MYRNA LOY

'Myrna Loy' (August 2 1905 – December 14 1993) was an American motion picture actress. Perhaps 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".

Contents

Early life

Career

Rise to stardom

Later career

Personal life

Death

Awards

Centenary

Filmography

Television work

Notes

References

External links

Early life

She was born 'Myrna Adele Williams' in Radersburg, Montana (near Helena), the daughter of Welsh rancher David Franklin Williams, and his wife, Della Mae. 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. There, she attended the Westlake School for Girls. 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 vandalized in recent years, but a restoration is planned.

Career

Natacha Rambova, the second wife of Rudolph Valentino, arranged a screen test for her 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 femme fatales, she was capable of little more.
Her breakthrough occurred with the advent of talkies. 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". ^[1] 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, and some newspapers reported 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

Loy rejected the lead female role in ''It Happened One Night'' (1934), and later commented – if she had accepted it, she would have unavailable to play the part that established her as a major actress, Nora Charles in ''The Thin Man'' (1934) ^[2] The director W. S. Van Dyke chose Loy for the part after he realized that she possessed a wit and sense of humour that had not been shown in her films until then. 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". ^[3]
Her success in ''Manhattan Melodrama'' and ''The Thin Man'' marked a turning point in her career and she was cast in more important pictures, and was given the opportunity to develop her comedic skills in films such as ''Wife vs. Secretary'' (1936) with Clark Gable and Jean Harlow and ''Petticoat Fever'' (1936) with Robert Montgomery. 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.^[4]
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 had 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 was not 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''.

Personal life

Loy was married four times:

★ 1936-1942 Arthur Hornblow, Jr., producer

★ 1942-1944 John Hertz Jr. of the Hertz Rent A Car family

★ 1946-1950 Gene Markey, producer

★ 1951-1960 Howland H. Sergeant, UNESCO delegate
Loy had no children of her own, though it is 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. From 1949 until 1954, she worked for UNESCO; she also was an active member of the Democratic Party.
Her autobiography, ''Myrna Loy: Being and Becoming'', was published in 1987.

Death

On December 14, 1993, after battling breast cancer and enduring 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.
She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6685 Hollywood Blvd.
Helena is home to the Myrna Loy Center for the Performing and Media Arts, which opened in 1991 and sponsors live performances and films for an underserved audience.

Centenary

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.

Filmography

★ ''What Price Beauty?'' (1925) ★ ''The Wanderer'' (1925) ★ ''Pretty Ladies'' (1925) ★ ''Sporting Life'' (1925) ★ ''Ben-Hur'' (1925) ★ ''The Caveman'' (1926) ★ ''The Love Toy'' (1926) ★ ''Why Girls Go Back Home'' (1926) ★ ''The Gilded Highway'' (1926) ★ ''Exquisite Sinner'' (1926) ★ ''So This Is Paris'' (1926) ★ ''Don Juan'' (1926) ★ ''Across the Pacific'' (1926) ★ ''The Third Degree'' (1926) ★ ''Finger Prints'' (1927) ★ ''When a Man Loves'' (1927) ★ ''Bitter Apples'' (1927) ★ ''The Climbers'' (1927) ★ ''Simple Sis'' (1927) ★ ''The Heart of Maryland'' (1927) ★ ''A Sailor's Sweetheart'' (1927) ★ ''The Jazz Singer'' (1927) ★ ''The Girl from Chicago'' (1927) ★ ''If I Were Single'' (1927) ★ ''Ham and Eggs at the Front'' (1927) ★ ''Beware of Married Men'' (1928) ★ ''A Girl in Every Port'' (1928) ★ ''Turn Back the Hours'' (1928) ★ ''The Crimson City'' (1928) ★ ''Pay as You Enter'' (1928) ★ ''State Street Sadie'' (1928) ★ ''The Midnight Taxi'' (1928) ★ ''Fancy Baggage'' (1929) ★ ''Hardboiled Rose'' (1929) ★ ''The Desert Song'' (1929) ★ ''The Black Watch'' (1929) ★ ''The Squall'' (1929) ★ ''Noah's Ark'' (1929) ★ ''The Great Divide'' (1929) ★ ''Evidence'' (1929) ★ ''The Show of Shows'' (1929) ★ ''Cameo Kirby'' (1930) ★ ''Isle of Escape'' (1930) ★ ''Under a Texas Moon'' (1930) ★ ''Cock o' the Walk'' (1930) ★ ''Bride of the Regiment'' (1930) ★ ''The Last of the Duanes'' (1930) ★ ''The Jazz Cinderella'' (1930) ★ ''The Bad Man'' (1930) ★ ''Renegades'' (1930) ★ ''Rogue of the Rio Grande'' (1930) ★ ''The Truth About Youth'' (1930) ★ ''The Devil to Pay!'' (1930) ★ ''The Naughty Flirt'' (1931) ★ ''Body and Soul'' (1931) ★ ''A Connecticut Yankee'' (1931) ★ ''Hush Money'' (1931) ★ ''Transatlantic'' (1931) ★ ''Rebound'' (1931) ★ ''Skyline'' (1931) ★ ''Consolation Marriage'' (1931) ★ ''Arrowsmith'' (1931)

★ ''Emma'' (1932) ★ ''Vanity Fair'' (1932) ★ ''The Wet Parade'' (1932) ★ ''The Woman in Room 13'' (1932) ★ ''New Morals for Old'' (1932) ★ ''Love Me Tonight'' (1932) ★ ''Thirteen Women'' (1932) ★ ''The Mask of Fu Manchu'' (1932) ★ ''The Animal Kingdom'' (1932) ★ ''Topaze'' (1933) ★ ''Scarlet River'' (1933) (cameo) ★ ''The Barbarian'' (1933) ★ ''The Prizefighter and the Lady'' (1933) ★ ''When Ladies Meet'' (1933) ★ ''Penthouse'' (1933) ★ ''Night Flight'' (1933) ★ ''Men in White'' (1934) ★ ''Manhattan Melodrama'' (1934) ★ ''The Thin Man'' (1934) ★ ''Stamboul Quest'' (1934) ★ ''Evelyn Prentice'' (1934) ★ ''Broadway Bill'' (1934) ★ ''Wings in the Dark'' (1935) ★ ''Whipsaw'' (1935) ★ ''Wife vs. Secretary'' (1936) ★ ''Petticoat Fever'' (1936) ★ ''The Great Ziegfeld'' (1936) ★ ''To Mary - with Love'' (1936) ★ ''Libeled Lady'' (1936) ★ ''After the Thin Man'' (1936) ★ ''Parnell'' (1937) ★ ''Double Wedding'' (1937) ★ ''Test Pilot'' (1938) ★ ''Man-Proof'' (1938) ★ ''Too Hot to Handle'' (1938) ★ ''Verdensberomtheder i Kobenhavn'' (1939) (documentary) ★ ''Lucky Night'' (1939) ★ ''The Rains Came'' (1939) ★ ''Another Thin Man'' (1939) ★ ''Northward, Ho!'' (1940) (short subject) ★ ''I Love You Again'' (1940) ★ ''Third Finger, Left Hand'' (1940) ★ ''Love Crazy'' (1941) ★ ''Shadow of the Thin Man'' (1941) ★ ''Show Business at War'' (1943) (short subject) ★ ''The Thin Man Goes Home'' (1945) ★ ''So Goes My Love'' (1946) ★ ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' (1946) ★ ''The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer'' (1947) ★ ''Song of the Thin Man'' (1947) ★ ''The Senator Was Indiscreet'' (1947) ★ ''Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House'' (1948) ★ ''The Red Pony'' (1949) ★ ''That Dangerous Age'' (1949) ★ ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' (1950) ★ ''Belles on Their Toes'' (1952) ★ ''The Ambassador's Daughter'' (1956) ★ ''Lonelyhearts'' (1958) ★ ''From the Terrace'' (1960) ★ ''Midnight Lace'' (1960) ★ ''The April Fools'' (1969) ★ ''Airport 1975'' (1974) ★ ''It Happened at Lakewood Manor'' (1977) ★ ''The End'' (1978) ★ ''Just Tell Me What You Want'' (1980)

Television work

★ ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1959)

★ ''Death Takes a Holiday'' (1971)

★ ''Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate'' (1971)

★ ''Columbo: Étude in Black'' (1972)

★ ''The Couple Takes a Wife'' (1972)

★ ''Indict and Convict'' (1974)

★ ''The Elevator'' (1974)

★ ''Summer Solstice'' (1981)
Note: Loy also appeared in various episodes over the years of ''Family Affair'', ''The Virginian'', and ''Love, Sydney.''

Notes

1. Kotsilibas-Davis and Loy, p. 66
2. Kotsilibas-Davis and Loy, p. 94
3. Kotsilibas-Davis and Loy, pp 88-91
4. The 2007 Motion Picture Almanac, Top Ten Money Making Stars

References

★ Kotsilibas-Davis, James and Loy, Myrna, ''Myrna Loy, Being and Becoming'', Primus, Donald I Fine Inc., New York, 1987. ISBN 1-55611-101-0

External links

★

★

★ Myrna Loy Centre", Helena, Montana, official site

★ Myrna Loy's Gravesite

★ Myrna Loy's hand print outside Theatre 80, NY

★ Statue of Myrna Loy: "Venice Nymph Emerges as a Real Team Player"

★ Photographs of Myrna Loy

★ Profile @ Turner Classic Movies