Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
August 2, 1905
Place of Birth:
Radersburg, Montana, USA
Social Media
Myrna Loy
Biography
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
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year | Self (archive footage) |
| 2008 | Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood | Gertie Waxted (archive footage) |
| 2007 | Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema | Self (archive footage) |
| 2005 | William Powell: A True Gentleman | |
| 2003 | Complicated Women | Self (archive footage) |
| 1994 | That's Entertainment! III | (archive footage) |
| 1993 | Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell | Self (archive footage) |
| 1990 | Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To | (archive footage) |
| 1988 | James Stewart: A Wonderful Life | Self (archive footage) |
| 1986 | The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn | Self (archive footage) |
| 1982 | Night of 100 Stars | Self |
| 1981 | Summer Solstice | Margaret |
| 1980 | Just Tell Me What You Want | Stella Liberti |
| 1978 | The End | Maureen Lawson |
| 1977 | It Happened at Lakewood Manor | Ethel |
| 1976 | That's Entertainment, Part II | (archive footage) |
| 1975 | Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? | Self (archive footage) |
| 1974 | Airport 1975 | Mrs. Devaney |
| 1974 | The Elevator | Amanda Kenyon |
| 1974 | Indict and Convict | Judge Christine Tayloy |
| 1972 | Hollywood: The Dream Factory | Self (archive footage) |
| 1972 | The Couple Takes a Wife | Barbara's Mother |
| 1971 | Death Takes a Holiday | Selena Chapman |
| 1971 | Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate | Evelyn Tryon |
| 1969 | The April Fools | Grace Greenlaw |
| 1964 | The Big Parade of Comedy | Nora Charles (archive footage) |
| 1961 | The Legend of Rudolph Valentino | Self (archive footage) |
| 1960 | Midnight Lace | Aunt Bea |
| 1960 | From the Terrace | Martha Eaton |
| 1959 | Lonelyhearts | Florence Shrike |
| 1959 | Meet Me in St. Louis | Anna Smith |
| 1956 | The Ambassador's Daughter | Mrs. Cartwright |
| 1952 | Belles on Their Toes | Lillian Gilbreth |
| 1950 | Cheaper by the Dozen | Lillian Gilbreth |
| 1949 | The Red Pony | Alice Tiflin |
| 1949 | That Dangerous Age | Lady Cathy Brooke |
| 1948 | Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House | Muriel Blandings |
| 1947 | The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer | Judge Margaret Turner |
| 1947 | Song of the Thin Man | Nora Charles |
| 1947 | The Senator Was Indiscreet | Mrs. Ashton (uncredited) |
| 1946 | The Best Years of Our Lives | Milly Stephenson |
| 1946 | So Goes My Love | Jane Budden Maxim |
| 1944 | The Thin Man Goes Home | Nora Charles |
| 1944 | Twenty Years After | (archive footage) |
| 1943 | Show-Business at War | Self |
| 1941 | Love Crazy | Susan Ireland |
| 1941 | Shadow of the Thin Man | Nora Charles |
| 1940 | I Love You Again | Kay Wilson |
| 1940 | Third Finger, Left Hand | Margot Sherwood Merrick |
| 1940 | Trifles of Importance | Self (archive footage) |
| 1940 | Northward, Ho! | Herself |
| 1940 | Hollywood: Style Center of the World | Self |
| 1940 | A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound | Self |
| 1939 | Another Thin Man | Nora Charles |
| 1939 | The Rains Came | Lady Edwina Esketh |
| 1939 | Lucky Night | Cora Jordan |
| 1939 | From the Ends of the Earth | Self |
| 1938 | Too Hot to Handle | Alma Harding |
| 1938 | Test Pilot | Ann "Thursday" Barton |
| 1938 | Man-Proof | Mimi Swift |
| 1938 | Another Romance of Celluloid | Self (uncredited) |
| 1937 | Double Wedding | Margit Agnew |
| 1937 | Parnell | Katie O'Shea |
| 1937 | The Romance of Celluloid | Self (archive footage) |
| 1936 | Libeled Lady | Constance 'Connie' Allenbury |
| 1936 | After the Thin Man | Nora Charles |
| 1936 | The Great Ziegfeld | Billie Burke |
| 1936 | Wife vs. Secretary | Linda Stanhope |
| 1936 | Petticoat Fever | Irene Campton |
| 1936 | To Mary - with Love | Mary Wallace |
| 1935 | Whipsaw | Vivian Palmer |
| 1935 | Wings in the Dark | Sheila Mason |
| 1934 | The Thin Man | Nora Charles |
| 1934 | Manhattan Melodrama | Eleanor Packer |
| 1934 | Stamboul Quest | Annemarie, aka Fräulein Doktor and Helena Bohlen |
| 1934 | Evelyn Prentice | Evelyn Prentice |
| 1934 | Broadway Bill | Alice 'Princess' Higgins |
| 1934 | Men in White | Laura Hudson |
| 1933 | Penthouse | Gertie Waxted |
| 1933 | Night Flight | Wife of Brazilian Pilot |
| 1933 | The Prizefighter and the Lady | Belle Mercer |
| 1933 | Topaze | Coco |
| 1933 | When Ladies Meet | Mary |
| 1933 | The Barbarian | Diana 'Di' Standing |
| 1933 | Scarlet River | Herself (uncredited) |
| 1932 | The Mask of Fu Manchu | Fah Lo See |
| 1932 | Love Me Tonight | Countess Valentine |
| 1932 | Thirteen Women | Ursula Georgi |
| 1932 | The Animal Kingdom | Cecelia Henry Collier |
| 1932 | Emma | Isabelle |
| 1932 | The Wet Parade | Eileen Pinchon |
| 1932 | Vanity Fair | Becky Sharp |
| 1932 | New Morals for Old | Myra |
| 1932 | The Woman in Room 13 | Sari Loder |
| 1931 | Arrowsmith | Joyce Lanyon |
| 1931 | Transatlantic | Kay Graham |
| 1931 | A Connecticut Yankee | Queen Morgan le Fay / Evil Sister in Mansion |
| 1931 | The Naughty Flirt | Linda Gregory |
| 1931 | Consolation Marriage | Elaine Brandon |
| 1931 | Body and Soul | Alice Lester |
| 1931 | Rebound | Evie Lawrence |
| 1931 | Skyline | Paula Lambert |
| 1931 | Hush Money | Flo Curtis |
| 1930 | The Devil to Pay! | Mary Crayle |
| 1930 | The Truth About Youth | Kara |
| 1930 | Renegades | Eleanore |
| 1930 | Rogue of the Rio Grande | Carmita |
| 1930 | Bride of the Regiment | Sophie |
| 1930 | Cock o' the Walk | Narita |
| 1930 | Under a Texas Moon | Lolita Romero |
| 1930 | The Last of the Duanes | Lola Bland |
| 1930 | The Bad Man | (uncredited) |
| 1930 | The Jazz Cinderella | Mildred Vane |
| 1930 | Cameo Kirby | Lea |
| 1930 | Isle of Escape | Moira |
| 1929 | The Great Divide | Manuella |
| 1929 | The Squall | Nubi |
| 1929 | The Black Watch | Yasmani |
| 1929 | The Desert Song | Azuri |
| 1929 | Show of Shows | Performer in 'What Became of the Floradora Boys' & 'Chinese Fantasy' Numbers |
| 1929 | Hardboiled Rose | Rose Duhamel |
| 1929 | Fancy Baggage | Myrna |
| 1929 | Evidence | Native Girl |
| 1928 | Noah's Ark | Showgirl / Slave Girl |
| 1928 | State Street Sadie | Sadie |
| 1928 | The Midnight Taxi | Gertie Fairfax |
| 1928 | What Price Beauty? | Vamp |
| 1928 | A Girl in Every Port | Jetta - Girl in Singapore (uncredited) |
| 1928 | The Crimson City | Isobel |
| 1928 | Turn Back the Hours | Tiza Torreon |
| 1928 | Pay as You Enter | Yvonne De Russo |
| 1928 | Beware of Married Men | Juanita Sheldon |
| 1927 | The Jazz Singer | Chorus Girl (uncredited) |
| 1927 | When a Man Loves | Convict Behind Manon (uncredited) |
| 1927 | The Girl from Chicago | Mary Carlton |
| 1927 | Bitter Apples | Belinda White |
| 1927 | Finger Prints | Vamp |
| 1927 | Ham and Eggs at the Front | Fifi |
| 1927 | If I Were Single | Joan Whitley |
| 1927 | The Climbers | Countess Veya |
| 1927 | A Sailor's Sweetheart | Claudette Ralston |
| 1927 | Simple Sis | |
| 1927 | The Heart of Maryland | Mulatta |
| 1926 | Don Juan | Mai - Lady in Waiting |
| 1926 | So This Is Paris | Lalle's Maid (uncredited) |
| 1926 | Why Girls Go Back Home | Sally Short |
| 1926 | The Exquisite Sinner | Living Statue |
| 1926 | Across the Pacific | Roma |
| 1926 | The Cave Man | Maid |
| 1926 | The Third Degree | Bit Part (uncredited) |
| 1926 | The Gilded Highway | Inez Quartz |
| 1926 | The Love Toy | Bit Part (uncredited) |
| 1925 | Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ | Slave Girl (uncredited) |
| 1925 | Pretty Ladies | Showgirl (uncredited) |
| 1925 | 1925 Studio Tour | Self (uncredited) |
| 1925 | The Wanderer | Girl at Baccanal (uncredited) |
| 1925 | Sporting Life | Chorus Girl with Lord Wainwright (uncredited) |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | American Experience | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) |
| 1978 | The Kennedy Center Honors | Self |
| 1973 | The American Film Institute Salute to ... | Self |
| 1971 | Columbo | Lizzi Fielding |
| 1967 | Ironside | Andrea Wollcott |
| 1966 | Family Affair | |
| 1962 | The Merv Griffin Show | Self |
| 1962 | The Virginian | Mrs. Miles |
| 1961 | The Mike Douglas Show | Self |
| 1959 | The DuPont Show with June Allyson | Mary Sidney |
| 1954 | The George Gobel Show | Self |
| 1953 | General Electric Theater | Kate Kennedy |
| 1953 | General Electric Theater | Maggie Webster |
| 1953 | General Electric Theater | Allie Evans |
| 1951 | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Nancy Knox |
| 1950 | What's My Line? | Self - Mystery Guest |