- Got director Viktor Tourjansky fired because he was not sure of her cross-eyed stare
- When Louis B. Mayer hired director W.S. "One Take" van Dyke instead of Shearer's favorite Sidney Franklin, she put the other actors through rehearsals herself so the movie would be perfect
- After retiring, jumpstarted the careers of Janet Leigh and Robert Evans
- Would not take off her wedding ring for a role
- Convinced husband and MGM producer Irving Thalberg she was right for "The Gay Divorcee" (1934) by getting sexy photographs done of herself when Thalberg said she would not succeed in a sexy role. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film.
- Active in the presidential campaign of Dwight Eisenhower
- Earned $6,000 a week during the peak of her career
- Got Francis Marion to draft the screenplay for "A Free Soul" before Thalberg even owned the novel's rights, wanting to play the strong female lead
- Experimented with makeup herself to find the best shade that would make her illuminate on screen
- Fought MGM executives after Thalberg's death of how much the estate would profit from future MGM films
- Champion and confidant of homosexual actors Charles Laughton and Ramon Navarro
- Retired from acting in 1942
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