Born Edith Norma Shearer in Montréal, Québec, Canada. Child model and beauty contest winner whose mother took her and her sister Athole (who later married Howard Hawks) to New York for a spot in the Ziegfeld Follies. Ziegfeld rejected her, but Norma got a job as a bit player in New York-based films, and her appearance in THE STEALERS (1920) caught the attention of producer Irving Thalberg. Thalberg signed Shearer to a long-term contract with MGM in 1923 and married her in 1927, after which she had her pick of films, parts, directors and one cameraman who even photographed her costume tests. Compensating for a lack of natural beauty with great poise and charm, she played a narrow range of romantic roles in a glittering array of films. Shearer's career faltered after Thalberg's death in 1936, and she made only one film after 1942. Some of her other notable non-nominated credits include THE ACTRESS (1928), THE TRIAL OF MARY DUGAN (her first talkie) and THE LAST OF MRS CHEYNEY (both 1929), PRIVATE LIVES (1931), STRANGE INTERLUDE (1932), RIPTIDE (1934), IDIOT'S DELIGHT and THE WOMEN (both 1939), ESCAPE (1940), WE WERE DANCING and HER CARDBOARD LOVER (1942) and ANNIVERSARY (1963). Her brother, Douglas Shearer (1899-1971), was a pioneering sound technician who developed several key technical innovations.  Actress 1929-30: THE DIVORCEE and THEIR OWN DESIRE NOTE: Though the awards ballot listed both films in Shearer's nomination, the award was announced for only the DIVORCEE performance. Why this was has not been established it might possibly have been because the original report from the Acting Branch Board of Judges only listed this one performance in the results of the nominations voting, or it could have resulted from the voters indicating a preference for the DIVORCEE performance over that in DESIRE on their final ballots.  Nominated for Actress 1930-1: A FREE SOUL  Nominated for Actress 1934: THE BARRETTS OF WIMPOLE STREET  Nominated for Actress 1936: ROMEO AND JULIET  Nominated for Actress 1938: MARIE ANTOINETTE 5 nominations, 1 Award