Most of my annoying references of “Queen Norma: First Lady of the Screen” end here. As much as I love Norma Shearer, I want to introduce you to a completely nonbiased view of the little Canadian girl who sought out big dreams in the United States of America. Lady of the Night was the start of this entire website, and Norma reigns as my favorite among any other star who ever worked in Hollywood, therefore I spent hours of my time rereading old text books and purchasing others from Amazon.com all to bring together a complete image of Edith Norma Shearer. All that aside, I want those of you who have either no idea who Norma Shearer is, hate her with a passion, or love her as much as I do to enjoy Lady of the Night as much as possible. For those of you who absolutely refuse to accept Norma as an Actress and stunning screen beauty, well, find somewhere else to hate Norma...

It’s hard to imagine any other Hollywood star who gave more effort into achieving a great performance as did Norma Shearer. In almost every Norma Shearer film I’ve seen, and I’ve seen many, she always gives one hundred and ten percent of herself. It’s impossible to imagine any of the other more appreciated Actresses excelling in what Norma Shearer brought to the screen. The thought of what Bette Davis would have done to Private Lives (1931) is gruesome. It’s impossible to imagine Katharine Hepburn more dramatic than Norma in Strange Interlude (1932). Nothing Audrey Hepburn ever did compared to Marie Antoinette (1938). As much as I love Lauren Bacall, she could never have been as sentimental as Norma in Smilin’ Through (1932).

Yet somehow, Norma Shearer has gone from being one of the most respected Actresses of her time, to a Hollywood joke. Critics much to often dismiss her as the cross-eyed, bowlegged, no talented wife of Irving Thalberg, and use that as an excuse to never see any of her other films. In reality she was stunning, so beautiful in her portraits taken by George Hurrell it makes one angry to hear such insults. Her acting was excellent for its time, but of course has its dated moments. It isn’t just a recent decision to exclude Norma from Hollywood; it’s been a trend that has gone on for decades.

My first Norma Shearer film I remember seeing was Private Lives. With the help of Noel Coward and the excellent Robert Montgomery, she was hysterically funny and stirred up an immediate interest in me. I began extensive online research of her, but didn’t get far. I began reading anything with Norma that I could get my hands on. Lawrence Quirk’s Norma: The Story of Norma Shearer featured a great deal of conversations and quotes from not only Norma, but various coworkers and friends. Gavin Lambert’s Norma Shearer: A Life gave me the view of the person behind all the Hollywood glamour. Mick LaSalle’s Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood helped me get more of an idea of the Norma Shearer image: Uncensored sexy seductress of precode Hollywood.

With the exception of the previously mentioned books, and a few others, Norma Shearer is obviously given the cold shoulder from just about every other book and documentary about Hollywood. The basis of this entire site was Norma, and without my taking over of a friend’s Norma fan page, there would be absolutely no Hollywood Legends tribute. For my site I was going to make damn sure Norma received the prestige star treatment she deserves to have again. For Lady of the Night I wanted to portray the daughter, woman, wife, mother, and Hollywood star in a complete project. I did my best, as far as Lady of the Night goes, to give a completely non biased image of Norma. Even though she’s referred to as Queen Norma Shearer: First Lady of the Screen on every other page, I want the readers to get to know everything good, bad, perfect, and terrible about Edith Norma Shearer, and Lady of the Night is doing its best to achieve that.

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(My own website dedicated to Norma Shearer.)