Norma Shearer cinema card

Description:

Hand-colored cinema card for actress Norma Shearer with a short biography on the back. Canadian-American actress Norma Shearer was born on 10 August 1902 in Montreal, Canada. Shearer's career started as child model, during which time she won a beauty contest at age 14. In 1923, MGM producer Irving Thalberg signed Shearer. Soon after, she began starring in popular films, such as He Who Gets Slapped (1924), His Secretary (1925), and The Student Prince (1927). In 1927, Shearer and Thalberg were married, and she began to have her choice of film roles. Her role in the 1930 film The Divorcee even won her an Oscar. Other memorable performances include: Smilin’ Through (1932), Romeo and Juliet (1936), Marie Antoinette (1938), and The Women (1939). Although she was one of MGM’s biggest stars of the 1930s, Shearer lost interest in films after Thalberg’s death in 1936. She went so far as to turn down major roles, such as the lead in the classic film Gone with the Wind (1939). In 1942, Shearer retired and remarried. She died on 12 June 1983 and her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as well as her induction into Canada’s Walk of Fame honor her contributions to the film industry.

This card belongs to a set titled "Cinema Stars: A Series of 30 Hand Coloured Pictures" which features popular film actresses from the 1930s. Collectible cards like this were very popular during the 1920s and 1930s, and they were distributed by various brands in both tobacco and food products. In the 1920s, Cavanders Ltd. also released the following sets of cards: "Beauty Spots of Great Britain," "Foreign Birds," and "River Valleys."