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
Arrowsmith
(1931)
Joyce Lanyon
Song of the Thin Man
(1947)
Nora Charles
The Great Ziegfeld
(1936)
Billie Burke
After the Thin Man
(1936)
Nora Charles
Thirteen Women
(1932)
Ursula Georgi
Ants
(1977)
Ethel
The Thin Man Goes Home
(1944)
Nora Charles
Midnight Lace
(1960)
Aunt Bea
Test Pilot
(1938)
Ann "Thursday" Barton
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
(1948)
Muriel Blandings
Libeled Lady
(1936)
Constance 'Connie' Allenbury
Love Crazy
(1941)
Susan Ireland
The Jazz Singer
(1927)
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Full Filmography
Acting
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)
Pretty Ladies
(1925)
Showgirl (uncredited)
1925 Studio Tour
(1925)
Self (uncredited)
The Third Degree
(1926)
Bit Part (uncredited)
Why Girls Go Back Home
(1926)
Sally Short
The Exquisite Sinner
(1926)
Living Statue
Don Juan
(1926)
Mai - Lady in Waiting
The Love Toy
(1926)
Bit Part (uncredited)
Across the Pacific
(1926)
Roma
The Cave Man
(1926)
Maid
The Gilded Highway
(1926)
Inez Quartz
So This Is Paris
(1926)
Lalle's Maid (uncredited)
The Jazz Singer
(1927)
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Simple Sis
(1927)
If I Were Single
(1927)
Joan Whitley
Finger Prints
(1927)
Vamp
The Girl from Chicago
(1927)
Mary Carlton
Ham and Eggs at the Front
(1927)
Fifi
When a Man Loves
(1927)
Convict Behind Manon (uncredited)
The Climbers
(1927)
Countess Veya
Bitter Apples
(1927)
Belinda White
A Sailor's Sweetheart
(1927)
Claudette Ralston
The Heart of Maryland
(1927)
Mulatta
Pay as You Enter
(1928)
Yvonne De Russo
The Midnight Taxi
(1928)
Gertie Fairfax
State Street Sadie
(1928)
Sadie
Noah's Ark
(1928)
Showgirl / Slave Girl
A Girl in Every Port
(1928)
Jetta - Girl in Singapore (uncredited)
Fashion News
(1928)
Self (1928, 1930)
What Price Beauty?
(1928)
Vamp
Beware of Married Men
(1928)
Juanita Sheldon
The Crimson City
(1928)
Isobel
Turn Back the Hours
(1928)
Tiza Torreon
The Desert Song
(1929)
Azuri
Evidence
(1929)
Native Girl
Hardboiled Rose
(1929)
Rose Duhamel
The Black Watch
(1929)
Yasmani
The Great Divide
(1929)
Manuella
Fancy Baggage
(1929)
Myrna
The Squall
(1929)
Nubi
Show of Shows
(1929)
Performer in 'What Became of the Floradora Boys' & 'Chinese Fantasy' Numbers
The Last of the Duanes
(1930)
Lola Bland
Bride of the Regiment
(1930)
Sophie
The Bad Man
(1930)
(uncredited)
The Truth About Youth
(1930)
Kara
Isle of Escape
(1930)
Moira
Cameo Kirby
(1930)
Lea
Rogue of the Rio Grande
(1930)
Carmita
Under a Texas Moon
(1930)
Lolita Romero
Cock o' the Walk
(1930)
Narita
The Jazz Cinderella
(1930)
Mildred Vane
The Naughty Flirt
(1930)
Linda Gregory
Renegades
(1930)
Eleanore
The Devil to Pay!
(1930)
Mary Crayle
Arrowsmith
(1931)
Joyce Lanyon
Rebound
(1931)
Evie Lawrence
Body and Soul
(1931)
Alice Lester
Skyline
(1931)
Paula Lambert
Hush Money
(1931)
Flo Curtis
Transatlantic
(1931)
Kay Graham
Consolation Marriage
(1931)
Elaine Brandon
A Connecticut Yankee
(1931)
Queen Morgan le Fay / Evil Sister in Mansion
Vanity Fair
(1932)
Becky Sharp
The Wet Parade
(1932)
Eileen Pinchon
The Woman in Room 13
(1932)
Sari Loder
Emma
(1932)
Isabelle
The Animal Kingdom
(1932)
Cecelia Henry Collier
Thirteen Women
(1932)
Ursula Georgi
Love Me Tonight
(1932)
Countess Valentine
The Mask of Fu Manchu
(1932)
Fah Lo See
New Morals for Old
(1932)
Myra
When Ladies Meet
(1933)
Mary
Topaze
(1933)
Coco
Night Flight
(1933)
Wife of Brazilian Pilot
The Prizefighter and the Lady
(1933)
Belle Mercer
The Barbarian
(1933)
Diana 'Di' Standing
Penthouse
(1933)
Gertie Waxted
Scarlet River
(1933)
Herself (uncredited)
Men in White
(1934)
Laura Hudson
Broadway Bill
(1934)
Alice 'Princess' Higgins
Evelyn Prentice
(1934)
Evelyn Prentice
Stamboul Quest
(1934)
Annemarie, aka Fräulein Doktor and Helena Bohlen
Manhattan Melodrama
(1934)
Eleanor Packer
The Thin Man
(1934)
Nora Charles
Wings in the Dark
(1935)
Sheila Mason
Whipsaw
(1935)
Vivian Palmer
Petticoat Fever
(1936)
Irene Campton
Wife vs. Secretary
(1936)
Linda Stanhope
The Great Ziegfeld
(1936)
Billie Burke
After the Thin Man
(1936)
Nora Charles
Libeled Lady
(1936)
Constance 'Connie' Allenbury
To Mary - with Love
(1936)
Mary Wallace
The Romance of Celluloid
(1937)
Self (archive footage)
Double Wedding
(1937)
Margit Agnew
Parnell
(1937)
Katie O'Shea
Man-Proof
(1938)
Mimi Swift
Test Pilot
(1938)
Ann "Thursday" Barton
Too Hot to Handle
(1938)
Alma Harding
Another Romance of Celluloid
(1938)
Self (uncredited)
Lucky Night
(1939)
Cora Jordan
The Rains Came
(1939)
Lady Edwina Esketh
Another Thin Man
(1939)
Nora Charles
From the Ends of the Earth
(1939)
Self
Third Finger, Left Hand
(1940)
Margot Sherwood Merrick
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
(1940)
Self
Northward, Ho!
(1940)
Herself
Trifles of Importance
(1940)
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
(1940)
Self
I Love You Again
(1940)
Kay Wilson
Shadow of the Thin Man
(1941)
Nora Charles
Love Crazy
(1941)
Susan Ireland
Show-Business at War
(1943)
Self
Twenty Years After
(1944)
(archive footage)
The Thin Man Goes Home
(1944)
Nora Charles
So Goes My Love
(1946)
Jane Budden Maxim
The Best Years of Our Lives
(1946)
Milly Stephenson
The Senator Was Indiscreet
(1947)
Mrs. Ashton (uncredited)
Song of the Thin Man
(1947)
Nora Charles
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
(1947)
Judge Margaret Turner
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
(1948)
Muriel Blandings
That Dangerous Age
(1949)
Lady Cathy Brooke
The Red Pony
(1949)
Alice Tiflin
Cheaper by the Dozen
(1950)
Lillian Gilbreth
Belles on Their Toes
(1952)
Lillian Gilbreth
The Ambassador's Daughter
(1956)
Mrs. Cartwright
Meet Me in St. Louis
(1959)
Anna Smith
Lonelyhearts
(1959)
Florence Shrike
From the Terrace
(1960)
Martha Eaton
Midnight Lace
(1960)
Aunt Bea
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
Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate
(1971)
Evelyn Tryon
Death Takes a Holiday
(1971)
Selena Chapman
The Couple Takes a Wife
(1972)
Barbara's Mother
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
(1972)
Self (archive footage)
Indict and Convict
(1974)
Judge Christine Tayloy
The Elevator
(1974)
Amanda Kenyon
Airport 1975
(1974)
Mrs. Devaney
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)