Wissenswertes

Was supposedly the favorite star of famed outlaw John Dillinger. He came out of hiding to see Manhattan Melodrama (1934), in which she starred, and was gunned down by police upon leaving the theater.

Appeared in the first feature film with synchronized sound (Don Juan (1926)) and first feature film with audible dialog (Der Jazzsänger (1927)).

When her father was travelling by train in early 1905, he went through a small station called 'Myrna' - he eventually named her after that station.

A cast of her hand-print and her signature are in the sidewalk in front of Theater 80, on St. Mark's Place in New York City.

At the Academy Lifetime Tribute to Loy in 1985 Burt Reynolds, who cast her as his mother in Nobody Is Perfect (1978), reportedly said that he wished he'd been born earlier but didn't think he was a good enough actor to appear opposite her if he had.

In 1939, Myrna had a narrow escape when her horse bolted during the filming of Nacht über Indien (1939) with Tyrone Power; she was nearly killed.

Moved to Manhattan in 1960, where she lived until her death in 1993.

In 1936, Myrna was named Queen of the Movies and Clark Gable King in a national poll, winning a crown of tin and purple velvet. in her autobiography, she says that she did not get on with Gable in her earlier films with him. However, in her later films he developed a respect for Loy and they became good friends.

Underwent two mastectomies after being diagnosed with breast cancer twice.

Her profile was the most requested in the 1930s by women to their plastic surgeons.

The statue outside Venice High School that bears her likeness is titled 'Inspiration', and has been the target of vandalism and school pranks for decades (Loy mentions in her book that the statue was even decapitated at one point). It is now surrounded by a fence.

Attended Venice High School in Los Angeles, where a statue of her stands (on the front lawn). The same school was featured in the original Grease (1978), American History X (1998) and in The Chemical Brothers' and Britney Spears' music videos ("Elektrobank" and "Baby one more time", respectively).

Her final public appearance was in 1991 when she received her lifetime achievement award during 63rd Annual Academy Awards (1991). She was unable to travel to Hollywood to accept the award in person, so the Academy arranged a live satellite link to her Manhattan apartment. Anjelica Huston introduced the film tribute presentation to her, which started with clips from Die besten Jahre unseres Lebens (1946) and ended with a clip from ...und sowas nennt sich Detektiv (1936) When the tribute finished, there was instantaneous rapturous applause and Huston then said, "Here from her apartment in New York is Miss Loy. Congratulations Myrna." Loy appeared live on a large screen from her beautiful New York apartment smiling, with her Honorary Oscar on a side table next to her. She was seated wearing sparkling purple evening wear and watched intently on her own television. She viewed and smiled at close up shots of fellow same-year Honorary Award recipient Sophia Loren and other audience members applauding. There was unusually no standing ovation, instead audience members remained seated during the applause, this was by no means a snub. There was a short silence after the applause, while the camera closed in on Miss Loy. She then looked directly at the camera and simply and said, "You've made me very happy, thank you very much," to yet further loud applause and then she disappeared from the screen once more.

If her cameo in Der Senator war indiskret (1947) is counted, Loy co-starred with William Powell 14 times: Manhattan Melodrama (1934), Mordsache Dünner Mann (1934), Ich kämpfe für dich (1934), Der große Ziegfeld (1936), Lustige Sünder (1936), ...und sowas nennt sich Detektiv (1936), Doppelhochzeit (1937), Noch ein dünner Mann (1939), Liebling, du hast dich verändert (1940), Love Crazy (1941), Der Schatten des dünnen Mannes (1941), Der dünne Mann kehrt heim (1944), and Das Lied des dünnen Mannes (1947).

Some of her biggest fans included James Stewart, Winston Churchill, and the Roosevelts. Franklin D. Roosevelt invited to the White House early on in his administration, and she became very friendly with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

One of a handful of great movie stars never nominated for an acting Oscar, she received an honorary Academy Award in 1991.

At Venice High school, in the middle of a small rose garden, is a larger-than-life-size statue of actress Myrna Loy. And it was made years before Myrna appeared in a single movie. Actually, it isn't a particularly good likeness of Miss Loy. Standing atop a stone pedestal, back arched, the short-haired figure is semi-nude (wearing only a thin gown which leaves little to the imagination), with one arm raised in a dramatic pose. All three statues were modeled by Venice High students, and the trio are meant to depict the "Mental," "Physical" and "Spiritual." According to the bronze plaque on the east side of the pedestal, the statues were erected in 1921, which means that Myrna Loy (then named Myrna Williams) was only 16 years old when she posed for the "Spiritual" statue - long before she became a celebrity.

After graduating from high school in 1923, Myrna got a job dancing in the chorus during the prologue for The Ten Commandments at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

In 1918, her father died in the Spanish Flu epidemic, and Myrna, her mom, and brother moved to LA.

Outspoken against Adolf Hitler in the War, Myrna appeared on his blacklist.

She appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: Der große Ziegfeld (1936) and Die besten Jahre unseres Lebens (1946).

Loy donned a uniform during the War when she joined the Hollywood Chapter of 'Bundles for Bluejackets' -- helping to run a Naval Auxiliary Canteen and going on fund raising tours.

Loy and Cary Grant co-starred in three feature films: Licht im Dunkeln (1935), So einfach ist die Liebe nicht (1947), and Nur meiner Frau zuliebe (1948).

Loy and Clark Gable co-starred in seven feature films: Auf Leben und Tod (1933), Men in White (1934), Manhattan Melodrama (1934), Seine Sekretärin (1936), Parnell (1937), Der Testpilot (1938), and Abenteuer in China (1938). They also both appeared, uncredited, as extras in Ben Hur (1925).

Her father, at age 21, the youngest man ever elected to the Montana State Legislature, owned a small cattle ranch.

A building at Sony Pictures Studios, formerly MGM Studios, in Culver City, California, is named in her honor.

Myrna was Co-Chairman of the Advisory Council of the National Committee against discrimination in housing - exposing segregation in federal funded projects.

She organized an opposition to the House Unamerican Activities Committee in Hollywood.

She made her Broadway debut in the 1973 revival of "The Women".

Loy has gone on record as considering Die besten Jahre unseres Lebens (1946) her favourite film and the homecoming scene with Fredric March her favorite scene.

Born in Helena, at the hospital there, not at her family's ranch in Radersburg, as many sources report. The facts she was born in a hospital and "attended by a physician" hint of her family's relative prosperity, as doctors were scarce in sparsely populated Montana.

In 1923, she was photographed by Henry Waxman, who showed the pictures to Rudolph Valentino. Impressed with Myrna, Valentino arranged for a screen test for his upcoming film, Cobra (1925). She failed it.

Turned down the role of Ellie Andrews in Es geschah in einer Nacht (1934). Claudette Colbert was given the part and went on to win the Best Actress Oscar for her performance.

Men-Must-Marry-Myrna Clubs were formed due to her portrayal as The Perfect Wife (Die besten Jahre unseres Lebens (1946)).

In 1960 she campaigned for John F. Kennedy. Later she did battle with Californian Governor Ronald Reagan over open-housing legislation and for years afterward was a vigorous member of the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing.

William Powell's nickname for her was 'Minnie'.

Myrna enrolled at Venice High School -- a school which later named its annual speech and drama awards 'Myrnas'.

Was considered for the title role in Solange ein Herz schlägt (1945).

Hobbies: Sculpting and dancing.

She became a founder member of the American Place Theatre, a non-profit theatre set up to help new writers develop.

Her mother, Della Williams, was a talented pianist who encouraged Myrna's interest in the arts.

Changing last name from Williams to Loy was suggested by legendary pulp writer Paul Cain (AKA Peter Ruric).

Was a member of New York's St. Paul's Methodist Church (later known as the United Methodist Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew).

For five years (1949-1954) she served as a film advisor for UNESCO.

In honor of Myrna Loy, a poem was created called, Montana Women, which was read at the celebration of her 86th birthday.

Appeared in staged prologues at Grauman's Egyptian theater in Los Angeles, before getting her first role in films. The prologues, staged by Fanchon and Marco, were live shows put on before the feature had begun. Myrna appeared in prologues for Die zehn Gebote (1923) and Der Dieb von Bagdad (1924), among others.

Spent her early years on a ranch and in the town of Helena, Montana, which was also the home of Gary Cooper.

A devout Democrat and feminist, she later dismissed her work in the pre-Civil Rights-era movie Ham and Eggs at the Front (1927) as "shameful".

Myrna Williams made her stage debut at age twelve at Helena's old Marlow Theater in a dance she choreographed, based on "The Blue Bird" from the Rose Dream Operatta.

Received a Honorary Academy Award in the same year as Sophia Loren.