From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Myrna Loy (August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles in The Thin Man (1934). Her successful pairing with William Powell resulted in 14 films together, including five subsequent Thin Man films.
Although Loy was never nominated for a competitive Academy Award, in March 1991 she was presented with an Honorary Academy Award with the inscription "In recognition of her extraordinary qualities both on screen and off, with appreciation for a lifetime's worth of indelible performances."
During World War II, Loy served as assistant to the director of military and naval welfare for the Red Cross. She was later appointed a member-at-large of the U.S. Commission to UNESCO. Her acting career by no means ended in the 1940s. She continued to actively pursue stage and television appearances in addition to films in subsequent decades.
Known For
Airport 1975
(1974)
Mrs. Devaney
The Best Years of Our Lives
(1946)
Milly Stephenson
The Thin Man
(1934)
Nora Charles
The Jazz Singer
(1927)
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Arrowsmith
(1931)
Joyce Lanyon
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
(1948)
Muriel Blandings
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
(1925)
Slave Girl (uncredited)
Midnight Lace
(1960)
Aunt Bea
Shadow of the Thin Man
(1941)
Nora Charles
After the Thin Man
(1936)
Nora Charles
The Thin Man Goes Home
(1944)
Nora Charles
Love Me Tonight
(1932)
Countess Valentine
Cheaper by the Dozen
(1950)
Lillian Gilbreth
The Great Ziegfeld
(1936)
Billie Burke
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
(1947)
Judge Margaret Turner
The Love Goddesses
(1965)
(archive footage)
Full Filmography
Acting
Pretty Ladies
(1925)
Showgirl (uncredited)
1925 Studio Tour
(1925)
Self (uncredited)
The Wanderer
(1925)
Girl at Baccanal (uncredited)
Sporting Life
(1925)
Chorus Girl with Lord Wainwright (uncredited)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
(1925)
Slave Girl (uncredited)
Don Juan
(1926)
Mai - Lady in Waiting
So This Is Paris
(1926)
Lalle's Maid (uncredited)
Why Girls Go Back Home
(1926)
Sally Short
The Exquisite Sinner
(1926)
Living Statue
Across the Pacific
(1926)
Roma
The Cave Man
(1926)
Maid
The Love Toy
(1926)
Bit Part (uncredited)
The Gilded Highway
(1926)
Inez Quartz
The Third Degree
(1926)
Bit Part (uncredited)
When a Man Loves
(1927)
Convict Behind Manon (uncredited)
Bitter Apples
(1927)
Belinda White
The Girl from Chicago
(1927)
Mary Carlton
Ham and Eggs at the Front
(1927)
Fifi
Finger Prints
(1927)
Vamp
The Heart of Maryland
(1927)
Mulatta
The Climbers
(1927)
Countess Veya
Simple Sis
(1927)
If I Were Single
(1927)
Joan Whitley
A Sailor's Sweetheart
(1927)
Claudette Ralston
The Jazz Singer
(1927)
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Noah's Ark
(1928)
Showgirl / Slave Girl
The Midnight Taxi
(1928)
Gertie Fairfax
State Street Sadie
(1928)
Sadie
What Price Beauty?
(1928)
Vamp
A Girl in Every Port
(1928)
Jetta - Girl in Singapore (uncredited)
Fashion News
(1928)
Self (1928, 1930)
Pay as You Enter
(1928)
Yvonne De Russo
Turn Back the Hours
(1928)
Tiza Torreon
Beware of Married Men
(1928)
Juanita Sheldon
The Crimson City
(1928)
Isobel
The Great Divide
(1929)
Manuella
The Squall
(1929)
Nubi
The Black Watch
(1929)
Yasmani
The Desert Song
(1929)
Azuri
Show of Shows
(1929)
Performer in 'What Became of the Floradora Boys' & 'Chinese Fantasy' Numbers
Fancy Baggage
(1929)
Myrna
Hardboiled Rose
(1929)
Rose Duhamel
Evidence
(1929)
Native Girl
The Devil to Pay!
(1930)
Mary Crayle
The Naughty Flirt
(1930)
Linda Gregory
Renegades
(1930)
Eleanore
Rogue of the Rio Grande
(1930)
Carmita
Bride of the Regiment
(1930)
Sophie
Cock o' the Walk
(1930)
Narita
Under a Texas Moon
(1930)
Lolita Romero
The Last of the Duanes
(1930)
Lola Bland
The Bad Man
(1930)
(uncredited)
The Truth About Youth
(1930)
Kara
Isle of Escape
(1930)
Moira
The Jazz Cinderella
(1930)
Mildred Vane
Cameo Kirby
(1930)
Lea
Arrowsmith
(1931)
Joyce Lanyon
Transatlantic
(1931)
Kay Graham
A Connecticut Yankee
(1931)
Queen Morgan le Fay / Evil Sister in Mansion
Consolation Marriage
(1931)
Elaine Brandon
Body and Soul
(1931)
Alice Lester
Rebound
(1931)
Evie Lawrence
Skyline
(1931)
Paula Lambert
Hush Money
(1931)
Flo Curtis
The Mask of Fu Manchu
(1932)
Fah Lo See
Love Me Tonight
(1932)
Countess Valentine
Thirteen Women
(1932)
Ursula Georgi
Emma
(1932)
Isabelle
The Animal Kingdom
(1932)
Cecelia Henry Collier
The Wet Parade
(1932)
Eileen Pinchon
New Morals for Old
(1932)
Myra
The Woman in Room 13
(1932)
Sari Loder
Vanity Fair
(1932)
Becky Sharp
Penthouse
(1933)
Gertie Waxted
Night Flight
(1933)
Wife of Brazilian Pilot
The Prizefighter and the Lady
(1933)
Belle Mercer
Topaze
(1933)
Coco
When Ladies Meet
(1933)
Mary
The Barbarian
(1933)
Diana 'Di' Standing
Scarlet River
(1933)
Herself (uncredited)
The Thin Man
(1934)
Nora Charles
Manhattan Melodrama
(1934)
Eleanor Packer
Stamboul Quest
(1934)
Annemarie, aka Fräulein Doktor and Helena Bohlen
Evelyn Prentice
(1934)
Evelyn Prentice
Broadway Bill
(1934)
Alice 'Princess' Higgins
Men in White
(1934)
Laura Hudson
Whipsaw
(1935)
Vivian Palmer
Wings in the Dark
(1935)
Sheila Mason
After the Thin Man
(1936)
Nora Charles
The Great Ziegfeld
(1936)
Billie Burke
Wife vs. Secretary
(1936)
Linda Stanhope
Petticoat Fever
(1936)
Irene Campton
To Mary - with Love
(1936)
Mary Wallace
Libeled Lady
(1936)
Constance 'Connie' Allenbury
Double Wedding
(1937)
Margit Agnew
Parnell
(1937)
Katie O'Shea
The Romance of Celluloid
(1937)
Self (archive footage)
Too Hot to Handle
(1938)
Alma Harding
Test Pilot
(1938)
Ann "Thursday" Barton
Man-Proof
(1938)
Mimi Swift
Another Romance of Celluloid
(1938)
Self (uncredited)
Another Thin Man
(1939)
Nora Charles
The Rains Came
(1939)
Lady Edwina Esketh
Lucky Night
(1939)
Cora Jordan
From the Ends of the Earth
(1939)
Self
I Love You Again
(1940)
Kay Wilson
Third Finger, Left Hand
(1940)
Margot Sherwood Merrick
Northward, Ho!
(1940)
Herself
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
(1940)
Self
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
(1940)
Self
Trifles of Importance
(1940)
Self (archive footage)
Love Crazy
(1941)
Susan Ireland
Shadow of the Thin Man
(1941)
Nora Charles
Show-Business at War
(1943)
Self
The Thin Man Goes Home
(1944)
Nora Charles
Twenty Years After
(1944)
(archive footage)
The Best Years of Our Lives
(1946)
Milly Stephenson
So Goes My Love
(1946)
Jane Budden Maxim
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
(1947)
Judge Margaret Turner
Song of the Thin Man
(1947)
Nora Charles
The Senator Was Indiscreet
(1947)
Mrs. Ashton (uncredited)
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
(1948)
Muriel Blandings
The Red Pony
(1949)
Alice Tiflin
That Dangerous Age
(1949)
Lady Cathy Brooke
Cheaper by the Dozen
(1950)
Lillian Gilbreth
Belles on Their Toes
(1952)
Lillian Gilbreth
The Ambassador's Daughter
(1956)
Mrs. Cartwright
Lonelyhearts
(1959)
Florence Shrike
Meet Me in St. Louis
(1959)
Anna Smith
Midnight Lace
(1960)
Aunt Bea
From the Terrace
(1960)
Martha Eaton
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
(1961)
Self (archive footage)
The Big Parade of Comedy
(1964)
Nora Charles (archive footage)
The Love Goddesses
(1965)
(archive footage)
The April Fools
(1969)
Grace Greenlaw
Death Takes a Holiday
(1971)
Selena Chapman
Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate
(1971)
Evelyn Tryon
The Couple Takes a Wife
(1972)
Barbara's Mother
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
(1972)
Self (archive footage)
Airport 1975
(1974)
Mrs. Devaney
The Elevator
(1974)
Amanda Kenyon
Indict and Convict
(1974)
Judge Christine Tayloy
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
(1975)
Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
(1976)
(archive footage)
Ants
(1977)
Ethel
The End
(1978)
Maureen Lawson
Just Tell Me What You Want
(1980)
Stella Liberti
Summer Solstice
(1981)
Margaret
Night of 100 Stars
(1982)
Self
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
(1986)
Self (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
(1988)
Self (archive footage)
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
(1990)
(archive footage)
Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell
(1993)
Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment! III
(1994)
(archive footage)
Complicated Women
(2003)
Self (archive footage)
William Powell: A True Gentleman
(2005)
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
(2007)
Self (archive footage)
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
(2008)
Gertie Waxted (archive footage)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
(2009)
Self (archive footage)