27 Beautiful Portraits of Norma Shearer From the 1920s and 1930s

Norma Shearer (1902–1983) was a Canadian-American actress, who was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid-1920s through the 1930s. Her early films cast her as the girl-next-door, but for most of the Pre-Code film era, she played sexually liberated women in sophisticated contemporary comedies. Later she appeared in historical and period films.

Norma Shearer could play light comedy or drama and was nominated for 6 Oscars over the length of her career. She won in 1930 for The Divorcée and was given the best actress award at the Venice Film Festival for Marie Antoinette — for which she was also nominated for an Academy Award — in 1938. She led MGM through the first 5 years of the sound era with a string of hits including Private Lives (1931) and The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934; Academy Award nomination for best actress). When Irving Thalberg died unexpectedly in 1936, he left Shearer a major shareholder in MGM. She delivered a witty performance in George Cukor’s The Women (1939), but her subsequent films were unsuccessful and she retired from acting, in 1942, a very wealthy woman.

At the 1931 Academy Awards ceremony, not only did Norma Shearer win best actress for The Divorcée, but she shared the stage with her older brother, Douglas Shearer, a technical genius who also won an Oscar that night, for sound recording. They were the first family members to win Oscars in the same year.

Below is a collection of 27 beautiful black and white portraits of Norma Shearer from the 1920s and 1930s.

Norma Shearer sailing, 1932.

Norma Shearer photographed by George Hurrell for Let Us Be Gay, 1930.

Norma Shearer as a cigarette girl in After Midnight, 1927

Norma Shearer on the set of Strange Interlude, 1932

Norma Shearer photographed by Ruth Harriet Louise.

Norma Shearer photographed by George Hurrell for Strangers May Kiss, 1931.

Norma Shearer and pet dog on the beach in front of her home shared with Irving Thalberg, 1930s.

Norma Shearer and Irving Thalberg returning from a vacation in Europe, 1931.

Norma Shearer applying makeup , 1930s.

Norma Shearer and costume designer Adrian going over his designs on the set of The Women, 1939.

Norma Shearer in Lady of the Night, 1925.

Norma Shearer presenting the Oscar to Marie Dressler in 1931.

Norma Shearer and Conrad Nagel in Excuse Me, 1925.

Norma Shearer applying her makeup, 1934.

Norma Shearer in Lady of the Night, 1925.

Norma Shearer in Strangers May Kiss, 1931.

Norma Shearer photographed for Upstage, 1926.

Norma Shearer and Irving Thalberg in ‘kiddie’ costumes wish you a happy and safe Halloween!