| # | Fact |
|---|
| 1 | Underwent an abortion prior to her marriage to Arthur Hornblow Jr.. The procedure left her infertile. |
| 2 | If her cameo in The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947) is counted, Myrna Loy co-starred with William Powell fourteen times. Besides the six Thin Man films, the others were Manhattan Melodrama (1934), Evelyn Prentice (1934), The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Libeled Lady (1936), Double Wedding (1937), I Love You Again (1940) and Love Crazy (1941). |
| 3 | She appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). |
| 4 | She died only eight days after her So Goes My Love (1946) co-star Don Ameche and only eighteen days before her The Thin Man (1934) co-star Cesar Romero. |
| 5 | At the Academy Lifetime Tribute to Loy in 1985 Burt Reynolds, who cast her as his mother in The End (1978), reportedly said that he wished he'd been born earlier but didn't think he was a good enough actor to appear opposite her if he had. |
| 6 | Loy has gone on record as considering The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) her favourite film and the homecoming scene with Fredric March her favorite scene. |
| 7 | Was considered for the title role in Mildred Pierce (1945). |
| 8 | Was considered for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). |
| 9 | A cast of her hand-print and her signature are in the sidewalk in front of Theater 80, on St. Mark's Place in New York City. |
| 10 | A building at Sony Pictures Studios, formerly MGM Studios, in Culver City, California, is named in her honor. |
| 11 | Was a member of New York's St. Paul's Methodist Church (later known as the United Methodist Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew). |
| 12 | Profiled in book "Funny Ladies" by Stephen Silverman. [1999] |
| 13 | Is the subject of the song "Myrna Loy" by Steel Pole Bathtub (this song is different from and predates the song by The Minus 5). |
| 14 | In 1960 she campaigned for John F. Kennedy. Later she did battle with Californian Governor Ronald Reagan over open-housing legislation and for years afterward was a vigorous member of the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing. |
| 15 | Turned down the role of Ellie Andrews in It Happened One Night (1934). Claudette Colbert was given the part and went on to win the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. |
| 16 | Appeared in the first feature film with synchronized sound (Don Juan (1926)) and first feature film with audible dialog (The Jazz Singer (1927)). |
| 17 | Good friend of Princess Marina. |
| 18 | In Italy, she was dubbed at the beginning of the (talking) career either by Tina Lattanzi or Rosina Galli. Later in her career, Lidia Simoneschi was her official Italian voice. She was once dubbed by the talented Giovanna Scotto in So Goes My Love (1946). |
| 19 | Her Cheaper by the Dozen (1950) co-star, Jeanne Crain, died exactly ten years to the day after Myrna. |
| 20 | Subject of the song "Myrna Loy" by The Minus 5. |
| 21 | William Powell's nickname for her was 'Minnie'. |
| 22 | Was supposedly the favorite star of famed outlaw John Dillinger. He came out of hiding to see Manhattan Melodrama (1934), in which she starred, and was gunned down by police upon leaving the theater. |
| 23 | The statue outside Venice High School that bears her likeness is titled 'Inspiration', and has been the target of vandalism and school pranks for decades (Loy mentions in her book that the statue was even decapitated at one point). It is now surrounded by a fence. |
| 24 | Appeared in staged prologues at Grauman's Egyptian theater in Los Angeles, before getting her first role in films. The prologues, staged by Fanchon and Marco, were live shows put on before the feature had begun. Myrna appeared in prologues for The Ten Commandments (1923) and The Thief of Bagdad (1924), among others. |
| 25 | Her profile was the most requested in the 1930s by women to their plastic surgeons. |
| 26 | First Actress to work for the UN (UNESCO). |
| 27 | Her mother, Della Williams, was a talented pianist who encouraged Myrna's interest in the arts. |
| 28 | Born on a cattle ranch. |
| 29 | Outspoken against Adolf Hitler in the War, Myrna appeared on his blacklist. |
| 30 | Made her stage debut in 1916. |
| 31 | Myrna was Co-Chairman of the Advisory Council of the National Committee against discrimination in housing - exposing segregation in federal funded projects. |
| 32 | Moved to Manhattan in 1960, where she lived until her death in 1993. |
| 33 | Attended Venice High School in Los Angeles, where a statue of her stands (on the front lawn). The same school was featured in the original Grease (1978), American History X (1998) and in The Chemical Brothers' and Britney Spears' music videos ("Elektrobank" and "Baby one more time", respectively). |
| 34 | Changing last name from Williams to Loy was suggested by legendary pulp writer Paul Cain (AKA Peter Ruric). |
| 35 | Underwent two mastectomies after being diagnosed with breast cancer twice. |
| 36 | In honor of Myrna Loy, a poem was created called, Montana Women, which was read at the celebration of her 86th birthday. |
| 37 | Myrna Williams made her stage debut at age twelve at Helena's old Marlow Theater in a dance she choreographed, based on "The Blue Bird" from the Rose Dream Operatta. |
| 38 | Her final public appearance was in 1991 when she received her lifetime achievement award during The 63rd Annual Academy Awards (1991). She was unable to travel to Hollywood to accept the award in person, so the Academy arranged a live satellite link to her Manhattan apartment. Anjelica Huston introduced the film tribute presentation to her, which started with clips from The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and ended with a clip from After the Thin Man (1936) When the tribute finished, there was instantaneous rapturous applause and Huston then said, "Here from her apartment in New York is Miss Loy. Congratulations Myrna." Loy appeared live on a large screen from her beautiful New York apartment smiling, with her Honorary Oscar on a side table next to her. She was seated wearing sparkling purple evening wear and watched intently on her own television. She viewed and smiled at close up shots of fellow same-year Honorary Award recipient Sophia Loren and other audience members applauding. There was unusually no standing ovation, instead audience members remained seated during the applause, this was by no means a snub. There was a short silence after the applause, while the camera closed in on Miss Loy. She then looked directly at the camera and simply and said, "You've made me very happy, thank you very much," to yet further loud applause and then she disappeared from the screen once more. |
| 39 | Received a Honorary Academy Award in the same year as Sophia Loren. |
| 40 | At Venice High school, in the middle of a small rose garden, is a larger-than-life-size statue of actress Myrna Loy. And it was made years before Myrna appeared in a single movie. Actually, it isn't a particularly good likeness of Miss Loy. Standing atop a stone pedestal, back arched, the short-haired figure is semi-nude (wearing only a thin gown which leaves little to the imagination), with one arm raised in a dramatic pose. All three statues were modeled by Venice High students, and the trio are meant to depict the "Mental," "Physical" and "Spiritual." According to the bronze plaque on the east side of the pedestal, the statues were erected in 1921, which means that Myrna Loy (then named Myrna Williams) was only 16 years old when she posed for the "Spiritual" statue - long before she became a celebrity. |
| 41 | Her father, at age 21, the youngest man ever elected to the Montana State Legislature, owned a small cattle ranch. |
| 42 | Some of her biggest fans included James Stewart, Winston Churchill, and the Roosevelts. Franklin D. Roosevelt invited to the White House early on in his administration, and she became very friendly with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. |
| 43 | In 1923, she was photographed by Henry Waxman, who showed the pictures to Rudolph Valentino. Impressed with Myrna, Valentino arranged for a screen test for his upcoming film, Cobra (1925). She failed it. |
| 44 | She organized an opposition to the House Unamerican Activities Committee in Hollywood. |
| 45 | Recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center in 1988. |
| 46 | In 1918, her father died in the Spanish Flu epidemic, and Myrna, her mom, and brother moved to LA. |
| 47 | In 1936 Myrna was named Queen of the Movies and Clark Gable King in a national poll, winning a crown of tin and purple velvet. in her autobiography, she says that she did not get on with Gable in her earlier films with him. However, in her later films he developed a respect for Loy and they became good friends. |
| 48 | After graduating from high school in 1923, Myrna got a job dancing in the chorus during the prologue for The Ten Commandments at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. |
| 49 | When her father was travelling by train in early 1905, he went through a small station called 'Myrna' - he eventually named her after that station. |
| 50 | Spent her early years on a ranch and in the town of Helena, Montana, which was also the home of Gary Cooper. |
| 51 | Myrna enrolled at Venice High School -- a school which later named its annual speech and drama awards 'Myrnas'. |
| 52 | A devout Democrat and feminist, she later dismissed her work in the pre-Civil Rights-era movie Ham and Eggs at the Front (1927) as "shameful". |
| 53 | Men-Must-Marry-Myrna Clubs were formed due to her portrayal as The Perfect Wife (The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)). |
| 54 | Loy donned a uniform during the War when she joined the Hollywood Chapter of 'Bundles for Bluejackets' -- helping to run a Naval Auxiliary Canteen and going on fund raising tours. |
| 55 | In 1937, Myrna had a narrow escape when her horse bolted during the filming of The Rains Came (1939) with Tyrone Power; she was nearly killed. |
| 56 | 'Caterina Williams' is sometimes quoted as her real name. |
| 57 | She became a founder member of the American Place Theatre, a non-profit theatre set up to help new writers develop. |
| 58 | One of a handful of great movie stars never nominated for an acting Oscar, she received an honorary Academy Award in 1991. |
| 59 | Hobbies: Sculpting and dancing. |
| 60 | She made her Broadway debut in the 1973 revival of "The Women". |
| 61 | She served as an advisor to the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing. |
| 62 | For five years (1949-1954) she served as a film advisor for UNESCO. |
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