Classic Movie Legend Tribute: Myrna Loy

Happy Birthday to Classic Movie Legend, Myrna Loy, born August 2 in 1905!

Supportive yet stern; attractive yet approachable; intelligent yet playful. What am I talking about here? Well, if you guessed the perfect wife, then you would be correct because I am talking about our birthday girl, Myrna Loy. Yes, as I am sure many of you are aware, Myrna Loy is best remembered in the classic Hollywood lexicon as the perfect on-screen life partner. Jimmy Stewart is even quoted as saying, “There ought to be a law against any man who doesn’t want to marry Myrna Loy.” However, what I find most appealing about Myrna Loy is not simply what she remembered for, not simply her status as perfect wife — what I find most intriguing is the evolution of her career, her path to becoming the perfect wife, if you will. So, to celebrate her birth, I say we celebrate just that — the evolution of Myrna Loy.

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Myrna Loy early in career, when she often played the “foreign” villain as seen above in Thirteen Women (1932, George Archainbaud director)

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Myrna Loy at the turing point in her career, playing the ever sassy, ever supportive wife in The Thin Man (1934, W.S Van Dyke director)

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Myrna Loy at the peak of her career is not only the perfect housewife, but the perfect mother as well in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946, William Wyler director)