From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Edith Norma Shearer August 10 1902 June 12 1983 was a CanadianAmerican actress Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid1920s through the 1930s Her early films cast her as the girl next door but for most of the PreCode film era beginning with the 1930 film The Divorcee for which she won an Oscar for Best Actress she played sexually liberated women in sophisticated contemporary comedies Later she appeared in historical and period films Unlike many of her MGM contemporaries Shearers fame declined steeply after retirement By the time of her death in 1983 she was largely remembered at best for her noble roles in The Women Marie Antoinette and Romeo and Juliet Shearers legacy began to be reevaluated in the 1990s with the publication of two biographies and the TCM Turner Classic Movies and VHS release of her films many of them unseen since the implementation of the Production Code some sixty years before Focus shifted to her preCode divorcee persona and Shearer was rediscovered as the exemplar of sophisticated 1930s womanhood exploring love and sex with an honesty that would be considered frank by modern standards Simultaneously Shearers tenyear collaboration with portrait photographer George Hurrell and her lasting contribution to fashion through the designs of Adrian were also recognized Shearer is widely celebrated by some as one of cinemas feminist pioneers the first American film actress to make it chic and acceptable to be single and not a virgin on screen In March 2008 two of her most famous precode films The Divorcee and A Free Soul were released on DVD Description above from the Wikipedia article Norma Shearer licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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