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Gable, Clark(2/1/1901-11/16/1960): Starred with Norma in A Free Soul (1931), Strange Interlude (1932), and Idiot's Delight (1939). Within only a year at MGM, Gable had risen to the top of the box office charts, especially after he manhandled Norma in, A Free Soul. He remained a popular star until his death in 1960. and told others about Norma's love scenes:
"Damn, the dame doesn't wear any underwear in her scenes. Is she doing that in the interests of realism or what?"
Garbo, Greta(9/18/1905-4/15/1990): Swedish legend, and MGM contemporary of Norma. She discussed an interaction she faced with Garbo during one of John Gilbert’s parties:I could tell she admired the way I swam, so I kept on swimming for Garbo. Later that day we posed together for a photograph with Jannings. She was very cordial with me- and then, after clasping my hand, she was suddenly gone.
Garland, Judy(6/10/1922-6/24/1969):
Garson, Greer (9/29/1904-4/6/1996): MGM's prestige "Irish" star of the WWII years. In reality, she was British, and replaced Norma in Pride and Prejudice (1940), Mrs. Miniver (1942), and after Norma left, Garson inherited all of the prestige MGM assignments. She was at her peak in WWII, but her popularity waned when the soldiers came home. Garson retired in 1966.
Gilbert, John(7/10/1897-1/9/1936): Silent screen legend, John Gilbert, appeared with Norma in six movies. In 1924 the two appeared in four movies together alone: The Wolfman, He Who Gets Slapped, The Snob, and Married Flirts. In 1928 they teamed up again for Voices Across the Sea, and the two also made their talking debut in 1929 in the all-star MGM production, The Hollywood Revue of 1929. Their appearance in the movie, which comes from the balcony scene in William Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet", is one of the most infamous scenes in movie history. Contrary to popular belief, Gilbert's career didn't end because of his "squeaky" voice, but his stardom did end with the talkies. Gilbert’s turbulent off screen life ended in 1936, when he died of a heart attack. He was only 39.
Norma said of his failure in Talking Pictures:
My impression is that he was a very fine and sensitive actor with great clarity of speech. This very precise diction, I remember, caused some criticism when talking pictures came along a few years later, although I feel this was terribly exaggerated at the time and later became a “fable” which in any language means “untrue.” Jack was a man of great pride and I imagine this unkind criticism destroyed his confidence in himself, the ego which is so necessary to an actor. There is more than one was to break a man’s heart. But I think of Jack Gilbert as a gentleman of great style and spirit, always with a certain flamboyance of sense of mischief which made him enchanting.(SNS)
Apparently, they were more than just friends during the filming of The Wolfman. Norma later wrote a letter to Gilbert’s daughter, Leatrice Fountain, in which she implied their affair, “I have only the most enchanting recollection of Jack Gilbert for he was a glamorous personality, both on and off the screen… he held a great fascination for me. He was handsome and impudent with flashing brown eyes and I gift of sudden laughter which always seemed to hold a touch of sadness. This, in a strange way, gave him great appeal which could be called ‘charisma’ or is this too well worn a praise?” (SNS)
John Gilbert Society. Wikipedia info. IMDb info.
Gish, Lillian(10/14/1993-2/27/1993): One of Norma's earliest uncredited performances was in Way Down East (1920), which starred Lillian Gish. She moved over to MGM in 1925 after a falling out with director D.W. Griffith. Her first few films were big hits, but the Victorian Heroin image got old quick, and her films began losing money at the box office. She worked both on the stage and screen until her death in 1993
Gone With the Wind(1939): Margaret Mitchell’s best seller swept across the country in 1936, making the movie deal inevitable. In the late summer of 1936, Al Lewin approached Irving Thalberg with a fifty page synopsis of the book as a vehicle for Norma. After reviewing the script, a dying Thalberg replied, “Look, I have just made Mutiny on the Bounty and The Good Earth. And now you’re asking me to burn Atlanta? No! Absolutely not! No more epics for me now. Just give me a little drawing room drama. I’m tired. I’m just too tired.”After Thalberg’s death just a month after rejecting the synopsis, Selznick purchased the rights, and began a national search for Scarlett. When Norma announced she would not be renewing her MGM contract in 1938, Selznick approached her with the part. At first she was reluctant, then changed her mind, but she realized she needed to complete Marie Antoinette, a vehicle Thalberg had been working on for her since 1933. She renewed her contract, completed the film, and while making Idiot’s Delight with Clark Gable, a public announcement was made:
The long delayed Gone With the Wind will go before the cameras in December with Clark Gable as Rhett Butler and Norma Shearer as Scarlett O’Hara… The picture will start after Shearer and Gable finish Idiot’s Delight.
But when thousands of letters flew in from all over the country with disapproval, Margaret Mitchell commented:
I haven’t heard a word against Norma Shearer as an actress or a woman. She is of course, enormously popular and everyone prefaces their statements with the remark that they think she is a wonderful actress. However, everyone thinks she is sadly miscast in the part of Scarlett.
Executives approached Norma, and she realized she had no choice but to turn the part down. Mayer suggested to Selznick to take Clark Gable in a packaged deal which included George Cukor as director, and Joan Crawford as Scarlett O’Hara. Despite the public’s strong desire to see Crawford and Gable heat up the Old South, Vivien Leigh was cast instead.
Grauman's Chinese Theater: Located at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles California, the legendary theater of Hollywood's golden era has hand and foot prints of stars ranging from Joan Crawford, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Sr., to Steve McQueen and Jack Nicholson. Norma's hands and foot prints can be seen in section 105. From 1973 to 2001 the theater was known as Mann's Chinese Theater, but after Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures purchased it, they restored the original name.
Click to view for Graumans information
Guilaroff, Sidney(11/2/1907-5/28/1997): Main MGM hairstylist, Sidney Guilaroff considered the wigs for Marie Antoinette (1938) his greatest challenge. In 1938 he became the first unmarried man to adopt a child in the United States. He was discovered in 1928 by Joan Crawford and came to Hollywood for movie hairstyles in 1934. He also was the first hairstylist to get an on screen credit. He has about 411 credits to his name for his designs.