Biography

Birth Name: Myrna Williams
Born: August 2, 1905, Raidersburg, MT
Died: December 14, 1993, New York, NY

The "Queen" of Hollywood

yrna Loy with her almond shaped eyes, ladylike relaxed manner, was one of Hollywood's most popular actresses of the 1930s and for decades beyond. She came to embody the perfect wife, sympathetic, wise and sexy opposite William Powell, Clark Gable and others. A former dancer, Loy began in films as a bit player from the mid-1920s and was primarily cast as mysterious, exotic types for the first ten years of her career.  

Stardom awaited her, and, in 1934, W.S. Van Dyke cast Loy opposite ideal co-star William Powell in the first of the hugely successful Thin Man comedy-mysteries. Loy's best non-Thin Man films opposite Powell (with whom she made 14 joint appearances in all) include the drama EVELYN PRENTICE (1934) and the screwball farces LIBELED LADY (1936)(co-starring Jean Harlow), I LOVE YOU AGAIN (1940) and LOVE CRAZY (1941), while her best films opposite Gable include WIFE VS. SECRETARY (1936), (co-starring Jean Harlow) and Loy's own personal favorite, TEST PILOT (1938). 

Her popularity peaked in the late 1930s, and when Clark Gable was voted "King of Hollywood" in a popularity poll, Myrna Loy was right beside him as elected "Queen." 

Loy continued a career distinguished by her fine performance opposite Fredric March in William Wyler's Oscar-winning study of postwar readjustment, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946). She also extended her perfect wife image opposite Cary Grant in the delightful MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE (1948).  

Loy's straightforward performances kept her from getting the types of roles that got Oscar nominations, but she was rewarded for her illustrious career with an honorary award in 1990 and a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Kennedy Center in 1988.