | Mary Elizabeth Dugan | 1929-06-08 |
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The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg | Kathi | 1928-01-30 |
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A Lady of Chance | Dolly Morgan | 1928-12-01 |
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The Latest from Paris | Ann Dolan | 1928-02-04 |
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The Actress | Rose Trelawny | 1928-04-27 |
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The Demi-Bride | Criquette | 1927-02-19 |
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After Midnight | Mary Miller | 1927-08-20 |
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The Waning Sex | Nina Duane | 1926-09-05 |
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The Devil's Circus | Mary | 1926-02-14 |
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Upstage | Dolly Haven | 1926-11-06 |
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Lady of the Night | Molly Helmer / Florence Banning | 1925-02-23 |
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Excuse Me | Marjorie Newton | 1925-01-19 |
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The End of the World | Mary Ellen Hope | 1925-04-01 |
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Pretty Ladies | Frances White | 1925-09-06 |
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1925 Studio Tour | Self | 1925-04-09 |
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A Slave of Fashion | Katherine Emerson | 1925-08-23 |
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The Tower of Lies | Glory/Goldie | 1925-10-10 |
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The End of the World | Mary Ellen Hope | 1925-04-01 |
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Waking Up the Town | Mary Ellen Hope | 1925-03-30 |
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His Secretary | Ruth Lawrence | 1925-12-06 |
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Blue Water | Lillian Denton | 1924-04-16 |
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Broken Barriers | Grace Durland | 1924-08-18 |
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The Trail of the Law | Jerry Vardon | 1924-01-25 |
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Broadway After Dark | Rose Dulane | 1924-05-19 |
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Empty Hands | Claire Endicott | 1924-08-17 |
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The Snob | Nancy Claxton | 1924-11-10 |
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Married Flirts | Norma Shearer (uncredited) | 1924-10-27 |
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The Wolf Man | Elizabeth Gordon | 1924-02-17 |
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He Who Gets Slapped | Consuelo | 1924-12-22 |
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Pleasure Mad | Elinor Benton | 1923-11-05 |
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The Wanters | Marjorie | 1923-11-26 |
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The Devil's Partner | Jeanne | 1923-06-01 |
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A Clouded Name | Marjorie Dare | 1923-02-19 |
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Man and Wife | Dora Perkins | 1923-03-25 |
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Lucretia Lombard | Mimi Winship | 1923-12-08 |
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Channing of the Northwest | Jess Driscoll | 1922-04-10 |
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The Bootleggers | Helen Barnes | 1922-04-01 |
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The Taming of the Shrewd | Rose Del Mar | 1922-04-10 |
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The Man Who Paid | Jeanne Thornton | 1922-03-01 |
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The Flapper | Schoolgirl (uncredited) | 1920-05-10 |
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Way Down East | Barn Dancer (uncredited) | 1920-09-03 |
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The Restless Sex | Reveler at Artists Ball (uncredited) | 1920-11-12 |
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Torchy's Millions | (uncredited) | 1920-10-03 |
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The Stealers | Julie Martin | 1920-10-03 |
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The Star Boarder | Big V Beauty Squad Member (uncredited) | 1919-05-26 |
