SHORT TAKES : Honorary Oscar for Myrna Loy

Actress Myrna Loy, romanced by the likes of Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Cary Grant and William Powell on the big screen in the 1930s and 1940s, will receive an honorary Oscar, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said.

“It is an honor long overdue for one of the screen’s most wonderful performers,” the Academy’s governing board said today.

During her 54-year career, she bridged “the most fertile period of American filmmaking,” the board said.

Loy, 85, will receive her Academy Award during Oscar ceremonies at the Shrine Auditorium on March 25.

Despite a string of movie hits, including the 1946 Academy Award sweeper, “The Best Years of Our Lives,” Loy has never received an Oscar. She wasn’t even nominated for her role in “Best Years,” although the movie receive honors in seven major categories. That year’s Oscar for best actress went to Olivia de Havilland for “To Each His Own.”