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Edith Norma Shearer (August 10, 1902 – June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress, and a major Hollywood star from 1925 through 1942.〔Shipman, David. ''The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years''. Crown Publishers, 1970. p. 487-492〕 Her early films cast her as a spunky ingenue, but in the Pre-Code film era, she played sexually liberated women. She excelled in drama, in comedy, and in period roles. She gave well-received performances in adaptations of Noël Coward, Eugene O'Neill, and William Shakespeare. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won once, for her performance in the 1930 film ''The Divorcee''. Shearer's fame declined after her early retirement in 1942. She was rediscovered in the late 1950s, when her films were sold to television, and in the 1970s, when her films enjoyed theatrical revivals, but by the time of her death in 1983, she was best known for "noble" roles in ''Marie Antoinette'' and ''The Women''. A Shearer revival began in 1988, when Turner Network Television began broadcasting the entire Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film library. In 1994 Turner Classic Movies began showcasing her films, most of which had not been seen since the reconstitution of the Production Code in 1934. Shearer's work was seen anew, and the critical focus shifted from her "noble" roles to her pre-Code roles. Shearer's work was formally reappraised in the 1990s through a number of high-profile books. The first was a major biography by Gavin Lambert.〔Lambert, Gavin (1990). ''Norma Shearer: A Life.'' New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ASIN 978-0-394-55158-6.〕 Next came the groundbreaking study ''Complicated Women'', by Mick LaSalle, film critic at the ''San Francisco Chronicle''.〔LaSalle, Mick. ''Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000, ASIN 978-0-312-25207-6〕 Then came three books by photographer Mark A. Vieira: a revisionist biography of Shearer's husband, producer Irving Thalberg;〔Vieira, Mark A. ''Irving Thalberg: Boy Wonder to Producer Prince.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009. ASIN 0520260481.〕 and two biographies of Hollywood glamour photographer George Hurrell.〔Vieira, Mark A. ''Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits'' New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997, ASIN 0810934345, p. 22.〕〔Vieira, Mark A. ''George Hurrell's Hollywood'' Philadelphia: Running Press, 2013, ASIN 0762450398, p. 18.〕 Shearer was praised not only for the control she exercised over her work but also for her patronage of George Hurrell,〔Vieira, ''Irving Thalberg'', p. 185.〕 of M-G-M designer Adrian, of actress Janet Leigh, and of actor-producer Robert Evans. Reviewing Shearer's work, historians called her "the exemplar of sophisticated 1930s womanhood... exploring love and sex with an honesty that would be considered frank by modern standards". While there had been instances of performers who were given a belated celebrity by historians, this was the first time that a star's reputation had been restored by scholars. As a result, Shearer is celebrated as a feminist pioneer, "the first American film actress to make it chic and acceptable to be single and not a virgin on screen". Her films continue to be exhibited and studied. ==Early life== Shearer's childhood was spent in Montreal and was one of privilege due to the success of her father's construction business. However, the marriage between her parents was not a happy one. Andrew Shearer was prone to manic depression and "moved like a shadow or a ghost around the house," while her mother Edith was attractive, flamboyant and stylish, prompting gossip that she was a heroin addict and unfaithful to her husband. Neither rumor was ever proven, but Edith proved to be bored with her marriage very early on and focused her energy on Norma, who she decided would one day become a famous concert pianist. Shearer was interested in music as well, but after seeing a vaudeville show for her ninth birthday, announced her intention to become an actress. Edith offered support but, as Shearer entered adolescence, became secretly fearful that her daughter's physical flaws would jeopardize her chances. Shearer herself "had no illusions about the image I saw in the mirror." She acknowledged her "dumpy figure, with shoulders too broad, legs too sturdy, hands too blunt", and was also acutely aware of her small eyes that appeared crossed due to a cast in her right eye. But by her own admission, she was "ferociously ambitious, even as a young girl" and planned to overcome her deficiencies through careful camouflage, sheer determination and charm. The childhood and adolescence that Shearer once described as "a pleasant dream" ended in 1918, when her older sister, Athole, suffered her first serious mental breakdown and her father's company collapsed. Forced to move into a small, dreary house in a "modest" Montreal suburb, the sudden plunge into poverty only strengthened Shearer's determined attitude: "At an early age, I formed a philosophy about failure. Perhaps an endeavor, like my father's business, could fail, but that didn't mean Father had failed." Edith Shearer thought otherwise. Within weeks, she had left her husband and moved into a cheap boarding house with her two daughters. A few months later, encouraged by her brother, who believed his niece should try her luck in "the picture business", then operating largely on the East Coast, Edith sold her daughter's piano and bought three train tickets for New York. Also in her pocket was a letter of introduction for Norma, acquired from a local theatre owner, to Florenz Ziegfeld, who was currently preparing a new season of his famous ''Ziegfeld Follies''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Norma Shearer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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