Customer Reviews

Myrna Loy: Being and Becoming

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I couldn't put this book down from the moment I started reading it. It's written from Myrna's own point of view, and it's intresting to get in the mind of Ms. Loy just a few years short from when she died. It has great insight on her relationships with such legends as Clark Gable, William Powell, Lionel Barrymore, Jean Harlow, and even Alfred Hitchcock. It's a great read for anyone who is intrested in the Golden Age of film.

The title says it all. Am I biased? Perhaps. But there is no doubt that the person who wrote this book was a true lady, in every way. There is none of the snobbishness, ego, lie and most of all, gossip, that may be expected from autobiographies like these. Myrna Loy was a very straightforward, candid and honest woman and this certainly shows through the pages. The only time she even comes close to "bad-mouthing" someone is when she expresses her disapproval of the person's political views. Yet she makes it clear that just because their views seem distasteful does not mean they are bad people. Some of these were her friends, and she says nothing bad about their characters. If anything, she has at least one positive thing to say about each person that has entered her life. If I had to pick the most remarkable thing about Myrna Loy, it would be her gift of instinct, which was what allowed her to be such a great actress and such an understanding friend to all those who knew her.

The book is a truly fascinating read for anyone interested in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Myrna Loy was either close or acquainted with all the famous people you hear of - Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Carole Lombard, Jeanette MacDonald. She even recounts some stories of Greta Garbo, whose dressing room was next to hers. And that is not all. She was there since the very beginning days of film, and in this book you hear about the famous silent stars - Rudolph Valentino, John Gilbert, Dolores Costello, Conrad Nagel. Because she worked into the '80s on both film and television, she was also acquainted with some of the later stars like Doris Day, Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Lemmon, and even Catherine Deneuve. All these names can take your breath away and I really enjoyed reading about the whole span of Hollywood from its early years to its modern days. She is right in the midst of it all and the amazing thing is, these names are not evoked in a gossipy tone. It's just simply a part of her life. The names are inevitably there, when she and her first husband Arthur Hornblow lived in the Pacific Palisades, the home of the Hollywood elite, and when in her later years she moved to New York, a gathering place for all the playwrights and stage actors.

Everyone who knows Myrna Loy also knows about her political activism. She was very active - like most other Hollywood stars - during WWII, and was concerned with the suspicion and framing that were prevalent in Hollywood prior to the Red Scare. She was part of the First Amendment Committee, an organization founded to counter the House Un-American Activities Committee, and later became the first actress to work for the UN when she joined UNESCO. Always fighting for justice, she questioned studio heads about the portrayal of African American actors in movies and fought against discrimination in housing. As the wife of a politician, she resided in Georgetown, D.C. where she socialized with other politicians and their wives, many of whom she admired. If the big names of Hollywood doesn't impress you, the big names of Capitol Hill may, for she was well-acquainted with them as well. Whoever thinks Hollywood and Washington cannot work together will be proven wrong in this book. Myrna Loy was a friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, a favorite of FDR and well-acquainted with the Kennedys. Her political work was always in her mind, even when she worked in films, because she sought to help others instead of dwelling in her wealth.

If the review seems gushed, astounded, perhaps subjective... it is because I am. Keep in mind that Myrna Loy never fails to impress me; nevertheless, the richness of information in this book is not a lie. All the names and activities I have mentioned above are all in the book. Whether you are a fan or someone who is just curious about the movie industry or the politics of the time, you won't be disappointed. In conclusion, breathtaking - is the word that can sum up this book. Her life was indeed very rich, and today's youngsters could learn much from this lady.

In this illuminating autobiography, Myrna Loy shares her exhilirating life in a page-turner of rare sophistication. From her early desire to dance, through her struggle to get "through the gates" of the MGM lot, her almost slave-like work at MGM, her transformation into the "perfect wife", and her endless humanitarian work (most notably for UNESCO), Myrna Loy's life was more complex and substantial than that of "just a Hollywood starlet." A fascinating read about an extraordinary woman!

I can't say this about the other actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood, but I can say it about Myrna Loy, she was a Lady, anyone who wants to learn how to be a Lady, look at this woman, learn, watch and observe her movies, and read this book. She tells about her life, you can get a picture on what type of person she is. She doesn't tell every private thing of her life, but she tells just enough to get us to love her and see she's a lady, I wish she would of kids, she needs someone to carry on her name and carry on the legend. I have to say in my book, she consider one of the beautifuliest women in Hollywood, she had that rare, exotic beauty, and maintained it for years well into her 50s and 60s, a lot of actresses from that era drinked their beauty away, not Myrna. Myrna didn't want to be a bombshell, not a society type, not a glamour queen, she wanted to be all of it, be a lady, be tough, speak her mind, but still have class, dignity, and be a bombshell, high society type, glamour queen all together. She knew her limits as an actress, which a lot of actresses don't. I loved how I read about how she helped blacks and miniorities, and did it publicly, she was sick of the way blacks were treated, especially in movies, she once said, "Why Does Every Black Person Has To Be A Servant, Why Can't A Black Person Go Up The Stairs with A Briefcase or Doctor's Bag" she use to argue with the studio about this realizing that it could damage her career. She spoke her mind, She tells how she once was shy but overcame it, she was referring that to Greta Garbo, she didn't like the way Greta acted, and she said there was no reason for that, becuse she was once shy but worked on it. She talks about mostly all the Golden Age of Hollywood actors and actresses, tells the truth and tells what type of people they really were. She proved that you can be a legend and star and still be talked about and be good without scandals, without sleeping around, without heavy partying or falling out drunk to get publicity. She certainly is the Queen of Hollywood, and Lady of Hollywood. Rest in Peace Beautiful

This is an excellent autobiography. Myrna Loy is a woman ahead of her time. She discusses candidly and with amazing detail her life inside and outside the studio. It is refreshing to see a book that is not a scandalous tell all. She was very political and makes no bones about the fact that she is a liberal and she was very vocal in her involvement politically and on social causes.

The difference between her and the "famous" now is she read about the cause or the political issue before getting up and talking to the public. The blithering that goes on now is amazing; Hollywood can take a lesson from Miss Loy on knowing your subject first then opening your mouth in an intelligent, classy manner.

What a lady in the true sense of the word. Sadly she is gone, but her charm, grace and elegance lives on in her movies and her book. Bravo Miss Loy!

Myrna Loy's career spanned the late silient films, through the beginning of talkies, then technicolor, and didn't end till the early 1980's. Anyone with an interest in American cinema will probably enjoy this book. If you are interested in gossip, this is not the book you want. Gossip is not her style.

I was a bit overwhelmed by all the names in the book. She has mixed with so many people, that sometimes the famous names became a sort of mental blur as I read.

My favorite thing about this book is that Myrna Loy expresses her Liberal Democrat point-of-view. She was a very politically active person in the second half of her life, and she uses the book to express her political ideals. People get this notion that everyone who lived through World War II ended up as Republicans. Loy makes it clear that her generation was not all conservative.

I like to read biographies like this to get a feel for the person, who they were, and how their life was behind the scenes. I did get that here, and I very much enjoyed the book at first. But the further along I got, the more it almost chiefly talked about her political activities. I understand now that this was apparently a big part of her life, and that's why it was in the book. I just wasn't expecting it. I do not like politics, so lost interest when it didn't seem to move to any other topic midway through the book :(