Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy | |
---|---|
Born | Myrna Adele Williams August 2, 1905 Helena, Montana, U.S. |
Died | December 14, 1993 New York City, U.S. | (aged 88)
Resting place | Forestvale Cemetery Helena, Montana, U.S. 46°39′22″N 112°02′11″W / 46.6562°N 112.0365°W |
Other names | The Queen of Hollywood |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1925–1982 |
Political party | Democrat[1] |
Spouses | John Hertz, Jr.
(m. 1942; div. 1944) |
Signature | |
Myrna Loy (born Myrna 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 in Helena, Montana, Loy was raised in rural Radersburg during her early childhood, before relocating to Los Angeles with her mother in her early adolescence. There, she began studying dance, and trained extensively as a dancer throughout her high school education. She was discovered by production designer Natacha Rambova, who helped facilitate film auditions for her, and she began obtaining small roles in the late 1920s. Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. She was originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, but her career prospects improved greatly following her portrayal of Nora Charles in The 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 like The Thin Man Goes Home, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. She appeared in only a few films in the 1950s, including a lead role in the comedy Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), as well as supporting parts in The Ambassador's Daughter (1956) and the drama Lonelyhearts (1958). She appeared in only eight films between 1960 and 1981, after which she retired from acting.
Although Loy was never nominated for an
Life and career
1905–1924: Early life
Loy was born Myrna Adele Williams on August 2, 1905, in
Loy spent her early life in
When Loy was 13, her father died during the
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 group Fountain 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 a Los 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 battleship Nevada 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 film Grease. 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 at Grauman'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 saw Eleonora Duse in the play Thy 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]
1925–1932: Career beginnings
While Loy was dancing in prologues at the
Rambova hired Loy for a small but showy role opposite Nita Naldi in What Price Beauty?, a film she was producing. Shot in May 1925, the film remained unreleased for three years; but stills of Loy in her exotic makeup and costume appeared in Motion Picture magazine and led to a contract with Warner 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 novelist Paul Cain, who may have been inspired by the name of British poet Mina Loy.[36]
Loy's silent film roles were mainly as a vamp or femme fatale, and she frequently portrayed characters of Asian or Eurasian background in films such as Across the Pacific (1926), A Girl in Every Port (1928), The Crimson City (1928), The Black Watch (1929), and The Desert Song (1929), which she later recalled "kind of solidified my exotic non-American image."[37] In 1930, she appeared in The Great Divide. It took years for her to overcome this typecasting, and as late as 1932, she was cast as a villainous Eurasian in Thirteen Women (1932) and, opposite Boris Karloff, as the depraved sadistic daughter of the title character in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932).
In spite of this (typecasting), Loy also obtained small roles in
1933–1938: Rise to stardom
After appearing with
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
In 1932, Loy had begun dating producer Arthur 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 filming Whipsaw and Libeled 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 at Metro-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 in Test Pilot and Too Hot to Handle (both 1938) were successes. While working for MGM, Loy was outspoken about the studio's casting hierarchy, especially based on race, 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]
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Loy in The Barbarian (1933)
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With Spencer Tracy on the set of Whipsaw (1935).
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Arthur Hornblow Jr. and Loy soon after their marriage in 1936
1939–1949: Mainstream work and war activism
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 in
On June 1, 1942, Loy divorced her husband Hornblow in
With the outbreak of
She returned to films with The Thin Man Goes Home (1945). In 1946, she played the wife of a returning serviceman Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Loy was paired with Cary Grant in David O. Selznick's The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947). The film co-starred a teenaged Shirley Temple. Following its success, she appeared again with Grant in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948).
In 1948, she had become a member of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, the first Hollywood celebrity to do so.
1950–1982: Later career and political activities
In 1950, Loy co-starred with Clifton Webb in Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), which was a box-office hit, grossing $4.4 million in the United States.[52] The same year, she divorced Markey.[48] Her fourth and final husband was Howland H. Sargeant, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and president of Radio Liberty,[48] whom she married on June 2, 1951, in Fort Myer, Virginia.[48] Sargeant, a Presbyterian, wanted the marriage officiated in the church, but they were unable to do so due to Loy's recent divorce.[53]
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 the Cheaper by the Dozen sequel,
Loy, a lifelong Democrat, publicly supported the election of John F. Kennedy in 1960, finding Richard Nixon to be an unscrupulous man.[1] She would endorse Eugene McCarthy, and later Hubert Humphrey in 1968 and George McGovern in 1972.[54][55][56]
She divorced her fourth husband Sargeant in 1960.[57] In 1967, she was cast in the television series The Virginian, appearing in an episode titled "Lady of the House". Also in 1967, she appeared on Family 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 on John 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 series Columbo titled "Étude in Black". In 1974, she had a supporting part in Airport 1975 playing Mrs. Devaney, a heavy-drinking woman imbibing Jim Beam and Olympia Beer mixed together; a foil to the character played by Sid Caesar. In 1975, Loy was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent two mastectomies to treat the disease.[58] She kept her cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment from the public until the publication of her autobiography in 1987.[58]
Loy appeared at Denver's Elitch Theatre in 1967 in Barefoot in the Park, and then returned in 1969 in Janus.[59]
In 1978, she appeared in the film The End as the mother of the main character played by Burt Reynolds. Her last motion picture performance was in 1980 in Sidney Lumet's Just Tell Me What You Want. She also returned to the stage, making her Broadway debut in a short-lived 1973 revival of Clare Boothe Luce's The Women. She toured in a 1978 production of Alan Ayckbourn's Relatively Speaking, directed by David Clayton.
In 1981, she appeared in the television drama Summer Solstice,[60] which was Henry Fonda's last performance. Her last acting role was a guest spot on the sitcom Love, Sidney, in 1982.
1983–1993: Final years
In January 1985 Loy was honored by the
Death
Loy died at age 88 on December 14, 1993, at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan during surgery following a long, unspecified illness.[65] 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.[66] She was cremated in New York and her ashes interred at Forestvale Cemetery in her native Helena, Montana.[67][68]
Legacy
A building at Sony Pictures Studios, formerly MGM Studios, in Culver City is named in her honor.[69]
A cast of her handprint and her signature are in the sidewalk in front of Theater 80, on
In 1936, Loy was honored with a block in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
For her contribution to the film industry, Loy has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6685 Hollywood Boulevard. The ceremony for that star was held on February 8, 1960.[71]
Steel Pole Bath Tub has a song on their 1991 album Tulip that is both named after Loy and samples dialogue from one of her films ("Stinky Davis" story, excerpted from The Thin Man Goes Home, 1945).
In 1991, The Myrna Loy[72] 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.[73]
The songwriter Josh Ritter included a song about Loy, called “Myrna Loy”, on his 2017 album Gathering.[74]
Filmography
Radio appearances
Year | Program | Episode | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
1936 | Lux Radio Theatre | "The Thin Man" | |
1937 | Maxwell House Good News of 1938 | "Herself" | [75] |
1940 | The Gulf Screen Guild Theater | "Single Crossing" | |
1940 | Lux Radio Theatre | "After the Thin Man" | |
1940 | Lux Radio Theatre | "Manhattan Melodrama" | [76] |
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" | [76]: 33 |
Citations
- ^ a b Leider 2011, p. 293.
- ^ Curtis 2011, p. 333.
- ^ Singer, Leigh (February 19, 2009). "Oscars: the best actors never to have been nominated". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 1.
- ^ Parish & Bowers 1974, p. 443.
- ^ Leider 2011, pp. 1–4.
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 13.
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 385.
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 9.
- ^ Leider 2011, pp. 9–10.
- ^ Leider 2011, pp. 10–12.
- ^ Reed, Rex (April 13, 1969). "Myrna's Back – And Boyer's Got Her". The New York Times. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
- ^ Leider 2011, pp. 11–12.
- ^ a b Leider 2011, p. 12.
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 14.
- ^ Swartout 2015, p. 34.
- ^ "About Myrna Loy". Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- ^ "125 Montana Newsmakers: Myrna Loy Reynolds". Great Falls Tribune. Great Falls, Montana. August 23, 2011. Archived from the original on November 2, 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- ^ a b Leider 2011, p. 22.
- ^ Leider 2011, pp. 22–23.
- ^ Willis, Gertruce Knox and Mrs. R.R. Forman. W. A Rose Dream: A Fairy Operetta for Young People in Two Scenes. [permanent dead link] Philadelphia: Theodore Press Co., 1915.
- ^ Kotsilibas-Davis & Loy 1987, pp. 17–18.
- ^ Leider 2011, pp. 27–30.
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 32.
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 34.
- ^ Kotsilibas-Davis & Loy 1987, pp. 25–29.
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 41.
- ^ Leider 2011, pp. 41–42.
- ^ a b c Leider 2011, p. 42.
- ^ Perhaps ironically, in 1947 Loy co-starred in The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer as the older sister of Shirley Temple, who hopes to have her portrait made by Cary Grant, posing as "Young America".
- ^ "The Myrna Loy Statue Project".
- ^ Kotsilibas-Davis & Loy 1987, pp. 33–34.
- ^ Leider 2011, pp. 34–38.
- ^ Leider 2011, pp. 47–48.
- ^ Kotsilibas-Davis & Loy 1987, pp. 37–41.
- ^ Kotsilibas-Davis & Loy 1987, pp. 42–43.
- ^ Kotsilibas-Davis & Loy 1987, p. 66.
- ^ Kotsilibas-Davis & Loy 1987, p. 97.
- ^ Kotsilibas-Davis & Loy 1987, p. 88.
- ^ Kotsilibas-Davis & Loy 1987, pp. 88–89.
- ^ Kotsilibas-Davis & Loy 1987, pp. 88–91.
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 92.
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 149.
- ^ Wayne 2005, pp. 209–210.
- ^ Andersen 1997, p. 86.
- ^ Maier 2011, p. 17.
- ^ "The 2007 Motion Picture Almanac, Top Ten Money Making Stars" Archived December 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, quigleypublishing.com. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Houseman 1991, p. 190.
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 276.
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 239.
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 202.
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 274.
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 279.
- ^ "Anti-Bias Unit Gets Officers", The New York Times, May 14, 1961
- ^ Bob Thomas, "Politics Still Beckons to Myrna Loy," The Washington Post, September 21, 1968
- ^ “Myrna Loy’s Star Still Burns Bright”; Rob Edelman, The New York Times, February 3, 1980
- ^ Leider 2011, p. 288.
- ^ a b Kotsilibas-Davis & Loy 1987, pp. 345–346.
- ^ R, Greg (February 26, 2023). "Myrna Loy (1967)". Historic Elitch Theatre. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
- ^ Erickson, Hal. "Summer Solstice (1981)", nytimes.com. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
- ^ Harvey, Stephen (January 13, 1985). "FOR MYRNA LOY, A LATE BUT LOVING TRIBUTE". The New York Times. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
- ^ Maslin, Janet (January 16, 1985). "TRIBUTE TO MYRNA LOY". The New York Times. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
- ^ Hall, Carla; Swisher, Kara (December 5, 1988). "ARTISTRY, HONOR AND A STARRY, STARRY NIGHT". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
- ^ "The presenting of an Honorary Oscar® to Myrna Loy at the 63rd Annual Academy Awards®, March 25, 1991, youtube.com. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
- ^ Flint, Peter B. (December 15, 1993). "Myrna Loy, Model of Urbanity in 'Thin Man' Roles, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- ^ Folkart, Burt A. (December 15, 1993). "From the Archives: Myrna Loy, Star of 'Thin Man' Films, Dies at 88". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
- ^ "About Myrna Loy". Myrna Loy Center. Archived from the original on October 16, 2009. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- ISBN 9780786479924.
- ^ "Sony Pictures Studios: Studio Lot Map" Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, sonypicturesstudios.com. Retrieved December 24, 2010.
- ^ "Village Sidewalk", forgotten-ny.com. Retrieved December 24, 2010.
- ^ "Myrna Loy". Hollywood Walk of Fame. October 25, 2019.
- ^ "Myrna Loy Center in Helena, MT". Cinema Treasures. Archived from the original on January 23, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ Myrna Loy Center for the Performing and Media Arts website; Helenair.com. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
- ^ "Josh Ritter - Myrna Loy".
- ^ Maxwell Good House News. Maxwell House Good News of 1938. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. December 30, 1937.
- ^ a b "Those Were the Days". Nostalgia Digest. Vol. 37, no. 1. Winter 2011. p. 32.
Works cited
- Andersen, Christopher (1997). An Affair to Remember: A Remarkable Love Story of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. New York: William Morrow and Company Inc. ISBN 0-688-15311-9.
keep under wraps.
- Brands, H .W. (2008). Traitor to his Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-38551-958-8.
- Carr, Larry. More Fabulous Faces: The Evolution and Metamorphosis of ISBN 0-385-12819-3.
- Houseman, Victoria (1991). Made in Heaven: The Marriages and Children of Hollywood Stars. Los Angeles: Bonus Books. ISBN 978-0-929-38724-6.
- Curtis, James (2011). Spencer Tracy: A Biography. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-30726-289-9.
- Kotsilibas-Davis, James; Loy, Myrna (1987). Myrna Loy: Being and Becoming. New York: ISBN 978-0-394-55593-5.
- Leider, Emily W. (2011). Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25320-9.
- Maier, Simon (2011). Inspire!: Insights and Lessons from 100 of the Greatest Speeches from Film and Theatre. Singapore: ISBN 978-9-814-30262-3.
- Parish, James Robert; Bowers, Ronald L. (1974). The MGM Stock Company: The Golden Era. London: Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0501-3.
- Swartout, Robert R. Jr., ed. (2015). Montana: A Cultural Medley. Helena, Montana: Farcountry Press. ISBN 978-1-560-37644-6.
- Wayne, Jane Ellen (2005). The Leading Men of MGM. New York: Carrol and Graf. ISBN 978-0-7867-1768-2.
External links
- Official website
- Myrna Loy at IMDb
- Myrna Loy at the Internet Broadway Database
- Myrna-Loy at the TCM Movie Database
- Myrna Loy at AllMovie
- Profile, virtual-history.com