Myrna Loy stands among the most celebrated leading ladies of Hollywood’s Golden Age, and Denver audiences were fortunate to see her grace the Elitch Theatre stage in two summer seasons late in her storied career. Born Myrna Adele Williams in Helena, Montana, in 1905, she trained as a dancer, worked as a chorus girl at Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre, and was discovered by designer Natacha Rambova before signing with Warner Bros., where a screenwriter renamed her “Loy.” After years typecast in exotic, often villainous roles, she found her true calling in 1934 as the martini-dry, unflappable Nora Charles opposite William Powell in The Thin Man — a role she would reprise five times and one of the most beloved screen partnerships in film history.
Through the 1930s and 40s, Loy became one of Hollywood’s most in-demand and highest-paid stars, appearing alongside Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Spencer Tracy, and Cary Grant in hits like The Great Ziegfeld, Wife vs. Secretary, and The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer. When World War II broke out, she set her career aside almost entirely to devote herself to the Red Cross, organizing entertainment for military hospitals and canteens — service that, along with her later work for UNESCO, would help define her legacy as much as her films did.
Loy did not turn to the stage until 1960, easing in gradually through summer stock before touring nationally. It was in this later phase of her career that she came to Denver, starring at the Elitch Theatre first in 1967 in Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park, and returning in 1969 for Janus. Her Elitch appearances came at a time when she was also appearing on television series such as The Virginian and Family Affair, further proof of the versatility that had carried her from silent pictures through the era of color television.
Loy’s contributions were formally recognized late in life: a 1985 all-star tribute at Carnegie Hall, a 1988 Kennedy Center Honor, and finally, in 1991, an Honorary Academy Award for career achievement — a fitting capstone for an actress the Academy had somehow never nominated for a competitive Oscar. She died in New York City in December 1993 at age 88, remembered, in the words of the New York Times, as the screen’s “model of urbanity.”
Seasons at the Theatre
- 1967
- 1969
Elitch Theatre Productions/Roles:
- Barefoot in the Park (1967)
- Janus (1969)
Notable Roles, Awards, and Other Work:
- Nora Charles in The Thin Man (1934) and its five sequels, opposite William Powell — one of the most celebrated screen pairings in Hollywood history
- Starring roles in Manhattan Melodrama (1934), The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Libeled Lady (1936), Test Pilot (1938), and The Rains Came (1939)
- Played the devoted wife of a returning WWII veteran in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), for which she won the Brussels World Film Festival prize for best actress
- Co-starred with Cary Grant in The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)
- Starred in Cheaper by the Dozen (1950) and its sequel Belles on Their Toes (1952)
- Served four years as assistant head of Red Cross welfare activities during WWII, organizing entertainment for military hospitals and canteens
- First Hollywood celebrity appointed to the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO (1948)
- Co-founder of the Committee for the First Amendment (1947)
- Made her Broadway debut in a 1973 revival of The Women
- Honored with a special tribute at Carnegie Hall (1985) and a Kennedy Center Honor (1988)
- Received an Honorary Academy Award for career achievement (1991)
Elitch Theatre Connections:
- The 1946 film, The Best Years of Our Lives, offers three amazing Elitch Theatre alums: Myrna Loy, Fredric March, and Teresa Wright.
- Elitch Theatre Alum, George Brent, played the leading man to Myrna Loy in Stamboul Quest (1934).
- From the Terrace (1960) – Loy starred with Kathryn Givney.
- In Airport 1975, with Sid Caesar, Gloria Swanson, and Martha Scott.
Wikipedia Link:
