Considering Myrna Loy On Her Birthday

Myrna Adele Williams was born on this date in 1905, in rural Montana, & she moved to Southern California in 1912, the sunny warm weather was thought to be of help for her mother's ill health. She found work in the chorus that performed live between features at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. She was noticed by Rudolph Valentino & a hired as an extra for the film-  Pretty Ladies, in which she & fellow newcomer Joan Crawford were among a bevy of chorus girls dangling from an elaborate chandelier.

Loy's high pitched voice made her transition to talkies difficult. She was often cast as "Oriental" or Mexican in her early sound films. Her performance in Penthouse (1933) convinced the MGM brass to cast her opposite William Powell in the first of the 6 Thin Man features, 1934's The Thin Man in which she portrayed Nora Charles. The film was a huge success & she found her well deserved Hollywood stardom. She became Hollywood's perfect wife, bright, witty & humorous. Loy took a break from films during WW2, except for another film as Nora Charles, to devote herself to Red Cross work & selling war bonds.

She returned to the movies in 1946 making such terrific films as The Best Years of Our Lives(1946), Song of the Thin Man (1947), the last of the series, The Bachelor & the Bobby-Soxer (1947), Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House(1948), The Red Pony (1949), Cheaper By The Dozen (1950), & the sequel- Belles On Their Toes(1952).

She became more involved with liberal politics & only acted occasionally for the rest of her life. From 1949-1954 she served as a film advisor for UNESCO & she served as an advisor to the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing. She appeared in Midnight Lace & From the Terrace (1960), The April Fools(1969), Airport 1975, The End (1978), & Just Tell Me What You Want (1980). She starred in several films for TV & made her Broadway debut in 1973 in a revival of The Women.

Like her friend- Cary Grant, she never received an Oscar for acting. She received an honorary Academy Award in 1991. Myrna Loy passed away in NYC during surgery on December 14, 1993. Class act, deserving of being the Husband’s favorite. He has the best of taste.

Good Advice

Tyrone Power and Myrna Loy in The Rains Came (1939, 20th Century Fox)

In the event of a torrential downpour, head for higher ground, maintain calm, and always use water-proof tropical makeup.

Off to the Races

Lupe Velez in East is West (1930, Universal)

Myrna Loy in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932, MGM)

Dorothy Lamour (with John Howard) in Disputed Passage (1939, Paramount)

Ona Munson in The Shanghai Gesture (1941, United Artists)

Katharine Hepburn in Dragon Seed (1944, MGM)

Shirley MacLaine in My Geisha (1962, Paramount)

Eleanor Parker (as Marjorie Lawrence) in Interrupted Melody (1955, MGM)

The Good Wives

"It was a role no one could live up to, really." - Myrna Loy on being typecast as "The Perfect Wife"

"There always was a broom or a vacuum cleaner in my fist, or I was at the sink, scrubbing away for dear life." - Claudette Colbert on her screen image

"Some perfect wife I am. I've been married four times, divorced four times, have no children, and can't boil an egg." - Myrna Loy on real life vs. reel life

"I married a wonderful doctor, and I was very happy -- period." - Claudette Colbert on being a real life doctor's wife

Dancing Lady

"[Joan Crawford] was learning all the new dances, Black Bottom, Charleston, and urging me to go down to the Ambassador and do them with her. Being such a snob about dance, of course, I wouldn’t have any part of it. But that’s what made her a star, later on, in Our Dancing Daughters...Joan and I became friends and stayed friends, which is the most that came out of my first MGM experience." - Myrna Loy

Size Matters

You Realize What This Means

Somewhere, there's a photograph of William Powell in a Dolly Tree evening gown.

Make Your Own Kind of Music

Sing your own special song.

The Occidental Tourist

Myrna Adele Williams, from Radersburg, MT!

Let's Not Forget Miss Myrna Loy's Birthday

On a road trip the Husband & I play a game of FAVORITES. In rhythm, without missing a beat, one has to ask a favorite & the other must answer with out going off the beat, & then offer up another favorite category. I have learned a great deal about my spouse this way because there is no time to intellectualize or give pause to think. Early in our relationship, this is how I discovered that his favorite Golden Age of Hollywood Female Star is Myrna Loy. The Husband certainly has good taste, & having just posted in the birth of William Powell, I feel compelled to post on Miss Loy’s birthday, because you see, I love her also (although my answer during a a game of favorites is Barbara Stanwyck.)

Myrna Adele Williams was born on this date in 1905 in rural Montana, & she moved to Southern Californina in1 912, the sunny warm weather was thought to be of help for her mother's ill health.. She found work in the chorus that performed live between features at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. She was noticed by Rudolph Valentino & a was hired as an extra for Pretty Ladies, in which she and fellow newcomer Joan Crawford were among a bevy of chorus girls dangling from an elaborate chandelier.


Loy's high pitched voice made her transition to talkies difficult. She was often cast as Oriental or Mexican in her early sound films. Her performance in Penthouse (1933) convinced the MGM brass to cast her opposite William Powell in the 1st of the 6 Thin Man features, 1934's The Thin Man in which she portrayed Nora Charles. The film was a huge success & she found her well deserved Hollywood stardom. She became Hollywood's perfect wife, bright, witty & humorous. Loy took a break from films during WW2 except for another film as Nora Charles to devote herself to Red Cross work & selling war bonds.


She returned to the movies in 1946 making such terrific films as The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Song of the Thin Man (1947), the last of the series, The Bachelor & the Bobby-Soxer (1947), Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), The Red Pony (1949), Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), & the sequel Belles on Their Toes (1952).


She became more involved with liberal politics & only acted occasionally for the rest of her life. From 1949-1954 she served as a film advisor for UNESCO & she served as an advisor to the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing. She appeared in Midnight Lace & From the Terrace in 1960, The April Fools (1969), Airport 1975, The End (1978), & Just Tell Me What You Want (1980). She starred in several films for television & made her Broadway debut in 1973 in a revival of The Women.


Like her friend- Cary Grant, she never received an Oscar for acting. She received an honorary Academy Award in 1991. Myrna Loy passed away in NYC during surgery on December 14, 1993. Class act, deserving of being the Husband’s favorite. He has the best taste.

Born On This Day- July 29th... The Embodiment Of Savoir Vivre- William Powell

After a rather difficult exchange, at the height of a short era of not doing all that well as a couple, I turned to the Husband with the challenge: “Are we George & Martha… or Nick & Nora?” Even in the heat of the disagreement, he was able to answer without a pause- "We are William Powell & Myrna Loy... NOT Elizabeth Taylor& Richard Burton!"

William Powell was major star at MGM, where he was paired with one of the Husband’s favorites- Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the Thin Man series in which Powell & Loy played Nick & Nora Charles. I never have recovered from seeing the Thin Man films in my early adulthood. It was then that I decided that I would grow old with William Powell (or David Niven) as my model: sophisticated, urbane, cynical, with martini in hand at all times. He was nominated for 3 Academy Awards for Best Actor: The Thin Man (1934), My Man Godfrey (1936) & Life with Father (1947).

After an earlier 1st marriage, Powell married actress Carole Lombard in 1931. They were married for only 2 years, but stayed good friends, even co-starring in the screwball comedy My Man Godfrey 3 years later.


He had a passionate affair with actress Jean Harlow beginning in 1935, cut short by her untimely death in 1937. It is reported that a single white gardenia with an unsigned note were placed in her hands before she was interred, presumed to be written by Powell. The note read, "Good night, my dearest darling". He also paid for her final resting place at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

Powell married actress Diana Lewis in 1940. The couple had only known each other for 3 weeks before their wedding. They remained married until Powell's death. In 1984, Powell died in Palm Springs, at the age of 91, 30+ years after his final film- Mr. Roberts. I would like to finish up my life looking good at 91 years old, in Palm Springs, right after that last martini. Thank you, William Powell, for being a role model.