Norma Shearer Biography

Edith Norma Shearer the actress was born on August 10, 1902 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Shearer had two siblings, sister Athole Shearer and a brother by the name of Douglas Shearer. Both siblings would go on to have careers in the entertainment industry. Shearer's father was a policeman while her mother was an actress. At the age of fourteen, Shearer won a beauty contest. Two years later, Shearer's mother took her children to New York to find work in show business. Soon after, Shearer worked as a model and also appeared in advertisements for tires.

Shearer's film debut was in the 1920 comedy, "The Flapper". The part was extremely small and Shearer would go on to appear in several more films with roles of this nature such as, "Way Down East" and "The Restless Sex". Shearer did manage to win the role of "Julie Martin" in the film drama, "The Stealers". Shortly after, Shearer was contacted by producer Irving Thalberg and signed a contract with MGM in 1923. One year later, Shearer appeared in the successful films, "He Who Gets Slapped" with Lon Chaney and "The Snob" with John Gilbert. More films followed such as, "Lady of the Night", "Waking Up the Town", "Pretty Ladies" and the drama, "The Devil's Circus" in 1926.

The following year, Shearer married Irving Thalberg which produced two children. The marriage would endure until Thalberg's death in 1936. In 1929, Shearer appeared in her first talkie as "Mary Elizabeth Dugan" in film drama, "The Trial of Mary Dugan". That same year, Shearer appeared in the romantic drama, "Their Own Desire" which earned her an Academy Award nomination. In 1930, Shearer starred as "Jerry Bernard Martin" in the film, "The Divorcee" with Robert Montgomery. Shearer's performance would win her an Academy Award for "Best Actress in a Leading Role".

Shearer would be nominated for four more Academy Awards in lead roles for the following films, "A Free Soul" (1931), "The Barrets of Wimpole Street" (1934), "Romeo and Juliet" (1936) and "Marie Antoinette" (1938). Shearer would appear in five other films with the romantic comedy, "Her Cardboard Lover" being the last acting role in 1942. That same year, Shearer married ski instructor, Martin Arrouge. The marriage would last for the rest of Norma Shearer's life. On June 12, 1983, Shearer passed away from Alzheimer's disease and pneumonia. Shearer was 80 years old. Shearer is currently entombed right next to her first husband Thalberg, in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.