Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams) was an American film, television and stage actress. As a performer, she was known for her ability to adapt to her screen partner's acting style. Her career prospects improved greatly following her portrayal of Nora Charles in The Thin Man (1934).
Loy's performances peaked in the 1940s, with films like The Thin Man Goes Home, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. In the 1950s she appeared in a lead role in the comedy Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), as well as supporting roles in The Ambassador's Daughter (1956) and the drama Lonelyhearts (1958). She appeared in eight films between 1960 and 1981, after which she retired from acting.
Although Loy was never nominated for an Academy Award, in March 1991 she received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her life's work both onscreen and off, including serving as assistant to the director of military and naval welfare for the Red Cross during World War II, and a member-at-large of the U.S. Commission to UNESCO. In 2009, The Guardian named her one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.
