Elissa Landi

Elissa Landi has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to Motion Pictures, at 1615 Vine St. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6685 Hollywood Blvd. She died from cancer in Kingston, New York. After surviving breast cancer and a double mastectomy, Myrna Loy died during cancer surgery in New York City and was cremated; her ashes are buried at Forestvale Cemetery, in Helena, Montana. She became a United States Citizen in 1943, and dedicted herself to writing, producing six novels and a series of poems. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center in 1986. Although she was never nominated for an Academy Award for any single performance, she received an Academy Honorary Award in 1991 "for her career achievement". After only two more films she retired, in 1943. Her autobiography Being And Becoming Myrna Loy was published in 1987.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signed her to a contract and after a couple of romantic dramas she played the cousin of Myrna Loy in the very popular After the Thin Man (1936). Her film career continued sporadically and she also returned to the stage making her Broadway debut in 1973. Her contract with Fox was abruptly cancelled in 1936 as a result of her refusal to accept a particular role. From 1949 until 1954 she also worked for UNESCO. She was paired successfully with some of the major leading men, such as David Manners, Warner Baxter, and Ronald Colman in romantic dramas, before appearing in the box office hit The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) with Robert Donat. In later life she assumed a more influential role as Co-Chairman of the "Advisory Council of the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing". De Mille's The Sign of the Cross (1932), but was overshadowed by Claudette Colbert who played the flashier role of the temptress. During her career she had championed the rights of black actors and characters to be depicted with dignity on film.

She played the heroine in Cecil B. It also allowed Loy to make a film that demonstrated her social conscience. She was signed to a contact by 20th Century Fox in 1931. In later years Loy would recall this film as her proudest acting achievement. During the 1920s she appeared in British, French, and German films before travelling to the United States to appear in a Broadway production of A Farewell to Arms. She returned to films with The Best Years Of Our Lives in 1946 and played the wife of returning serviceman Fredric March. She would return to writing during lulls in her acting career. She helped run a Naval Auxilary Canteen and toured frequently to raise funds.

Her first ambition was to be a writer, and she wrote her first novel at the age of twenty. She was fiercely outspoken against Adolf Hitler and her name appeared on his "blacklist". Born Elizabeth Marie Christine Kühnelt in Venice, Italy, Landi was raised in Austria and educated in England. With the outbreak of World War II she all but abandoned her acting career to focus on the war effort and worked closely with the Red Cross. Rumoured to be a descendant of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, she was noted for her aristocratic bearing. During this period she was one of Hollywood's busiest and highest paid actresses. Elissa Landi (December 6, 1904 – October 21, 1948) was an Italian born actress who was popular in Hollywood films of the 1920s and 1930s. In 1936, she was voted "Queen of Hollywood" (in a contest which also voted Clark Gable "King") and was considered to epitomise the height of glamour and sophistication.

She and Powell proved to be a popular couple and appeared in 14 films together, the most prolific onscreen pairing in Hollywood history. Her performance in The Thin Man later the same year as William Powell's sophisticated, witty wife Nora made her a star. The first was Manhattan Melodrama with Clark Gable and William Powell. Her breakthrough occurred in 1934 with two very successful films.

During her nine year struggle to establish herself, she appeared in nearly 80 films. Her silent film roles were mainly those of vampish exotic women and for a few years she struggled to overcome this stereotype with many producers and directors believing that while she was perfect as these femme fatales, she was capable of little more. Rudolph Valentino arranged a screen test for her which she failed, but she persevered, and in 1925 appeared in the movie What Price Beauty. At the age of fifteen she began appearing in local stage productions.

Born Myrna Adele Williams in Raidersburg (near Helena, Montana), she moved to Los Angeles, California when she was young. Myrna Loy (August 2, 1905 - December 14, 1993) was a United States actress, well known for her motion picture work. Made for TV, and starring opposite Henry Fonda, this was Loy's final performance, save for a guest role in a 1982 episode of the television series Love, Sidney. Summer Solstice (1981).

Just Tell Me What You Want (1980). The End (1978). Airport 1975 (1974). Midnight Lace (1960).

From the Terrace (1960). Belles on Their Toes (1952). Cheaper by the Dozen (1950). Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948).

Mr. Song of the Thin Man (1947). The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947). The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).