Gene Markey
Who was Myrna Loy 's spouse in late 1940s?
Myrna Loy Myrna Loy ( born Myrna Adele Williams ; August 2 , 1905 – December 14 , 1993 ) was an American film , television and stage actress . Trained as a dancer , Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor 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 ( 1934 ) . Born in Helena , Montana , Loy was raised in rural Radersburg during her early childhood , before relocating to Los Angeles with her mother in her early adolescence . There , she began studying dance , and trained extensively throughout her high school education . She was discovered by production designer Natacha Rambova , who helped facilitate film auditions for her , and she began obtaining small roles in the late 1920s , mainly portraying vamps . Her role in The Thin Man helped elevate her reputation as a versatile actress , and she reprised the role of Nora Charles five more times . Loys career began to slow in the 1940s , and she appeared in only a few films in the 1950s , including a lead role in the comedy Cheaper by the Dozen ( 1950 ) , as well as supporting parts in The Ambassadors Daughter ( 1956 ) and the drama Lonelyhearts ( 1958 ) . She appeared in only eight films between 1960 and 1981 , after which she retired from acting . Although Loy was never nominated for an Academy Award , in March 1991 she received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her lifes 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.S . Commission to UNESCO . Loy died in December 1993 in New York City , aged 88 . Life and career . 1905–1924 : Early life . Loy was born Myrna Adele Williams on August 2 , 1905 , in Helena , Montana , the daughter of Adelle Mae ( née Johnson ) and rancher David Franklin Williams . Her parents had married in Helena in 1904 , one year before Loy was born . She had one younger brother , David Frederick Williams ( 1982 ) . Loys paternal grandfather , David Thomas Williams , was Welsh , and emigrated from Liverpool , England to the United States in 1856 , arriving in Philadelphia . Unable to read or write in English , he later settled in the Montana Territory where he began a career as a rancher . Loys maternal grandparents were Scottish and Swedish immigrants . During her childhood , her father worked as a banker , real estate developer , and farmland appraiser in Helena , and was the youngest man ever elected to serve in the Montana state legislature . 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 . Loys mother was a lifelong Democrat , while her father was a staunch Republican . She was raised in the Methodist faith . Loy spent her early life in Radersburg , Montana , a rural mining community approximately southeast of Helena . During the winter of 1912 , Loys mother nearly died from pneumonia , and her father sent his wife and daughter to La Jolla , California . Loys mother saw great potential in Southern California , and during one of her husbands visits , she encouraged him to purchase real estate there . Among the properties he bought was land that he would later sell , at a considerable profit , to filmmaker Charlie Chaplin for his film studio there . 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 , Loys mother needed a hysterectomy and insisted Los Angeles was a safer place to have it done , so she , Loy , and Loys brother David moved to Ocean Park , where Loy began to take dancing lessons . After the family returned to Montana , Loy continued her dancing lessons , and at the age of 12 , Myrna Williams made her stage debut performing a dance she had choreographed based on The Blue Bird from the Rose Dream operetta at Helenas Marlow Theater . When Loy was 13 , her father died during the 1918 flu pandemic in November of that year . Loys mother permanently relocated the family to California , where they settled in Culver City , outside Los Angeles . Loy attended the exclusive Westlake School for Girls while continuing to study dance in downtown Los Angeles . When her teachers objected to her extracurricular participation in theatrical arts , her mother enrolled her in Venice High School , and at 15 , she began appearing in local stage productions . In 1921 , Loy posed for Venice High School sculpture teacher Harry Fielding Winebrenner as Inspiration ; the full length figure was central in his allegorical sculpture group Fountain of Education . Completed in 1922 , the sculpture group was installed in front of the campus outdoor pool in May 1923 where it stood for decades . Loys slender figure with her uplifted face and one arm extending skyward presented a vision of purity , grace , youthful vigor , and aspiration that was singled out in a Los Angeles Times story that included a photo of the Inspiration figure along with the models name—the first time her name appeared in a newspaper . A few months later , Loys Inspiration figure was temporarily removed from the sculpture group and transported aboard the battleship for a Memorial Day pageant in which Miss Myrna Williams participated . Fountain of Education can be seen in the opening scenes of the 1978 film Grease . After decades of exposure to the elements and vandalism , the original concrete statue was removed from display in 2002 , and replaced in 2010 by a bronze duplicate paid for through an alumni-led fundraising campaign . Loy left school at the age of 18 to begin to help with the familys finances . She obtained work at Graumans Egyptian Theatre , where she performed in what were called prologues , elaborate musical sequences that were related to and served as preliminary entertainment before the feature film . During this period , Loy saw Eleonora Duse in the play Thy Will Be Done , and the simple acting techniques she employed made such an impact on Loy that she tried to emulate them throughout her career . 1925–1932 : Career beginnings . While Loy was dancing in prologues at the Graumans Egyptian Theatre , portrait photographer Henry Waxman took several pictures of her that were noticed by Rudolph Valentino when the actor went to Waxmans studio for a sitting . Valentino was looking for a leading lady for Cobra , the first independent project he and his wife Natacha Rambova were producing . Loy tested for the role , which went to Gertrude Olmstead instead , but soon after she was hired as an extra for Pretty Ladies ( 1925 ) , in which she and fellow newcomer Joan Crawford were among a bevy of chorus girls dangling from an elaborate chandelier . Rambova hired Loy for a small but showy role opposite Nita Naldi in What Price Beauty? , a film she was producing . Shot in May 1925 , the film remained unreleased for three years ; but stills of Loy in her exotic makeup and costume appeared in Motion Picture magazine and led to a contract with Warner Bros . There , her surname was changed from Williams to Loy . Loys silent film roles were mainly as a vamp or femme fatale , and she frequently portrayed characters of Asian or Eurasian background in films such as Across the Pacific ( 1926 ) , A Girl in Every Port ( 1928 ) , The Crimson City ( 1928 ) , The Black Watch ( 1929 ) , and The Desert Song ( 1929 ) , which she later recalled kind of solidified my exotic non-American image . In 1930 she appeared in The Great Divide . It took years for her to overcome this typecast , and as late as 1932 , she was cast as a villainous Eurasian in Thirteen Women ( 1932 ) . She also played , opposite Boris Karloff , the depraved sadistic daughter of the title character in The Mask of Fu Manchu ( 1932 ) . In 1932 , Loy began dating producer Arthur Hornblow Jr. , when he was still married to his wife , Juliette Crosby . Prior to that , Loy appeared in small roles in The Jazz Singer and a number of early lavish Technicolor musicals , including The Show of Shows , The Bride of the Regiment , and Under a Texas Moon . As a result , she became associated with musical roles , and when they began to lose favor with the public , her career went into a slump . In 1934 , Loy appeared in Manhattan Melodrama with Clark Gable and William Powell . When gangster John Dillinger was shot to death after leaving a screening of the film at the Biograph Theater in Chicago , the film received widespread publicity , with some newspapers reporting that Loy had been Dillingers favorite actress . 1933–1938 : Rise to stardom . After appearing with Ramón Novarro in The Barbarian ( 1933 ) , Loy was cast as Nora Charles in the 1934 film The Thin Man . Director W . S . Van Dyke chose Loy after he detected a wit and sense of humor that her previous films had not revealed . At a Hollywood party , he pushed her into a swimming pool to test her reaction , and felt that her aplomb in handling the situation was exactly what he envisioned for Nora . Louis B . Mayer at first refused to allow Loy to play the part because he felt she was a dramatic actress , but Van Dyke insisted . Mayer finally relented on the condition that filming be completed within three weeks , as Loy was committed to start filming Stamboul Quest . The Thin Man became one of the years biggest hits , and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture . Loy received excellent reviews and was acclaimed for her comedic skills . Her costar William Powell and she proved to be a popular screen couple and appeared in 14 films together , one of the most prolific pairings in Hollywood history . Loy later referred to The Thin Man as the film that finally made me .. . after more than 80 films . Her successes in Manhattan Melodrama and The Thin Man marked a turning point in her career , and she was cast in more important pictures . Such films as Wife vs . Secretary ( 1936 ) with Clark Gable and Jean Harlow , and Petticoat Fever ( 1936 ) with Robert Montgomery gave her opportunity to develop comedic skills . She made four films in close succession with William Powell : Libeled Lady ( 1936 ) , which also starred Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy ; The Great Ziegfeld ( 1936 ) , in which she played Billie Burke opposite Powells Florenz Ziegfeld ; the second Thin Man film , After the Thin Man ( 1936 ) , with Powell and James Stewart ; and the romantic comedy Double Wedding ( 1937 ) . Loy married Arthur Hornblow in 1936 in-between filming the successive productions . She was later rumored to have had affairs with co-star Tracy between 1935 and 1936 while filming Whipsaw and Libeled Lady . She also made three more films with Gable at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ( MGM ) : Parnell ( 1937 ) was a historical drama and one of the most poorly received films of either Loys or Gables career , but their other pairings in Test Pilot and Too Hot to Handle ( both 1938 ) were successes . While working for MGM , Loy was outspoken about the studios casting hierarchy , especially based on race , and was quoted as saying : Why does every black person in the movies have to play a servant ? How about a black person walking up the steps of a court house carrying a briefcase ? During this period , Loy was one of Hollywoods busiest and highest-paid actresses , and in 1937 and 1938 , she was listed in the annual Quigley Poll of the Top Ten Money Making Stars , which was compiled from the votes of movie exhibitors throughout the United States for the stars who had generated the most revenue in their theaters over the previous year . 1939–1949 : Mainstream work and war activism . By the late 1930s , Loy was highly regarded for her performances in romantic comedies , and she was anxious to demonstrate her dramatic ability . She was cast in the lead female role in The Rains Came ( 1939 ) opposite Tyrone Power . She filmed Third Finger , Left Hand ( 1940 ) with Melvyn Douglas and appeared in I Love You Again ( 1940 ) , Love Crazy ( 1941 ) , and Shadow of the Thin Man ( 1941 ) , all with William Powell . On June 1 , 1942 , Loy divorced husband Hornblow in Reno , citing mental cruelty as the impetus for separating . Five days after the divorce , she married John D . Hertz , Jr . an advertising executive and founder of Hertz Rent A Car , at his sisters home in New York City . They remained married for two years , eventually divorcing in Cuernavaca , Mexico , on August 21 , 1944 , with Loy again citing mental cruelty . With the outbreak of World War II the same year , Loy all but abandoned her acting career to focus on the war effort and began devoting her time working with the Red Cross . She was so fiercely outspoken against Adolf Hitler that her name appeared on his blacklist , resulting in her films being banned in Germany . She also helped run a Naval Auxiliary canteen and toured frequently to raise funds for the war efforts . Around 1945 , Loy began dating producer and screenwriter Gene Markey , who had previously been married to actresses Joan Bennett and Hedy Lamarr . The two were married in a private ceremony on January 3 , 1946 , at the chapel on Terminal Island , while Markey was serving in the military . She returned to films with The Thin Man Goes Home ( 1945 ) . In 1946 , she played the wife of returning serviceman Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives ( 1946 ) . Loy was paired with Cary Grant in David O . Selznicks The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer ( 1947 ) . The film co-starred a teenaged Shirley Temple . Following its success , she appeared again with Grant in Mr . Blandings Builds His Dream House ( 1948 ) . 1950–1982 : Later career and political activities . In 1950 , Loy co-starred with Clifton Webb in Cheaper by the Dozen ( 1950 ) , which was a box-office hit , grossing $4.4 million in the United States . The same year , she divorced Markey . Her fourth and final husband was Howland H . Sargeant , U.S . Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and president of Radio Liberty , whom she married on June 2 , 1951 , in Fort Myer , Virginia . Sargeant , a Presbyterian , wanted the marriage officiated in the church , but they were unable to do so due to Loys recent divorce . Throughout the 1950s , Loy assumed an influential role as co-chairman of the Advisory Council of the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing . In 1948 , she had become a member of the U.S . National Commission for UNESCO , the first Hollywood celebrity to do so . In 1952 , she starred in the Cheaper by the Dozen sequel , Belles on Their Toes . In 1956 , she appeared in The Ambassadors Daughter along with John Forsythe and Olivia de Havilland . She played opposite Montgomery Clift and Robert Ryan in Lonelyhearts ( 1958 ) , Dore Scharys adaptation of Nathanael Wests classic 1933 novel Miss Lonelyhearts . In 1960 , she appeared in Midnight Lace and From the Terrace , but was not in another film until 1969 in The April Fools . In 1965 , Loy won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre . Loy , a lifelong Democrat , publicly supported the election of John F . Kennedy in 1960 . After divorcing her fourth husband Sargeant in 1960 , Loy relocated to 23 East 74th Street in Manhattans Upper East Side . She later lived at 425 East 63rd Street . In 1967 , she was cast in the television series The Virginian , appearing in an episode titled Lady of the House . Also in 1967 , she appeared on Family Affair in the episode A Helping Hand as a woman out of work and taking on hired-help and cook work , comically aided by Mr . French , though , the job did not work out , and she takes the failure out on John Williams , who was temporarily substituting for Sebastian Cabot in the role of Mr . French . In 1972 , she appeared as the suspects mother-in-law in an episode of the television series Columbo titled Étude in Black . In 1974 , she had a supporting part in Airport 1975 playing Mrs . Devaney , a heavy-drinking woman imbibing Jim Beam and Olympia Beer mixed together ; a foil to the character played by Sid Caesar . In 1975 , Loy was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent two mastectomies to treat the disease . She kept her cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment from the public until the publication of her autobiography in 1987 . In 1978 , she appeared in the film The End as the mother of the main character played by Burt Reynolds . Her last motion picture performance was in 1980 in Sidney Lumets Just Tell Me What You Want . She also returned to the stage , making her Broadway debut in a short-lived 1973 revival of Clare Boothe Luces The Women . She toured in a 1978 production of Alan Ayckbourns Relatively Speaking , directed by David Clayton . In 1981 , she appeared in the television drama Summer Solstice , which was Henry Fondas last performance . Her last acting role was a guest spot on the sitcom Love , Sidney , in 1982 . 1983–1993 : Final years . Her autobiography , Myrna Loy : Being and Becoming , was published in 1987 . The following year , she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center . Although Loy was never nominated for an Academy Award for any single performance , after an extensive letter-writing campaign and years of lobbying by screenwriter and then-Writers Guild of America , West board member Michael Russnow , who enlisted the support of Loys former screen colleagues and friends such as Roddy McDowall , Sidney Sheldon , Harold Russell , and many others , she received a 1991 Academy Honorary Award for her career achievement . She accepted via camera from her New York City home , simply stating , Youve made me very happy . Thank you very much . It was her last public appearance in any medium . Death . Loy died at age 88 on December 14 , 1993 , at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan during a surgery following a long , unspecified illness . She had been frail and in failing health , which had resulted in her being unable to attend the 1991 Academy Awards ceremony , where she was to receive a lifetime achievement Oscar . She was cremated in New York and her ashes interred at Forestvale Cemetery in her native Helena , Montana . Legacy . For her contribution to the film industry , Loy has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6685 Hollywood Boulevard . A building at Sony Pictures Studios , formerly MGM Studios , in Culver City is named in her honor . A cast of her handprint and her signature are in the sidewalk in front of Theater 80 , on St . Marks Place in New York City . In 1991 , the Myrna Loy Center for the Performing and Media Arts opened in downtown Helena , not far from Loys childhood home . Located in the historic Lewis and Clark Country Jail , it sponsors live performances and alternative films for underserved audiences . The songwriter Josh Ritter included a song about Loy on his 2017 album Gathering . Works cited . - Carr , Larry . More Fabulous Faces : The Evolution and Metamorphosis of Bette Davis , Katharine Hepburn , Dolores del Río , Carole Lombard and Myrna Loy . New York : Doubleday and Company , 1979 . . External links . - Official website - Obituary , nytimes.com - Profile , virtual-history.com