She won a beauty contest at age fourteen. In 1920 her mother, Edith Shearer , took Norma and her sister Athole Shearer (Mrs. Howard Hawks ) to New York. Ziegfeld rejected her for his "Follies," but she got work as an extra in several movies. She spent much money on eye doctor's services trying to correct her cross-eyed stare caused by a muscle weakness. Irving Thalberg had seen her early acting efforts and, when he joined Louis B. Mayer in 1923, gave her a five year contract. He thought she should retire after their marriage, but she wanted bigger parts. In 1927, she insisted on firing the director Viktor Tourjansky because he was unsure of her cross-eyed stare. Her first talkie was in The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929); four movies later, she won an Oscar in The Divorcee (1930). She intentionally cut down film exposure during the 1930s, relying on major roles in Thalberg's prestige projects: The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) and Romeo and Juliet (1936) (her fifth Oscar nomination). Thalberg died of a second heart attack in September, 1936, at age 37. Norma wanted to retire, but MGM more-or-less forced her into a six-picture contract. David O. Selznick offered her the part of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939), but public objection to her cross-eyed stare killed the deal. She starred in The Women (1939), turned down the starring role in Mrs. Miniver (1942), and retired in 1942. Later that year she married Sun Valley ski instructor Martin Arrouge, eleven years younger than she (he waived community property rights). From then on, she shunned the limelight; she was in very poor health the last decade of her life.
Children, with husband Irving Thalberg : Irving Jr. (1930-1988) and Katherine (1935-2006).Sister of Athole Shearer and twelve time Academy Award winning sound director Douglas ShearerDaughter of Edith Shearer .Even after retirement, Norma maintained her interest in the film industry. While staying at a ski lodge, she noticed a photo of the receptionist's daughter and recommended her to MGM - that girl, became the star known as Janet Leigh . She also discovered a handsome young businessman beside a swimming pool - now actor/producer Robert Evans .Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Great Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Benediction, alongside her first husband Irving Thalberg.Sister-in-law of John Ward .Sister-in-law of Howard Hawks .Former mother-in-law of Richard Anderson .At the height of her career, she was earning $6,000 per week.F. Scott Fitzgerald based one of his most famous stories, "Crazy Sunday," on a party hosted by Shearer, who also inspired the story's main character, Stella Calman.Six years after the death of first husband Irving Thalberg , she married a ski instructor 11 years her junior and retired from the screen forever.Turned down the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939) and the title role in Mrs. Miniver (1942).Her son died in 1988 of cancer. He was a philosophy professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.Her daughter died in 2006 of cancer. A vegan, she headed the Society for Animal Rights in Aspen, Colorado, from 1989.Was meticulous about her appearance. Early in her career, she spent money she could barely afford on the services on an eye doctor, who trained her to strengthen a weak eye. She swam everyday, had massages to firm her figure, and dieted religiously. She experimented with make-up until she decided on a light tone that would illuminate her face on screen.Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 726-728. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998.She is one of the celebrities whose picture Anne Frank placed on the wall of her bedroom in the "Secret Annex" while in hiding during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam.She and her brother Douglas Shearer were the first Oscar-winning brother and sister.In 1927, she insisted on firing the director Viktor Tourjansky because he was unsure of her cross-eyed stare.She would not remove her wedding ring for a role, preferring to cover it up with flesh-colored tape.She is commemorated on one of a set of postage stamps (issued in 2008) honoring prominent Canadians in Hollywood. The other stamps feature Marie Dressler , Chief Dan George and Raymond Burr .Her sons-in-law were skier Jack Reddish, actor Richard Anderson , and Aspen mayor Bill Stirling.She has three granddaughters from her daughter: Ashley (b. circa 1962), Brooke (b. circa 1964), and Deva (b. circa 1966).Was offered the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd. (1950), but she turned it down. Gloria Swanson , who went on to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance, was cast instead.Said to have been a major influence on the life of Eva Perón after Peron saw her in the role of Marie Antoinette.She converted to Judaism in 1927 in order to marry Irving Thalberg . Even after he died, she continued to observe Judaism until her own death in 1983.
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Story of an inventor who, suffering betrayal in life, makes a career of it by becoming a clown whose act consists of getting slapped by all the other clowns. He falls in love with another circus performer, and those who betrayed him enter his life yet again.