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The Golden Age of Hollywood
Lot 192

A Norma Shearer pair of photographs by Hurrell, one signed

14 May 2019, 13:00 PDT
Los Angeles

Sold for US$1,211.25 inc. premium

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A Norma Shearer pair of photographs by Hurrell, one signed

Two silver gelatin doubleweight photographs, matte finish, one inscribed, "Sincerely / Norma Shearer," with "Hurrell / M.G.M." stamped to reverse on both and "Norma Shearer / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer" stamped to reverse on one. The two sides of Shearer are revealed in these dramatic portraits taken by Hollywood's renowned glamour photographer, George Hurrell. The closeup portrait was taken by Hurrell at Shearer's request in an attempt to convince the MGM powers-that-be (which included her husband, Irving Thalberg) that she was capable of playing a femme fatale in The Divorcee (1930). The resultant pictures were sensual enough that she won the role, which cast her opposite Clark Gable and sent her already successful career in another exciting direction, winning her a Best Actress Academy Award®. The second, more docile photograph was taken to promote Shearer's role in Romeo and Juliet (1936), in which the 34-year-old Shearer plays opposite the 43-year-old Leslie Howard as Shakespeare's star-crossed teenage lovers.
8 x 10 in.

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