In her subsequent and increasingly important roles—such as those in Arrowsmith (1931), The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), and Love Me Tonight (1932)—Loy personified the foreign vamp for American audiences. She was one of the few stars that would start in the silent movies and make a successful transition into the sound era. Her father, a rancher, was the youngest person ever elected to the Montana State legislature. After The Thin Man (1934), Myrna would appear in five more in the series. The excitement was short lived as she returned to the usual smaller roles afterward.Myrna would take any role that would give her exposure and showcase the talent she felt was being wasted.

Her popularity was at its zenith. Unable to land a contract with MGM, she continued to appear in small, bit roles, nothing that one could really call acting. Loy’s other standout films of the period include The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Libeled Lady (1936), Test Pilot (1938), The Rains Came (1939), I Love You Again (1940), and Love Crazy (1941).

Community Impact. (1925). Myrna Loy, original name Myrna Williams, (born August 2, 1905, Radersburg, Montana, U.S.—died December 14, 1993, New York, New York), American motion-picture actress who began her screen career playing treacherous femmes fatales and who attained stardom during the 1930s in roles as glib, resourceful sophisticates.

An abortion that left her unable to have children! No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us.”—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), Joseph Conrad - Merchant Navy - British Voyages - Master, 1942–1944 John Hertz Jr. of the Hertz Rent A Car family, 1946–1950 Gene Markey, producer and screenwriter, 1951–1960 Howland H. Sargeant, UNESCO delegate, Gambler Titanic Thompson claimed he had an affair with her.

Loy appeared on-screen less frequently after the war, dividing her time between acting and political causes. By the time Myrna passed away, on December 14, 1993, at the age of 88, she had appeared in a phenomenal 129 motion pictures. Loy had no children of her own, though she was very close to her first husband Arthur Hornblow's children. Finally, in 1927, she received star billing in Bitter Apples (1927). Myrna was raised in Helena and nearby Radersburg.

She was buried in Helena, Montana. She wanted something better. The Myrna Soundstage. The popularity of The Thin Man spawned numerous sequels, with After the Thin Man (1936) frequently cited as the best film in the series. Myrna was raised in Helena and nearby Radersburg.

Which of these films did not star the Beatles? The 1970s found her in TV movies, not theatrical productions. Her paternal grandparents were Welsh, and her mother was of Scottish and Swedish descent. Her paternal grandparents were Welsh, and her mother was of Scottish and Swedish descent. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. “The dialectic between change and continuity is a painful but deeply instructive one, in personal life as in the life of a people. In her later years Loy toured extensively in stage productions and occasionally accepted character roles in films. To “see the light” too often has meant rejecting the treasures found in darkness.”—Adrienne Rich (b. In her silent films, Myrna would appear as a Theda Bara-like, exotic, femme fatale. Loy was the daughter of a rancher and moved to Los Angeles in 1918, working first as a dancer in a chorus line, then as a bit player in the 1925 production of Ben-Hur. Dubbed the “Queen of Hollywood” during her heyday, Loy … Her last film was in 1981 called Summer Solstice (1981). During World War II she worked with the American Red Cross and later served as a representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). She broke out of this screen mold with her role as a wise and worldly paramour torn between a rogue gambler (Clark Gable) and a straitlaced attorney (William Powell) in Manhattan Melodrama (1934).

Most agreed that the Thin Man series would never have been successful without Myrna. Mrs. Rudolph Valentino happened to be in the audience one night who managed to pull some strings to get Myrna some parts in the motion picture industry.Her first film was a small part in the production of What Price Beauty? History. Contact Us . So long as every institution of today, economic, political, social, and moral, conspires to misdirect human energy into wrong channels; so long as most people are out of place doing the things they hate to do, living a life they loathe to live, crime will be inevitable.”—Emma Goldman (1869–1940), “We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. When she was thirteen, Myrna… She was educated in L.A. and the Westlake School for Girls where she caught the acting bug. On December 14, 1993, she died during surgery in New York City at the age of 88. Finally her contract ran out with Warner and she signed with MGM where she got two meaty roles.

She was cremated in New York and the ashes interred at Forestvale Cemetery, in Helena, Montana. But Myrna Loy is only now, almost 20 years after her death, getting a biography. Get kids back-to-school ready with Expedition: Learn! Later in the sound era, she would become a refined, wholesome character. Loy’s screen persona appealed to men and women: she evinced equality in a male-dominated world (or at least emerged wiser and more level-headed than her male counterparts in roles that called for her to be the subservient spouse), and her combination of beauty and brains made male audiences regard her as the ideal mate. Her autobiography, Myrna Loy: Being and Becoming, was published in 1987. She was awarded an honorary Oscar for life achievement in 1991. Loy was a devout Methodist and during her time of residence in New York City she was a member of St. Paul's Methodist Church (which later became known as The United Methodist Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew).