Everything about Myrna Loy totally explained
Myrna Loy (
August 2,
1905 –
December 14,
1993) was an
American motion picture actress. Her most famous role was as
Nora Charles, wife of detective Nick Charles (
William Powell), in
The Thin Man series. In 1938 she was voted the "Queen of Hollywood" in a contest which also voted
Clark Gable the "King".
Early life
She was born
Myrna Adele Williams in
Radersburg, Montana (near
Helena), the daughter of
Welsh rancher David Franklin Williams and his wife, Adelle Mae Johnson. Loy's first name came from a train station whose name her father liked. Her father was also a banker and real estate developer and the youngest man ever elected to the
Montana state legislature. Her mother studied music at the
American Conservatory of Music in Chicago.
Myrna Williams made her stage debut at age 12 in Helena's Marlow Theater in a dance she choreographed based on "The Blue Bird" from the
Rose Dream Operetta. She moved to the Palms district of
Los Angeles, California when she was 13, after her father's death. She attended the Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles's Holmby Hills neighborhood. At 15, she began appearing in local stage productions. She went to
Venice High School in
Venice, California.
In 1921, she posed for Harry Winebrenner's statue titled "Spiritual," which remained in front of Venice High School throughout the 20th century and can be seen in the opening scenes of the film
Grease (1978). The statue was removed from where it stood after vandalism and neglect turned it into a decaying eyesore, too badly rotted to restore. A group of alumni are raising money to recreate the statue, and their goal is to have it ready to unveil in spring 2009.
Career
Natacha Rambova, the second wife of
Rudolph Valentino, arranged a screen test for Loy, which she failed. She kept auditioning and in 1925 appeared in the Rambova-penned movie
What Price Beauty? opposite Rambova and
Nita Naldi. Her
silent film roles were mainly those of
vampish exotic women. For a few years she struggled to overcome this stereotype with many producers and directors believing that while she was perfect as
femmes fatales she was capable of little more.
Her breakthrough occurred with the advent of
talkies: in fact she appeared in the very first talking picture, 1927's
The Jazz Singer as an uncredited chorus girl. In 1929 she improvised a "foreign" accent, sang and danced in
Warner Brothers' first musical
The Desert Song (1929). Loy later commented on the film's success and noted "...it kind of solidified my exotic non-American image". She was quickly cast in a number of early lavish
Technicolor musicals including
The Show of Shows (1929),
The Bride of the Regiment (1930) and
Under A Texas Moon (1930). Loy became associated with musicals and when they went out of favor with the public, late in 1930, her career went into a slump.
In 1934 she appeared in
Manhattan Melodrama with
Clark Gable and
William Powell. When the gangster
John Dillinger was shot to death after leaving a screening of the film it received widespread publicity, with some newspapers reporting that Loy had been Dillinger's favorite actress. Loy later expressed distaste for the manner in which the film studio had exploited Dillinger's death.
Rise to stardom
After appearing with
Ramón Novarro in
The Barbarian (1933), Loy landed the part that established her as a major actress,
Nora Charles in
The Thin Man (1934). Director
W. S. Van Dyke chose Loy after he detected a wit and sense of humor that her previous films hadn't revealed. At a Hollywood party, he pushed her into a swimming pool to test her reaction, and felt that her aplomb in handling the situation was exactly what he envisioned for Nora.
Louis B. Mayer at first refused to allow Loy to play the part, saying that she was a dramatic actress only, but Van Dyke insisted. Mayer relented on the condition that filming be completed within three weeks, as Loy was committed to start filming
Stamboul Quest (1934).
The Thin Man became one of the year's biggest hits, and was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Picture. Loy received excellent reviews and was acclaimed for her comedic skills. She and her costar
William Powell proved to be a popular screen couple and appeared in 14 films together, the most prolific pairing in
Hollywood history. Loy later referred to
The Thin Man as the film "that finally made me... after more than 80 films".
Her successes in
Manhattan Melodrama and
The Thin Man marked a turning point in her career and she was cast in more important pictures. Such films as
Wife vs. Secretary (1936) with
Clark Gable and
Jean Harlow and
Petticoat Fever (1936) with
Robert Montgomery gave her opportunity to develop comedic skills. She made four films in close succession with William Powell:
Libeled Lady (1936), which also starred
Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow,
The Great Ziegfeld (1936), in which she played
Billie Burke opposite Powell's
Florenz Ziegfeld, the second "Thin Man" film,
After the Thin Man, and the romantic comedy
Double Wedding (1937). She also made three more films with
Clark Gable.
Parnell was an historical drama and one of the most poorly received films of either Loy's or Gable's career, but their other pairings in
Test Pilot and
Too Hot to Handle (both 1938) were successes.
During this period, Loy was one of Hollywood's busiest and highest paid actresses, and in 1937 and 1938 she was listed in the annual "Quigley Poll of the Top Ten Money Making Stars", which was compiled from the votes of movie exhibitors throughout the U.S. for the stars that had generated the most revenue in their theaters over the previous year.
By this time Loy was highly regarded for her performances in romantic comedies and she was anxious to demonstrate her dramatic ability, and was cast in the lead female role in
The Rains Came (1939) opposite
Tyrone Power. She filmed
Third Finger, Left Hand (1940) with
Melvyn Douglas and appeared in
I Love You Again (1940),
Love Crazy (1941) and
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), all with William Powell.
With the outbreak of
World War II, she all but abandoned her acting career to focus on the war effort and worked closely with the
Red Cross. She was so fiercely outspoken against
Adolf Hitler that her name appeared on his
blacklist. She helped run a Naval Auxiliary
Canteen and toured frequently to raise funds.
Later career
She returned to films with
The Best Years of Our Lives in
1946, playing the wife of returning serviceman
Fredric March. In later years, Loy considered this film her proudest acting achievement. Throughout her career, she'd championed the rights of black actors and characters to be depicted with dignity on film.
Loy was paired with
Cary Grant in
David O. Selznick's comedy film
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947). The film co-starred a teenage
Shirley Temple. Following its success she appeared again with Grant in
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), and with
Clifton Webb in
Cheaper by the Dozen (1950).
Her film career continued sporadically afterwards. In 1960, she appeared in
Midnight Lace and
From the Terrace, but wasn't in another until 1969 in
The April Fools. She also returned to the stage, making her Broadway debut in a short-lived 1973 revival of
Clare Boothe Luce's
The Women. Loy had two
mastectomies in 1975 and 1979, but survived breast cancer.
Personal life
Loy was married four times:
Loy had no children of her own, though it's documented that she was very close to the children of her first husband, Arthur Hornblow. "Some perfect wife I am," she said, referring to her typecasting. "I've been married four times, divorced four times, have no children, and can't boil an egg."
In later life, she assumed a more influential role as Co-Chairman of the Advisory Council of the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing. In 1948 she became a member of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, the first Hollywood celebrity to do so.
(External Link
). She was also an active Democrat
(External Link).
Her autobiography,
Myrna Loy: Being and Becoming, was published in 1987.
On
December 14,
1993, after battling
breast cancer and undergoing two
mastectomies, she died during surgery, the exact nature of which was never specified in the reports of her death in
New York City. She was
cremated and the ashes interred at Forestvale Cemetery, in Helena, Montana.
Awards
In 1965 she won the
Sarah Siddons Award for her work in
Chicago theatre. She also received a
Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Kennedy Center in 1988.
Although Loy was never nominated for an
Academy Award for any single performance, after an extensive letter writing campaign and years of
lobbying by screenwriter and then-
Writers Guild of America, west board member
Michael Russnow, who enlisted the support of Loy's former screen colleagues and friends such as
Roddy McDowall,
Sidney Sheldon,
Harold Russell and many others, she received an
Academy Honorary Award in
1991, "for her career achievement". She accepted via camera from her New York home, making only a short acceptance speech of, "You've made me very happy. Thank you very much." It was her last public appearance in any medium.
Legacy
Myrna Loy has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6685 Hollywood Boulevard. A building at
Sony Pictures Studios, formerly MGM Studios, in Culver City is named in her honor.
In 1991, The Myrna Loy Center for the Performing and Media Arts opened in downtown
Helena, Montana, Loy's hometown. Located in the historic Lewis and Clark County Jail, it and sponsors live performances and alternative films for under-served audiences.
On
August 2,
2005, the centenary of Loy's birth,
Warner Home Video released the six films from
The Thin Man series, on
DVD as a boxed set.
Film and television appearances
Further Information
Get more info on 'Myrna Loy'.
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