BIO

Myrna Loy was born Myrna Adele Williams in Radersburg, Montana, in 1905. Her father was a rancher, businessman and local politician. Her mother had once studied music at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, Illinois.

Loy made her stage debut at age 12 in Helena, Montana, in a dance she choreographed. After her father’s death in 1918, she moved with her mother and brother to Los Angeles to attend high school and began appearing in local stage productions. When she was 16, she posed for a statue, titled Spiritual, which remained in front of Venice High School throughout the 1900s and can be seen in the opening scenes of the film Grease (1978).

Loy made her film debut for S. George Ullman Productions in 1925, at the age of 20.

Although she appeared in 40 films during the silent era, it was not until the 1930s that she was able to achieve star status. Her breakthrough role was with William Powell in the immensely popular The Thin Man (1934). She and Powell went on to appear in 14 films together, one of the most prolific pairings in Hollywood history.

With the outbreak of World War II, she focused on helping the war effort. She helped run a naval auxiliary canteen and toured the U.S. to raise war bonds.

Loy appeared in more than 120 feature films through 1980. The only Academy Award she ever won was an Honorary Award in 1991, eleven years after her last film appearance.

She married four times:

1. Arthur Hornblow, Jr., film producer, 1936-1942, divorced;
2. John Hertz, Jr., rental car heir, 1942-1944, divorced;
3. Gene Markey, film producer, 1946-1950, divorced. Markey was previously married to the actress Joan Bennett.
4. Howland Sergeant, 1951-1960, a UNESCO delegate, divorced.

In 1993, after battling breast cancer, Loy died during surgery in New York City at the age of 88.

Additional biographical information is available at:

NOTED FILMS

Actor filmography at: