Myrna Loy | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Myrna Loy in 1941 | |
| Born | Myrna Adele Williams (1905-08-02)August 2, 1905 Helena, Montana, U.S. |
| Died | December 14, 1993(1993-12-14) (aged 88) New York City, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forestvale Cemetery Helena, Montana, U.S. 46°39′22″N112°02′11″W / 46.6562°N 112.0365°W /46.6562; -112.0365 |
| Other names | The Queen of Hollywood |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1925–1982 |
| Political party | Democratic[1] |
| Spouses | |
| Signature | |
 | |
Myrna Loy (bornMyrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. As a performer, she was known for her ability to adapt to her screen partner's acting style.
Born inHelena, Montana, Loy was raised in ruralRadersburg andHelena. She relocated toLos Angeles with her mother in early adolescence and trained as a dancer in high school. She was discovered by production designerNatacha Rambova, who organized film auditions for her. She began obtaining small roles in the late 1920s. Loy devoted herself fully to acting after a few roles insilent films. She was originally typecast in exotic roles, often as avamp or a woman of Asian descent, but her career prospects improved greatly following her portrayal ofNora Charles inThe Thin Man (1934).[2] The role helped elevate her reputation and she became known as a versatile actress adept at both drama and comedy; she would reprise the role of Nora Charles five more times.
Loy's performances peaked in the 1940s, with films likeThe Thin Man Goes Home,The Best Years of Our Lives,The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, andMr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. In the 1950s she appeared in a lead role in the comedyCheaper by the Dozen (1950), as well as supporting roles inThe Ambassador's Daughter (1956) and the dramaLonelyhearts (1958). She appeared in eight films between 1960 and 1981, after which she retired from acting.
Although Loy was never nominated for anAcademy Award, in March 1991 she received anHonorary Academy Award in recognition of her life's work both onscreen and off, including serving as assistant to the director of military and naval welfare for theRed Cross duringWorld War II, and a member-at-large of the U.S. Commission toUNESCO. In 2009,The Guardian named her one of the best actors never to have received anAcademy Award nomination.[3] Loy died in December 1993 in New York City, at age 88.
Loy was born Myrna Adele Williams on August 2, 1905, inHelena, Montana,[4][5] the daughter of Adelle Mae (née Johnson) and rancher David Franklin Williams.[6] Her parents had married in Helena in 1904, one year before Loy was born.[7] She had one younger brother, David Frederick Williams (1911–1983).[8] Loy's paternal grandfather, David Thomas Williams, wasWelsh, and emigrated fromLiverpool, England to the United States in 1856, arriving inPhiladelphia.[9] Unable to read or write inEnglish, he later settled in theMontana Territory where he began a career as a rancher.[10] Loy's maternal grandparents wereScottish andSwedish immigrants.[11][12] During her childhood, her father worked as a banker, real estate developer, and farmland appraiser in Helena, and was the youngest man ever elected to serve in theMontana state legislature.[13] Her mother had studied music at theAmerican Conservatory of Music in Chicago, and at one time considered a career as a concert performer, but instead devoted her time to raising Loy and her brother.[14] Loy's mother was a lifelongDemocrat, while her father was a staunchRepublican.[14] She was raised in theMethodist faith.[15]
Loy spent her early life inRadersburg, Montana, a rural mining community approximately 50 miles (80 km)[16] southeast of Helena.[17][18] During the winter of 1912, Loy's mother nearly died frompneumonia, and her father sent his wife and daughter toLa Jolla, California.[19] Loy's mother saw great potential inSouthern California, and during one of her husband's visits, she encouraged him to purchase real estate there.[20] Among the properties he bought was land that he would later sell, at a considerable profit, to filmmakerCharlie Chaplin for his film studio there. Although her mother tried to persuade her husband to move to California permanently, he preferred ranch life and the three eventually returned to Montana. Soon afterward, Loy's mother needed ahysterectomy and insisted Los Angeles was a safer place to have it done, so she, Loy, and Loy's brother David moved toOcean Park, where Loy began to take dancing lessons.[19] After the family returned to Montana, Loy continued her dancing lessons, and at the age of 12, Myrna Williams made her stage debut performing a dance she had choreographed based on "The Blue Bird" from theRose Dream operetta[21] at Helena's Marlow Theater.[22]
When Loy was 13, her father died during the1918 flu pandemic in November of that year.[23] Loy's mother permanently relocated the family to California, where they settled inCulver City, outsideLos Angeles.[24] Loy attended the exclusiveWestlake School for Girls while continuing to study dance indowntown Los Angeles.[25] When her teachers objected to her extracurricular participation in theatrical arts, her mother enrolled her inVenice High School, and at 15, she began appearing in local stage productions.[26]
In 1921, Loy posed for Venice High School sculpture teacher Harry Fielding Winebrenner as "Inspiration"; the full length figure was central in his allegorical sculpture groupFountain of Education.[27] Completed in 1922, the sculpture group was installed in front of the campus outdoor pool in May 1923 where it stood for decades.[28] Loy's slender figure with her uplifted face and one arm extending skyward presented a "vision of purity, grace, youthful vigor, and aspiration" that was singled out in aLos Angeles Times story that included a photo of the "Inspiration" figure along with the model's name—the first time her name appeared in a newspaper.[29][30] A few months later, Loy's "Inspiration" figure was temporarily removed from the sculpture group and transported aboard the battleshipNevada for a Memorial Day pageant in which "Miss Myrna Williams" participated.[29]Fountain of Education can be seen in the opening scenes of the 1978 filmGrease. After decades of exposure to the elements and vandalism, the original concrete statue was removed from display in 2002, and replaced in 2010 by a bronze duplicate paid for through an alumni-led fundraising campaign.[31][29]
Loy left school at the age of 18 to begin to help with the family's finances. She obtained work atGrauman's Egyptian Theatre, where she performed in what was called prologues, elaborate musical sequences that were related to and served as preliminary entertainment before the feature film. During this period, Loy sawEleonora Duse in the playThy Will Be Done, and the simple acting techniques she employed made such an impact on Loy that she tried to emulate them throughout her career.[32]
While Loy was dancing in prologues at theGrauman's Egyptian Theatre, portrait photographer Henry Waxman took several pictures of her that were noticed byRudolph Valentino when the actor went to Waxman's studio for a sitting.[33] Valentino was looking for a leading lady forCobra, the first independent project he and his wifeNatacha Rambova were producing.[34] Loy tested for the role, which went toGertrude Olmstead instead, but soon after that she was hired as anextra forPretty Ladies (1925), in which she and fellow newcomerJoan Crawford were among a bevy of chorus girls dangling from an elaborate chandelier. The two of them would share a life-long friendship that would last until Crawford's death.[35]
Rambova hired Loy for a small but showy role oppositeNita Naldi inWhat Price Beauty?, a film she was producing. Shot in May 1925, the film remained unreleased for three years; butstills of Loy in her exotic makeup and costume appeared inMotion Picture magazine and led to a contract withWarner Bros. There, her surname was changed from Williams to Loy. The idea for the new name apparently came from screenwriter Peter Ruric, also known as crime novelistPaul Cain, who may have been inspired by the name of British poetMina Loy.[36]
Loy'ssilent film roles were mainly as a vamp orfemme fatale, and she frequently portrayed characters of Asian or Eurasian background in films such asAcross the Pacific (1926),A Girl in Every Port (1928),The Crimson City (1928),The Black Watch (1929), andThe Desert Song (1929), which she later recalled "kind of solidified my exotic non-American image."[37] In 1930, she appeared inThe Great Divide. It took years for her to overcome this typecasting, and as late as 1932, she was cast as a villainous Eurasian inThirteen Women (1932) and, oppositeBoris Karloff, as the depraved sadistic daughter of the title character inThe Mask of Fu Manchu (1932).
In spite of this (typecasting), Loy also obtained small roles inThe Jazz Singer and a number of early lavishTechnicolor musicals, includingThe Show of Shows,The Bride of the Regiment, andUnder a Texas Moon. As a result, she became associated with musical roles, and when they began to lose favour with the public, her career went into a slump. In 1934, Loy appeared inManhattan Melodrama withClark Gable andWilliam Powell. When gangsterJohn Dillinger was shot to death after leaving a screening of the film at theBiograph Theater in Chicago, the film received widespread publicity, with some newspapers reporting that Loy had been Dillinger's favorite actress.[38]
After appearing withRamón Novarro inThe Barbarian (1933), Loy was cast asNora Charles in the 1934 filmThe Thin Man. DirectorW. S. Van Dyke chose Loy after he detected a wit and sense of humor that her previous films had not 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.[39]Louis B. Mayer at first refused to allow Loy to play the part because he felt she was a dramatic actress, but Van Dyke insisted. Mayer finally relented on the condition that filming be completed within three weeks, as Loy was committed to start filmingStamboul Quest.[40]The Thin Man became one of the year's biggest hits, and was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Picture. Loy received excellent reviews and was acclaimed for her comedic skills. She and her costarWilliam Powell proved to be a popular screen couple and appeared in 14 films together,one of the most prolific pairings inHollywood history. Loy later referred toThe Thin Man as the film "that finally made me... after more than 80 films."[41]
Her successes inManhattan Melodrama andThe Thin Man marked a turning point in her career, and she was cast in more important pictures. Such films asWife vs. Secretary (1936) with Clark Gable andJean Harlow, andPetticoat Fever (1936) withRobert Montgomery gave her opportunity to develop comedic skills. She made four films with William Powell in close succession:Libeled Lady (1936) (which also starred Jean Harlow andSpencer Tracy);The Great Ziegfeld (1936) (in which she playedBillie Burke opposite Powell'sFlorenz Ziegfeld); the second Thin Man film,After the Thin Man (1936) (which also starredJames Stewart); and the romantic comedyDouble Wedding (1937).
In 1932, Loy had begun dating producerArthur Hornblow Jr., when he was still married to Juliette Crosby:[42] Loy and Hornblow themselves married in 1936, in between filming these four successive productions.[43] She was later rumored to have had affairs with co-star Tracy between 1935 and 1936, while filmingWhipsaw andLibeled Lady.[44][45] Loy recounted in her autobiography that Spencer Tracy chased after her."'You don't have to worry about me anymore,' he said like a sulky child. 'I've found the woman I want.' As he outlined the virtues of Katharine Hepburn, I was relieved, but also a bit disappointed. As selfish as it sounds, I liked having a man like Spence in the background wanting me. It's rather nice when nothing's required in return."[full citation needed]
She also made three more films with Gable atMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM):Parnell (1937) was a historical drama and one of the most poorly received films of either Loy's or Gable's career, but their other pairings inTest Pilot andToo Hot to Handle (both 1938) were successes. While working for MGM, Loy was outspoken about the studio's casting hierarchy, especially based onrace, and was quoted as saying: "Why does every black person in the movies have to play a servant? How about a black person walking up the steps of a court house carrying a briefcase?"[46]
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 United States for the stars who had generated the most revenue in their theaters over the previous year.[47]
By the late 1930s, Loy was highly regarded for her performances in romantic comedies, and she was anxious to demonstrate her dramatic ability. She was cast in the lead female role inThe Rains Came (1939) oppositeTyrone Power. She filmedThird Finger, Left Hand (1940) withMelvyn Douglas and appeared inI Love You Again (1940),Love Crazy (1941), andShadow of the Thin Man (1941), all with William Powell.
On June 1, 1942, Loy divorced her husband Hornblow inReno, citing "mental cruelty" as the impetus for separating.[48] Five days after the divorce, she married John D. Hertz, Jr. an advertising executive and founder ofHertz Rent A Car, at his sister's home in New York City.[48] They remained married for two years, eventually divorcing inCuernavaca, Mexico, on August 21, 1944,[48] with Loy again citing mental cruelty.[49]
With the outbreak ofWorld War II the same year, Loy all but abandoned her acting career to focus on the war effort and began devoting her time to working with theRed Cross.[50] She was so fiercely outspoken againstAdolf Hitler that her name appeared on hisblacklist, resulting in her films being banned in Germany.[51] She also helped run a Naval Auxiliary canteen and toured frequently to raise funds for the war efforts. Around 1945, Loy began dating producer and screenwriterGene Markey, who had previously been married to actressesJoan Bennett andHedy Lamarr.[48] The two were married in a private ceremony on January 3, 1946, at the chapel onTerminal Island, while Markey was serving in the military.[48]
She returned to films withThe Thin Man Goes Home (1944). In 1946, she played the wife of a returning servicemanFredric March inThe Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Loy was paired withCary Grant inDavid O. Selznick'sThe Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947). The film co-starred a teenagedShirley Temple. Following its success, she appeared again with Grant inMr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948).
In 1947, Loy became one of the founders of theCommittee for the First Amendment.[52]
In 1948, she had become a member of the U.S. National Commission forUNESCO, the first Hollywood celebrity to do so.
In 1950, Loy co-starred withClifton Webb inCheaper by the Dozen (1950), which was a box-office hit, grossing $4.4 million in the United States.[53] The same year, she divorced Markey.[48] Her fourth and final husband wasHowland H. Sargeant, U.S.Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and president ofRadio Liberty,[48] whom she married on June 2, 1951, inFort Myer, Virginia.[48] Sargeant, aPresbyterian, wanted the marriage officiated in the church, but they were unable to do so due to Loy's recent divorce.[54]
Throughout the 1950s, Loy assumed an influential role as co-chairman of the Advisory Council of the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing. In 1952, she starred in theCheaper by the Dozen sequel,Belles on Their Toes. In 1956, she appeared inThe Ambassador's Daughter along withJohn Forsythe andOlivia de Havilland. She played oppositeMontgomery Clift andRobert Ryan inLonelyhearts (1958),Dore Schary's adaptation ofNathanael West's classic 1933 novelMiss Lonelyhearts. In 1960, she appeared inMidnight Lace andFrom the Terrace, but was not in another film until 1969 inThe April Fools. In 1965, Loy won theSarah Siddons Award for her work inChicago theatre.
Loy, a lifelongDemocrat, publicly supported the election ofJohn F. Kennedy in 1960, findingRichard Nixon to be an unscrupulous man.[1] She would endorseEugene McCarthy, and laterHubert Humphrey in 1968 andGeorge McGovern in 1972.[55][56][57]
She divorced her fourth husband Sargeant in 1960.[58] In 1967, she was cast in the television seriesThe Virginian, appearing in an episode titled "Lady of the House". Also in 1967, she appeared onFamily Affair in the episode "A Helping Hand" as a woman out of work and taking on hired-help and cook work, comically aided by Mr. French, though, the job did not work out, and she takes the failure out onJohn Williams, who was temporarily substituting for Sebastian Cabot in the role of Mr. French. In 1972, she appeared as the suspect's mother-in-law in an episode of the television seriesColumbo titled "Étude in Black". In 1974, she had a supporting part inAirport 1975 playing Mrs. Devaney, a heavy-drinking woman imbibing Jim Beam and Olympia Beer mixed together; a foil to the character played bySid Caesar. In 1975, Loy was diagnosed withbreast cancer and underwent twomastectomies to treat the disease.[59] She kept her cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment from the public until the publication of her autobiography in 1987.[59]
Loy appeared at Denver'sElitch Theatre in 1967 inBarefoot in the Park, and then returned in 1969 in Janus.[60]
In 1978, she appeared in the filmThe End as the mother of the main character played byBurt Reynolds. Her last motion picture performance was in 1980 inSidney Lumet'sJust Tell Me What You Want. She also returned to the stage, making herBroadway debut in a short-lived 1973 revival ofClare Boothe Luce'sThe Women. She toured in a 1978 production ofAlan Ayckbourn'sRelatively Speaking, directed by David Clayton.
In 1981, she appeared in the television dramaSummer Solstice,[61] which wasHenry Fonda's last performance. Her last acting role was a guest spot on the sitcomLove, Sidney, in 1982.
In January 1985 Loy was honored by theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with a special salute held atCarnegie Hall in New York City, which she attended along with 2,800 guests.[62][63] Her autobiography,Myrna Loy: Being and Becoming, was published in 1987. The following year she received aKennedy Center Honor.[64] Although Loy was never nominated for anAcademy Award for any single performance, after an extensive letter-writing campaign and years oflobbying 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 asRoddy McDowall,Sidney Sheldon,Harold Russell, and many others, she received a 1991Academy Honorary Award "for her career achievement". She accepted via camera[65] from her New York City home, simply stating, "You've made me very happy. Thank you very much." It was her last public appearance in any medium.
Loy died at age 88 on December 14, 1993, atLenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan during surgery following a long, unspecified illness.[66] She had been frail and in failing health, which had resulted in her being unable to attend the 1991 Academy Awards ceremony, where she was to receive a lifetime achievement Oscar.[67] She wascremated in New York and her ashes interred at Forestvale Cemetery in her native Helena, Montana.[68][69]
A building atSony Pictures Studios, formerly MGM Studios, in Culver City is named in her honor.[70]
A cast of her handprint and her signature are in the sidewalk in front of Theater 80, onSt. Mark's Place in New York City.[71]
In 1936, Loy was honored with a block in the forecourt ofGrauman's Chinese Theatre.[72]
For her contribution to the film industry, Loy has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame at 6685 Hollywood Boulevard. The ceremony for that star was held on February 8, 1960.[73]
Steel Pole Bath Tub has a song on their 1991 albumTulip that is both named after Loy and samples dialogue from one of her films ("Stinky Davis" story, excerpted fromThe Thin Man Goes Home, 1944).
In 1991, The Myrna Loy[74] Center for the Performing and Media Arts opened in downtown Helena, not far from Loy's childhood home. Located in the historic Lewis and Clark Country Jail, it sponsors live performances and alternative films for underserved audiences.[75]
The songwriterJosh Ritter included a song about Loy, called “Myrna Loy”, on his 2017 albumGathering.[76]
| Year | Program | Episode | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Lux Radio Theatre | "The Thin Man" | |
| 1937 | Maxwell House Good News of 1938 | "Herself" | [77] |
| 1940 | The Gulf Screen Guild Theater | "Single Crossing" | |
| 1940 | Lux Radio Theatre | "After the Thin Man" | |
| 1940 | Lux Radio Theatre | "Manhattan Melodrama" | [78] |
| 1941 | The Gulf Screen Guild Theater | "Magnificent Obsession" | |
| 1941 | Lux Radio Theatre | "I Love You Again" | |
| 1941 | Lux Radio Theatre | "Hired Wife" | |
| 1942 | Lux Radio Theatre | "Appointment for Love" | |
| 1945 | Suspense | "Library Book" | [78]: 33 |
keep under wraps.
