Biography loy myrna smith

As a performer, she was known for her ability to adapt to her screen partner's acting style.

Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, – December 14, ) was an American film, television and stage actress.

She relocated to Los Angeles with her mother in early adolescence and trained as a dancer in high school. She was discovered by production designer Natacha Rambova , who organized film auditions for her. She began obtaining small roles in the late s. Loy devoted herself fully to acting after a few roles in silent films. She was originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, but her career prospects improved greatly following her portrayal of Nora Charles in The Thin Man Blandings Builds His Dream House.

In the s she appeared in a lead role in the comedy Cheaper by the Dozen , as well as supporting roles in The Ambassador's Daughter and the drama Lonelyhearts She appeared in eight films between and , after which she retired from acting. Although Loy was never nominated for an Academy Award , in March she received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her life's work both onscreen and off, including serving as assistant to the director of military and naval welfare for the Red Cross during World War II , and a member-at-large of the U.

In , The Guardian named her one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination. Loy spent her early life in Radersburg, Montana , a rural mining community approximately 50 miles 80 km [ 16 ] southeast of Helena.

Myrna Loy (born August 2, , Radersburg, Montana, U.S.—died December 14, , New York, New York) was an American motion-picture actress who began her screen .

Although her mother tried to persuade her husband to move to California permanently, he preferred ranch life and the three eventually returned to Montana. Soon afterward, Loy's mother needed a hysterectomy and insisted Los Angeles was a safer place to have it done, so she, Loy, and Loy's brother David moved to Ocean Park , where Loy began to take dancing lessons.

When Loy was 13, her father died during the flu pandemic in November of that year.