Norma Shearer

Norma Shearer
Shearer in Riptide (1934)
Born
Edith Norma Shearer

(1902-08-11)August 11, 1902
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DiedJune 12, 1983(1983-06-12) (aged 80)
Los Angeles, California, US
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Citizenship
  • Canada
  • United States
OccupationActress
Years active1919–1942
Political partyRepublican
Spouses
  • (m. 1927; died 1936)
  • Martin Arrougé
    (m. 1942)
Children2, including Irving Thalberg Jr.
FatherAndrew Shearer
Relatives

Edith Norma Shearer (August 11, 1902  June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress who was active on film from 1919 through 1942. Shearer often played spunky, sexually liberated women. She appeared in adaptations of Noël Coward, Eugene O'Neill, and William Shakespeare, and was the first five-time Academy Award acting nominee, winning Best Actress for The Divorcee (1930).

Reviewing Shearer's work, Mick LaSalle called her a feminist pioneer, or "the exemplar of sophisticated modern womanhood and ... the first American film actress to make it chic and acceptable to be single and not a virgin on screen".