Greta Garbo (actress)

Cause of death: pneumonia and renal failure

Birth: Sep. 18, 1905
Death: Apr. 15, 1990

Greta Lovisa Gustafsson was born in Stockholm, Sweden on September 18, 1905. She was 14 when her father died, leaving the family destitute. Greta was forced to leave school and go to work in a department store. The store used her for her modeling abilities for newspaper ads. She had no film aspirations until she appeared in an advertising short at that same department store while she was still a teenager. This led to another short film when Erik A. Petschler, a comedy director, saw the film. He gave her a small part in the film, _Luffarpetter (1922)_. Encouraged by her own performance she applied for and won a scholarship in a Swedish drama school. While there she appeared in two films, Lyckoriddare, En (1921) and _Luffarpetter (1922)_ the following year. Both were small parts, but it was a start. Finally famed Swedish director, Mauritz Stiller, pulled her from drama school for the leading role in Gösta Berlings saga (1924). At 18, Greta was on a roll. Following Freudlose Gasse, Die (1925) both Greta and Stiller were offered contracts with MGM. Her first US film was Torrent (1926). It was a silent film where she didn't have to speak a word of English. After a few more films, such as The Temptress (1926), Love (1927/I), and A Woman of Affairs (1928), Greta starred in Anna Christie (1930) (her first "talkie"), which not only gave her a powerful screen presence, but also gave her an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress. Unfortunately she didn't win. Later that year she filmed Romance (1930) which was somewhat of a letdown, but bounced back as lead role in Susan Lenox (1931) with Clark Gable. The film was a hit and led to another exciting title role in Mata Hari (1931). Greta continued to give intensified performances in whatever was handed her. The next year Greta was cast in another hit Grand Hotel (1932). But it was MGM's Anna Karenina (1935) where she, perhaps, gave the performance of her life. She was absolutely breathtaking in the title role as a woman torn between two lovers and her son. Greta starred in Ninotchka (1939) which showcased her comedic side. It wasn't until two years later she made what was to be her last film that being Two-Faced Woman (1941), another comedy. After World War II, Greta, by her own admission, felt that the world had changed perhaps forever and she retired, never again to face the camera. She would work for the rest of her life to perpetuate the Garbo mystique. Her films, she felt, had their proper place in history and would gain in value. She abandoned Hollywood and moved to New York City. She would jet-set with some of the world's best known personalities such as Aristotle Onassis and others. She spent time gardening flowers and vegetables. In 1954, Greta was given a special Oscar for past unforgettable performances. She even penned her biography in 1990. On April 15, 1990, Greta died of natural causes in New York and with it the "Garbo Mystique". She was 84.

Interred at Skogskyrkogården Cemetery, Stockholm, Sweden.

Lived the last few years of her life in absolute seclusion.

October 1997: Ranked #38 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.

Letters and correspondence between Garbo and poet, socialite and notorious lesbian Mercedes de Acosta were unsealed on April 15, 2000, exactly 10 years after Garbo's death (per De Acosta's instructions). The letters revealed no love affair between the two, as had been rumored.

Garbo, according to movie director Jacques Feyder: "At 9 o'clock a.m. the work may begin. "Tell Mrs. Garbo we're ready" says the director. "I'm here" a low voice answers, and she appears, perfectly dressed and combed as the scene needs. Nobody could say by what door she came but she's there. And at 6 o'clock PM, even if the shot could be finished in five minutes, she points at the watch and goes away giving you a sorry smile. She's very strict with herself and hardly pleased with her work. She never looks rushes nor goes to the premières but some days later, early in the afternoon, enters all alone an outskirts movie house, takes place in a cheap seat and gets out only when the projection finishes, masked with her sunglasses".

Once voted by The Guinness Book of World Records as the most beautiful woman who ever lived.

Her parents were Karl and Anna Gustafson, and she also had an older sister and brother, Alva Garbo and Sven Garbo. Her father died when she was 14 of nephritis, and her sister was also dead of lymphatic cancer by the time Greta was 21 years old.

Her personal favourite movie of her own was Camille (1936).

She disliked Clark Gable, a feeling that was mutual. She thought his acting was wooden while he considered her a snob.

Left John Gilbert standing at the altar in 1927 when she got cold feet about marrying him.

Before making it big, she worked as a soap-latherer in a barber's shop back in Sweden.

During filming, whenever there was something going on that wasn't to her liking she would simply say "I think I'll go back to Sweden!" which frightened the studio heads so much that they gave in to her every whim.

In the mid-1950s she bought a seven-room-apartment in New York City (450 East 52nd Street) and lived there until she died.

1951: Became a US citizen.

Garbo's sets were closed to all visitors and sometimes even the director! When asked why, she said: "During these scenes I allow only the cameraman and lighting man on the set. The director goes out for a coffee or a milkshake. When people are watching, I'm just a woman making faces for the camera. It destroys the illusion. If I am by myself, my face will do things I cannot do with it otherwise."

Garbo was criticized for not aiding the Allies during WWII, but it was later disclosed that she had helped Britain by identifying influential Nazi sympathizers in Stockholm and by providing introductions and carrying messsages for British agents.

Garbo was prone to chronic depression and spent many years attacking it through Eastern philosophy and a solid health food regiment. However, she never gave up smoking and cocktails.

Except at the very beginning of her career, she granted no interviews, signed no autographs, attended no premieres, and answered no fan mail.

Her volatile mentor/director Mauritz Stiller, who brought her to Hollywood, was abruptly fired from directing her second MGM Hollywood film, The Temptress (1926), after repeated arguments with MGM execs and was soon let go. Unable to hold a job in Hollywood, he returned to Sweden in 1928 and died shortly after at the age of 45. Garbo was devastated.

Garbo actually hoped to return to films after the war but, for whatever reason, no projects ever materialized.

She was as secretive about her relatives as she was about herself, and, upon her death, the names of her survivors could not immediately be determined.

Never married, she invested wisely and was known for her extreme frugality.

Related to Anna Sundstrand of the Swedish pop group Play.

Although it was believed that Garbo lived as an invalid in her post-Hollywood career, this is incorrect. She was a real jet setter, traveling with international tycoons and socialites. In the 1970s she traveled less and grew more and more eccentric, although she still took daily walks through Central Park with close friends and walkers. Due to failing health in the late 1980s, her mobility was challenged. In her final year it was her family that cared for her, including taking her to dialysis treatments. She died with them by her side.

She was originally chosen for the lead roles in The Paradine Case (1947), My Cousin Rachel (1952), and The Wicked Dutchess. Garbo turned down these roles, with the exception of The Wicked Dutchess, which was never shot due to financial problems.

Measurements: 35 1/2-26-38 (in July 1930), 35 1/2-28-33 1/2 (according to MGM designer Adrian), 35B-27-38 (noted in "Those Glamorous Years" book), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).

Popularized trenchcoats & berets in the 1930s.

According to her friend, producer William Frye, he offered Garbo one million dollars to star as the Mother Superior in his film The Trouble with Angels (1966). When she declined, he cast Rosalind Russell in the part - at a much lower salary.

She was voted the 25th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

Sister of Sven Garbo and Alva Garbo.

Her favorite American director was Clarence Brown, who directed her in six films, including the classics Flesh and the Devil (1926), A Woman of Affairs (1928), Anna Christie (1930), and Anna Karenina (1935).

Her first "talkie" film was Anna Christie (1930).

She was voted the 8th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine.

Was named #5 Actress on The American Film Institute's 50 Greatest Screen Legends

Spanish sculptor Pablo Gargallo created three pieces based on Garbo: "Masque de Greta Garbo à la mèche," "Tête de Greta Garbo avec chapeau," and "Masque de Greta Garbo aux cils."

Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna's song "Vogue"

Pictured on a 37¢ USA commemorative postage stamp issued 23 September 2005, five days after her 100th birthday. On the same day, Sweden issued a 10kr stamp with the same design. The likeness on the stamps was based on a photograph taken during the filming of As You Desire Me (1932).

Once lived in the famed Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles (8221 Sunset Boulevard).

Aunt of Gray Reisfield (daughter of Sven Garbo).

Grandaunt of Derek Reisfield and Scott Reisfield, children of Gray Reisfield and Donald Reisfield.

Her first film appearance ever was in a short advertising film that ran in local theaters in Stockholm.

Her performance as Ninotchka in Ninotchka (1939) is ranked #25 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

Her performance as Ninotchka in Ninotchka (1939) is ranked #53 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

Garbo's greatest confidant was Salka Viertel, a German friend who had known Garbo back in Sweden. Viertel proved to be very manipulative of Garbo, including relationships (particularly with that of Mercedes de Acosta), film choices, and general living. It was in fact Salka that kept Garbo from returning to films due to her persuasive workings. Salka was ironically friendly with Marlene Dietrich, Garbo's enemy, whom Salka had known back in Germany's Weimer Republic and whom had much dirt on Dietrich's deepest secrets and past. Garbo's film choices are largely based on Salka's persuasion; they co-starred in the German version of Anna Christie (1930), soon after Garbo insisting that Salka be placed on the MGM payroll as a writer for her films.

Is portrayed by Kristina Wayborn in The Silent Lovers (1980) (TV)

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 316-319. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.

In Italy, her first films (like Mata Hari (1931) and Grand Hotel (1932)) were dubbed by Francesca Braggiotti. Because Braggiotti had been living in the United States for many years and had a slight American accent, the Italian public didn't really accept her voice so the very Italian Tina Lattanzi was chosen as Garbo's official Italian voice instead (she even re-dubbed Mata Hari (1931)). For her last two films Ninotchka (1939) and Two-Faced Woman (1941), she was dubbed by Andreina Pagnani. When some of Garbo films were re-released in Italy in the 1960's, they were re-dubbed once more. This is how stage actress Anna Proclemer lent her voice to the divine Garbo.

Gary Cooper was reportedly one of her favorite actors. She requested him for several of her films, but nothing ever materialized.

Throughout her entire MGM career, insisted that William Daniels be cinematographer on her pictures. This may not have been purely superstition, as the two notable films she made without him: Conquest (1937) and Two Faced Woman (1941) were her only notable flops.

She was Adolf Hitler's favorite actress.

In late 1934, after Queen Christina (1933) and The Painted Veil (1934), which were both gigantic European successes (making twice their budget in the UK alone), but underwhelming US successes, Garbo signed a contract with MGM saying that she would only make films under David O. Selznick and Irving Thalberg. Her next two films, Anna Karenina (1935) and Camille (1936) were notable hits at the US box office, and produced by Selznick and Thalberg respectively. In 1937 her contract had to be revised as Selznick left the studio in 1935 and Thalberg had died. She made only 3 films after Camille (1936).

When she heard that David O. Selznick, who had produced her hit Anna Karenina (1935), was leaving MGM in 1935 to start his own studio, she begged him to stay saying that she would let him personally supervise all of her pictures exclusively. He said that it would be a great honor, but he had other plans. Ironically, the usually very finicky Irving Thalberg, Garbo's other favorite producer, was the first person to give Selznick money to start his company ($U200,000).

Mentioned in The Killers' "The Ballad of Michael Valentine".

Personal Quotes:

There is no one who would have me...I can't cook.

Being a movie star, and this applies to all of them, means being looked at from every possible direction. You are never left at peace, you're just fair game.

You don't have to be married to have a good friend as your partner for life.

I wish I were supernaturally strong so I could put right everything that is wrong.

Life would be so wonderful if we only knew what to do with it.

Anyone who has a continuous smile on his face conceals a toughness that is almost frightening.

I never said, 'I want to be alone.' I only said, 'I want to be left alone.' There is a whole world of difference.

I don't want to be a silly temptress. I cannot see any sense in getting dressed up and doing nothing but tempting men in pictures.

The story of my life is about back entrances, side doors, secrets elevators and other ways of getting in and out of places so that people won't bother me.

If only those who dream about Hollywood knew how difficult it all is.

Your joys and sorrows. You can never tell them. You cheapen the inside of yourself if you do." "There are some who want to get married and others who don't. I have never had an impulse to go to the altar. I am a difficult person to lead.

[When asked in her later years by a fan if she is Greta Garbo]: "I * was* Greta Garbo."

If you're going to die on screen, you've got to be strong and in good health.

There are many things in your heart you can never tell another person. They are you, your private joys and sorrows, and you can never tell them. You cheapen yourself, the inside of yourself, when you tell them.

I live like a monk: with one toothbrush, one cake of soap, and a pot of cream.

Salary:

Two-Faced Woman (1941) $150,000
Ninotchka (1939) $125,000
Conquest (1937) $500,000
Camille (1936) $500,000
Anna Karenina (1935) $275,000
The Painted Veil (1934) $250,000
Queen Christina (1933) $250,000
Grand Hotel (1932) $7,000 per week
Mata Hari (1931) $7,000 per week
Susan Lenox (1931) $250,000
Inspiration (1931) $250,000
Anna Christie (1931) $250,000
Love (1927/I) $5,000/week
Flesh and the Devil (1926) $600/week
Torrent (1926) $400/week

Burial:
Skogskyrkogården (The Woodland Cemetery)
Stockholms län, Sweden