Myrna Loy

Myrna Loy

Myrna Loy was an American film, television and stage actress. She was originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent. Her career prospects improved greatly following her portrayal of Nora Charles in The Thin Man. Loy died in December 1993 in New York City, aged 88.

About Myrna Loy in brief

Summary Myrna LoyMyrna Loy was an American film, television and stage actress. She was originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent. Her career prospects improved greatly following her portrayal of Nora Charles in The Thin Man. In March 1991 she received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her life’s work both onscreen and off. Loy died in December 1993 in New York City, aged 88. She is survived by her brother, David Frederick Williams, and her mother, Adelle Mae Williams, who was a lifelong Democrat. Her father was a banker, real estate developer, and farmland appraiser in Helena, Montana. Her maternal grandparents were Scottish and Swedish immigrants. Her paternal grandfather, David Thomas Williams, was Welsh, and emigrated from Liverpool, England to the U.S. in 1856, arriving in Philadelphia. He later settled in the Montana Territory where he began a career as a rancher. In 1921, Loy posed for Harry Fielding’s sculpture of Harry Winebrenner as the full length figure in his allegorical Fountain of Education. In 1922, she posed for the group in front of the outdoor pool of Venice High School in Venice, California, where she was a member of the chorus. She also appeared in local stage productions in 1921, 1921, and 1923. She made her stage debut at the age of 12, performing a dance she had choreographed based on \”The Blue Bird\” from the Rose Dream operetta at Helena’s Theater.

When she was 13, her father died during the 1918 fluemic year. When Loy’s mother moved to California, she permanently relocated the family, where they settled in Culver City outside Los Angeles. She attended the exclusive Westlake School for Girls, while continuing to study dance in downtown L.A. She appeared in only eight films between 1960 and 1981, after which she retired from acting. She never won an Academy Award, but she was awarded an honorary degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1991. She died in 1993 in NYC, and was buried at Mount Sinai Cemetery in Manhattan, New York. She leaves behind a husband, David, and a son, David F. Williams, as well as a daughter, David J. Williams. She had one younger brother, who died in 2007 at age 83. She has two grandchildren, David and David F., and one great-grandchild, David D. Williams Jr. L. Williams is a former president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and served as a member-at-large of the Commission to UNESCO. Her mother had studied music at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, and at one time considered a Career as a concert performer, but instead devoted her time to raising Loy and her brother. Her parents had married in Helena in 1904, one year before Loys was born. She spent her early life in Radersburg, Montana, a rural mining community approximately 50 miles southeast of Helena.