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Norma Shearer

Canadian-American actress and Academy Award winner whose 1930 Best Actress victory for The Divorcee is verified by JWR as the first competitive Academy Award won by a Jewish woman.

Los Angeles, California, United States

Norma Shearer receiving the Best Actress statuette at the 3rd Academy Awards in 1930

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences / Town and Country Magazine / Wikimedia Commons — public domainSource

Biography

Edith Norma Shearer was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1902 and became one of MGM's leading stars of the late silent and early sound eras. She married producer Irving Thalberg in 1927 and converted to Judaism that year. At the 3rd Academy Awards on 5 November 1930 she won Best Actress for The Divorcee. She later became a U.S. citizen and retired from film in 1942. She died in Los Angeles in 1983. Canadian-American actress and Academy Award winner whose 1930 Best Actress victory for The Divorcee is verified by JWR as the first competitive Academy Award won by a Jewish woman. In Jewish World Records, Norma Shearer is connected to the record “First Jewish Woman to Win an Oscar,” based on the stored achievement of First competitive Academy Award won by a Jewish woman.

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Records held by Norma Shearer

Norma Shearer receiving the Best Actress statuette at the 3rd Academy Awards in 1930
JWR VerifiedFounding Record
Awards · Academy AwardsFirst

First Jewish Woman to Win an Oscar

Record holder

Norma Shearer

Record value

5 November 1930

Norma Shearer became the first Jewish woman to win a competitive Oscar on 5 November 1930. At the 3rd Academy Awards ceremony held in Los Angeles, she received the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film The Divorcee. This achievement establishes the record for the "First competitive Academy Award won by a Jewish woman", as defined by the exclusion of nominations, honorary awards, or prizes credited only to a film entity.

Country represented
Canada
Achievement location
Los Angeles, California, United States
Achievement date
5 November 1930
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