Andrew Shearer (lumber merchant)

Andrew "Andy" Shearer (January 26, 1864 – February 6, 1944) was a Canadian lumber merchant and amateur ice hockey player. He was the father of Hollywood actresses Norma and Athole Shearer and sound designer and recording director Douglas Shearer, and an older brother of zoologist Cresswell Shearer.

Andrew Shearer
Photo from Men of Canada by John Alexander Cooper, 1901, pg. 206
BornJanuary 26, 1864[1]
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DiedFebruary 6, 1944 (aged 80)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationLumber merchant
Spouse(s)Edith Mary Fisher
ChildrenDouglas Shearer
Athole Shearer
Norma Shearer
RelativesCresswell Shearer (brother)
Irving Thalberg Jr. (grandson)
Montreal Victorias ice hockey club in 1888 of which Andrew Shearer was captain. He is standing in the middle of the photograph, second from the left in the back row.

Biography

Andrew Shearer was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1864 to James Traill Shearer and Eliza Shearer (née Graham).[2] His father was born in Rosegill near Dunnet in Caithnesshire in northern Scotland in 1822 and his mother was born in Montréal in 1827. James T. Shearer was a carpenter and lumber manufacturer and Andrew Shearer later worked as a lumber merchant and as a director of the James Shearer Company in Montréal.[3]

He married Edith Mary Fisher in Montréal in 1899 and they had three children: Douglas (b. 1899), Athole (b. 1900) and Norma (b. 1902). The family lived in a well-to-do neighborhood of Montréal, but around 1919 the Canadian economy fell into a slump and he sold the business and lost most of the family money in the deal. He was forced to move the family to a more modest part of Montréal, and his wife Edith soon took her two daughters to New York City to find jobs in the entertainment industry, whereas Douglas stayed with his father. All of his three children would later pursue careers within the film industry in Hollywood, Norma and Athole as actresses and Douglas as a sound designer and recording director. Mental health issues also came to plague the family. Andrew Shearer was allegedly prone to manic depression and Norma described how he used to move like a "ghost like presence" around the house.[4] Both his daughters also came to suffer from mental instabilities.

Andrew Shearer followed his family to California and died in Los Angeles in 1944 aged 80. He is buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California where his wife Edith and two daughters also rest.

Career in ice hockey

While in his 20s in Montréal Andy Shearer played ice hockey in the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada, an early league organized to determine the Canadian champion. Shearer played with the Montreal Victorias between 1883–1891 and in 1888 he captained the club to a second place finish behind the Montreal Hockey Club, scoring four goals in seven games in the process. Shearer played at the forward position.

Statistics
    League
Season Team League GP G
1887 Montreal Victorias AHAC 6 2
1888 Montreal Victorias AHAC 7 4
1891 Montreal Victorias AHAC 2 0
Totals 15 6

Statistics per SIHR at sihrhockey.org


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References

Notes
  1. Andrew Shearer findagrave.com
  2. James Traill Shearer findagrave.com
  3. Men of Canada. Cooper, John Alexander. 1901–1902. pg. 206. The Canadian Historical Company (Montreal and Toronto).
  4. Norma Shearer: A Life. Lambert, Gavin. 1990. Alfred A. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (New York) (978-0-394-55158-6).
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