Person · Actress · Active 1920–1942
Norma Shearer
1902–1983, Montreal
Canadian actress, born in Montreal. Won the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Volpi Cup for Best Actress. Appeared in 34 films on this site, including Way Down East (1920), A Free Soul (1931) and The Divorcee (1930). Among the 53 actors and directors Norma Shearer shares films with on this site, the most frequent are Robert Montgomery (6 films), Joan Crawford (5) and John Gilbert (5).
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".
Norma Shearer · authors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Despite the popularity of her subsequent early talking films, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney and Their Own Desire (both 1929), Shearer feared the public would soon tire of her "good girl" image, and took the advice of friend and co-star Ramón Novarro to visit an unknown photographer named George Hurrell.
Norma Shearer · authors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Partners by shared films
Who Norma Shearer made films with
Directors
- 3George Cukor directorRomeo and Juliet, The Women, Her Cardboard Lover
- 2Victor Sjöström directorHe Who Gets Slapped, The Tower of Lies
- 2Mervyn LeRoy director and actorBroadway After Dark, Escape
- 2Clarence Brown directorA Free Soul, Idiot's Delight
One film together
Co-stars
- 6Robert Montgomery actorTheir Own Desire, The Divorcee, Private Lives (1931 film) and 3 more
- 5Joan Crawford actressA Slave of Fashion, Pretty Ladies, The Hollywood Revue of 1929 and 2 more
- 5John Gilbert actorHe Who Gets Slapped, The Snob, The Wolf Man and 2 more
- 3Clark Gable actorA Free Soul, Strange Interlude, Idiot's Delight
- 3Marie Dressler actressThe Hollywood Revue of 1929, Let Us Be Gay, Going Hollywood
- 3Leslie Howard actorA Free Soul, Smilin' Through, Romeo and Juliet
12 more partners with two or more films
- 3Hedda Hopper actressThe Snob, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, The Women
- 3Adolphe Menjou actorBroadway After Dark, Broken Barriers, Wir schalten um auf Hollywood
- 2Buster Keaton actorThe Hollywood Revue of 1929, Wir schalten um auf Hollywood
- 2Fredric March actorSmilin' Through, The Barretts of Wimpole Street
- 2Lionel Barrymore actorThe Hollywood Revue of 1929, A Free Soul
- 2John Barrymore actorRomeo and Juliet, Marie Antoinette
- 2Wallace Beery actorWir schalten um auf Hollywood, Going Hollywood
- 2Basil Rathbone actorThe Last of Mrs. Cheyney, Romeo and Juliet
- 2Lon Chaney actorHe Who Gets Slapped, The Tower of Lies
- 2Robert Taylor actorEscape, Her Cardboard Lover
- 2Joseph Schildkraut actorMarie Antoinette, Idiot's Delight
- 2Marion Davies actressThe Hollywood Revue of 1929, Going Hollywood
One film together
- Way Down East 1920Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess
- Lucretia Lombard 1923Florence Lawrence
- He Who Gets Slapped 1924Bela Lugosi
- Pretty Ladies 1925Myrna Loy
- The Hollywood Revue of 1929 1929Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jack Benny, Bessie Love
- Wir schalten um auf Hollywood 1931Sergei Eisenstein
- Going Hollywood 1933Bing Crosby
- The Barretts of Wimpole Street 1934Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Sullivan
- Marie Antoinette 1938Tyrone Power, Barry Fitzgerald
- Idiot's Delight 1939Burgess Meredith, Charles Coburn
- The Women 1939Joan Fontaine, Paulette Goddard, Rosalind Russell
- Escape 1940Conrad Veidt, Alla Nazimova
- Her Cardboard Lover 1942George Sanders
- We Were Dancing 1942Ava Gardner, Melvyn Douglas
Other regulars
Films in this guide
Best known
- Way Down East 1920actress
- A Free Soul 1931actress
- The Divorcee 1930actress
- Romeo and Juliet 1936actress
- Marie Antoinette 1938actress, as Marie Antoinette
- The Hollywood Revue of 1929 1929actress
1920s
- Way Down East (1920)actress
- Lucretia Lombard (1923)actress
- Broadway After Dark (1924)actress
- Broken Barriers (1924)actress
- Empty Hands (1924)actress
- He Who Gets Slapped (1924)actress
- The Snob (1924)actress
- The Wolf Man (1924)actress
- A Slave of Fashion (1925)actress
- Pretty Ladies (1925)actress
- The Tower of Lies (1925)actress
- The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927)actress
- The Latest from Paris (1928)actress
- The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)actress
- The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929)actress
- Their Own Desire (1929)actress
1930s
- Let Us Be Gay (1930)actress
- The Divorcee (1930)actress
- A Free Soul (1931)actress
- Private Lives (1931 film) (1931)actress
- Strangers May Kiss (1931)actress
- Wir schalten um auf Hollywood (1931)actress
- Smilin' Through (1932)actress
- Strange Interlude (1932)actress
- Going Hollywood (1933)actress
- Riptide (1934)actress
- The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)actress
- Romeo and Juliet (1936)actress
- Marie Antoinette (1938)actress, as Marie Antoinette
- Idiot's Delight (1939)actress
- The Women (1939)actress
1940s
- Escape (1940)actress
- Her Cardboard Lover (1942)actress
- We Were Dancing (1942)actress