Myrna Williams, who became Myrna Loy, was born on August 2, 1905 in Radersburg, Montana. When she was 13, Myrna's father died of influenza and the family moved to Los Angeles where she was educated at the Westlake School for Girls. At 15, she began appearing in local stage productions at Grauman's Theater in Hollywood in order to help support her family. One night, Mrs. Rudolph Valentino was in the audience and pulled some strings to get Myrna connected to the motion picture industry. Her first film was a small part in the production of What Price Beauty? (1925).

Myrna Loy was one of the few silent stars that made a successful transition into the sound era. In the silent films, she was an exotic femme fatale but with sound, she played refined, wholesome characters. In 1926, Myrna appeared in the Warner Brothers film Satan in Sables which landed her a contract. Her first appearance as a contract actress was as a maid in The Caveman. In 1927, her first starring role was in Bitter Apples. The excitement didn’t last. It seemed that she would play one vamp after another but she always wanted something better. When her Warner Bros. contract ended, she signed with MGM and got two strong roles: The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933), and the other as Nora Charles in The Thin Man series with William Powell. In 1936, she was named Queen of the Movies and Clark Gable the king in a nationwide poll of moviegoers. By the 1960's producers and directors were looking elsewhere for talent. Myrna made her last film in 1981 and by the time she died in 1993 at the age of 88, she had appeared in 129 films.

1925 What Price Beauty? – Vamp

1925 The Wanderer – Girl at Baccanal (uncredited)

1925 Pretty Ladies – Showgirl (uncredited)

1925 Sporting Life – Chorus Girl with Lord Wainwright (uncredited)

1925 Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ – Slave Girl (uncredited)

1926 The Caveman – Maid

1926 The Love Toy – Bit Part (uncredited)

1926 Why Girls go Back Home – Sally Short

1926 The Gilded Highway – Inez Quartz

1926 Exquisite Sinner – Living Statue

1926 So This is Paris – Lalle’s Maid

1926 Don Juan – Mai – Lady in Waiting

1926 Across the Pacific – Roma

1926 The Third Degree – Bit Part (uncredited)

1927 Finger Prints – Vamp

1927 When a Man Loves – Convict Behind Manon

1927 Bitter Apples – Belinda White

1927 The Climbers – Countess Veya

1927 Simple Sis – Edith Van

1927 The Heart of Maryland – Mulatta

1927 A Sailor’s Sweetheart – Claudette Ralston

1927 The Jazz Singer – Chorus Girl (uncredited)

1927 The Girl from Chicago – Mary Carlton

1927 If I Were Single – Joan Whitley

1927 Ham and Eggs at the Front – Fifi

1928 Beware of Married Men – Juanita Sheldon

1928 A Girl in Every Port – Girl in China (uncredited)

1928 Turn Back the Hours – Tiza Torreon

1928 The Crimson City – Isobel / State Street Sadie

1928 Pay as You Enter – Yvonne De Russo

1928 State Street Sadie – Isobel

1928 The Midnight Taxi – Gertie Fairfax

1928 Noah’s Ark – Dancer / Slave Girl

1929 Fancy Baggage – Myrna

1929 Hardboiled Rose – Rose Duhamel

1929 The Black Watch – Yasmani

1929 The Squall – Nubi

1929 The Great Divide – Manuella

1929 Evidence – Native Girl

1930 Cameo Kirby – Lea

1930 Isle of Escape – Moira

1930 Under a Texas Moon – Lolita Romero

1930 Cock o’ the Walk – Narita

1930 Bride of the Regiment – Sophie

1930 The Last of the Duanes – Lola Bland

1930 The Jazz Cinderella – Mildred Vane

1930 The Bad Man

1930 Renegades – Eleanore

1930 The Truth About Youth – Kara

1930 Rogue of the Rio Grande – Carmita

1930 The Devil to Pay! – Mary Crayle

1931 The Naughty Flirt – Linda Gregory

1931 Body and Soul – Alice Lester

1931 A Connecticut Yankee – Queen Morgan le Fay / Evil Sister in Mansion

1931 Hush Money – Flo Curtis

1931 Rebound – Evie Lawrence

1931 Transatlantic – Kay Graham

1931 Skyline – Paula Lambert

1931 Consolation Marriage – Elaine Brandon

1931 Arrowsmith – Mrs. Joyce Lanyon

1932 Emma – Isabelle

1932 Vanity Fair – Becky Sharp

1932 The Wet Parade – Eileen Pinchon

1932 The Woman in Room 13 – Sari Loder

1932 New Morals for Old – Myrna

1932 Love Me Tonight – Countess Valentine

1932 Thirteen Women – Ursula Georgi

1932 The Mask of Fu Manchu – Fah Lo See

1932 The Animal Kingdom – Cecelia Henry Collier

1933 Topaze – Coco

1933 Scarlet River – Myrna Loy (uncredited)

1933 The Barbarian – Diana ‘Di’ Standing

1933 When Ladies Meet – Mary

1933 Penthouse – Gertie Waxted

1933 Night Flight – Wife of Brazilian Pilot

1933 The Prizefighter and the Lady – Belle

1934 Men in White – Laura

1934 Manhattan Melodrama – Eleanor

1934 The Thin Man – Nora

1934 Stamboul Quest – Annemarie, aka Fråulein Doktor and Helena Bohlen

1934 Evelyn Prentice – Evelyn Prentice

1934 Broadway Bill – The Princess

1935 Wings in the Dark – Sheila Mason

1935 Whipsaw – Vivian Palmer

1936 Wife vs. Secretary – Linda

1936 Petticoat Fever – Irene Campton

1936 The Great Ziegfeld – Billie Burke

1936 To Mary – with Love – Mary Wallace

1936 Libeled Lady – Connie Allenbury

1936 After the Thin Man – Nora

1937 Parnell – Katie

1937 Double Wedding – Margit Agnew

1938 Man-Proof – Mimi Swift

1938 Test Pilot – Ann

1938 Too Hot to Handle – Alma Harding

1939 Lucky Night – Cora Jordan

1939 The Rains Came – Lady Edwina Esketh

1939 Another Thin Man – Nora

1940 I Love You Again – Kay Wilson

1940 Third Finger, Left Hand – Margot Sherwood Merrick

1941 Love Crazy – Susan Ireland

1941 Shadow of the Thin Man – Nora

1945 The Thin Man Goes Home – Nora Charles

1946 So Goes My Love – Jane Budden Maxim

1946 The Best Years of Our Lives – Milly Stephenson

1947 The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer – Margaret

1947 Song of the Thin Man – Nora Charles

1947 The Senator was Indiscreet – Mrs. Ashton (Cameo Appearance) (uncredited)

1948 Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House – Muriel Blandings

1949 The Red Pony – Alice Tiflin

1949 If This Be Sin – Lady Cathy Brooke

1950 Cheaper by the Dozen – Mrs. Lillian Gilbreth

1952 – Belles on Their Toes – Dr. Lillian M. Gilbreth

1956 The Ambassador’s Daughter – Mrs. Cartwwright

1958 Lonelyhearts – Florence Shrike

1959 Meet Me in St. Louis (TV Movie) – Mrs. Anna Smith

1960 From the Terrace – Martha Eaton

1960 Midnight Lace – Aunt Bea

1969 The April Fools – Grace Greenlaw

1971 Death Takes a Holiday (TV Movie) – Selena Chapman

1971 Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate (TV Movie) – Evelyn Tryon

1972 The Couple Takes a Wife (TV Movie) – Barbara’s Mother

1974 Indict and Convict (TV Movie) – Judge Christine Tayloy

1974 The Elevator (TV Movie) – Amanda Kenyon

1974 Airport 1975 – Mrs. Devaney

1977 Ants (TV Movie) – Ethel

1978 The End – Maureen Lawson

1980 Just Tell Me What You Want – Stella Liberti

1981 Summer Solstice (TV Movie) – Margaret

1991 Won Honorary Academy Award In recognition of her extraordinary qualities both on screen and off, with appreciation for a lifetime's worth of indelible performances. (Oscar statuette) - Myrna Loy was not present at the awards ceremony. She gave her acceptance via satellite from NYC.

1983 Won Los Angeles Film Critics Association – Career Achievement Award

1979 National Board of Review, USA – Won Career Achievement Award

1960 Walk of Fame – Won a Star on the Walk of Fame