Editing Norma Shearer (section)

=== Irving and Norma ===
[[File:Norma Shearer and Irv Thalberg.png|thumb|upright|Shearer and [[Irving Thalberg]] outside the White House, 1929]]

Having become a star, Shearer's new challenge was to remain one. Many other talented actresses were at the studio, and she realized she would have to fight hard to stay ahead of the pack. Seeing that sensational newcomer [[Greta Garbo]] was one of a kind, she went to Thalberg and "demanded recognition as one of another kind". It was just one of the many visits she paid to his office, always to plead for better material, better parts. Thalberg would listen patiently, then invariably advise her to keep toeing the line, that MGM knew best, and that the movies she complained about had made her a popular actress. Occasionally, Shearer would burst into tears, but this seemed to make "no more impression than rain on a raincoat".{{sfn|Lambert|1990|p=59}}

Privately, Thalberg was very impressed by Shearer. In a story conference, when her name was suggested to him for the part of a girl threatened with rape, Thalberg shook his head, and, with a wry smile, he said, "She looks too well able to take care of herself."{{sfn|Lambert|1990|p=60}}

Thalberg's appeal was not primarily sexual. What attracted Shearer was his commanding presence and steely grace, the impression he gave that wherever he sat was always the head of the table. In spite of his youth – he was only 26 – Thalberg became a father figure to the 23-year-old actress.

At the end of a working day in July 1925, Shearer received a phone call from Thalberg's secretary, asking if she would like to accompany Thalberg to the premiere of [[Charlie Chaplin|Chaplin]]'s ''[[The Gold Rush]]''. That night, they made their first appearance as a couple. A few weeks later, Shearer went to Montreal to visit her father. While there, she had a reunion with an old school friend, who remembered: "At the end of lunch, over coffee, Norma leant in across the table. 'I'm madly in love', she whispered. 'Who with?' I asked. 'With Irving Thalberg', she replied, smiling. I asked how Thalberg felt. 'I hope to marry him', Norma said, and then, with the flash of the assurance I remembered so well, 'I believe I will.{{' "}}{{sfn|Lambert|1990|p=66}}

Over the next two years, both Shearer and Irving saw other people. [[Louise Brooks]] remembered: "I held a dinner party sometime in 1926. All the place cards at the dinner table were books. In front of Thalberg's place was [[Theodore Dreiser|Dreiser's]] ''[[The "Genius" (novel)|Genius]]'', and in front of Norma's place, I put ''The Difficulty of Getting Married''. It was so funny because Irving walked right in and saw ''Genius'', and sat right down, but Norma kept walking around. She wouldn't sit down in front of ''The Difficulty of Getting Married''&nbsp;– no way!"{{sfn|Lambert|1990|p=86}}

[[File:Shearer Thalberg wedding 1927.jpg|thumb|upright|Shearer and Thalberg on their wedding day, 1927]]

By 1927, Shearer had made a total of 13 silent films for MGM. Each had been produced for under $200,000, and had, without fail, been a substantial box-office hit, often making a $200,000+ profit for the studio.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hollywood-legends.webs.com/ladyofthenight/boxoffice.htm|title=Shearer at Hollywood Legends website|publisher=Hollywood-legends.webs.com|access-date=July 21, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817234423/http://hollywood-legends.webs.com/ladyofthenight/boxoffice.htm|archive-date=August 17, 2011}}</ref> She was rewarded for this consistent success by being cast in [[Ernst Lubitsch]]'s ''[[The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg]]'', her first prestige production, with a budget over $1,000,000. While she was finishing ''The Student Prince'', Shearer received a call summoning her to Thalberg's office. She entered to find Thalberg sitting at his desk before a tray of diamond engagement rings. He granted her the option to choose her own ring; she picked out the biggest. After weeks of rumors, provoked by wearing the ring, it was announced in August 1927 that they were to wed.<ref>{{cite news|title=Norma Shearer To Wed Metro Film Executive|agency=United Press|newspaper=Pittsburgh Press| location=Pittsburgh|date=August 18, 1927|page=12}}</ref> On September 29, 1927, they were married in the Hollywood wedding of the year. Shearer had two children with Thalberg – [[Irving Thalberg, Jr.]] (1930–1987), and Katherine (1935–2006). Before they were married, Shearer [[converted to Judaism]] so she could marry Thalberg.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fxouLp7j7PYC&q=norma+shearer+jewish%3E&pg=PA381|title=Who's who in Jewish History: After the Period of the Old Testament|first1=Joan|last1=Comay|first2=Lavinia|last2=Cohn-Sherbok|date=June 27, 2019|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9780415260305|via=Google Books}}</ref>