Myrna Loy

Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. She was originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, but her career prospects improved greatly following her portrayal of Nora Charles in The Thin Man (1934). Although Loy was never nominated for a competitive Academy Award, in March 1991 she was presented with an Honorary Academy Award with the inscriptionIn recognition of her extraordinary qualities both on screen and off, with appreciation for a lifetime's worth of indelible performances. During World War II, Loy served as assistant to the director of military and naval welfare for the Red Cross. She was later appointed a member-at-large of the U.S. Commission to UNESCO. While the height of her popularity was during the 1930s and '40s, she continued to actively pursue stage, television and film roles in subsequent decades.