|
Greta Garbo (1905 - 1990)
When Greta was fourteen her father died, forcing her to leave school to work. At fifteen, she was working as a clerk in a department store and appeared in an advertising short, where she was spotted by director Eric Petscher and cast in a small part in his film Peter the Tramp (1920). In 1922 she enrolled in the Royal Dramatic Theatre where, two years later, she met Mauritz Stiller, one of Sweden's greatest film directors. It was Stiller who changed her name to Greta Garbo and cast Greta in her first major film role, in Gosta Berling Saga (1924). The following year, Stiller was called to Hollywood to work for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and part of his asking price to MGM head Louis B. Mayer was that Greta also be given a contract. Greta Garbo appeared in several silent films in the next four years, including The Joyless Street (1925), The Torrent (1926), Flesh and the Devil (1927), and Love (1927). Garbo was briefly romantically involved with her Flesh and the Devil co-star,John Gilbert, but this was quickly quashed by Stiller who had a Svengali hold on Greta and was jealously possessive of her. When sound came to motion pictures in 1929, Garbo was one of the few stars to survive the transition. Her talking debut in Anna Christie (1930) catapulted her to super-stardom. Though she herself despised her performance in the film, it earned her an Academy Award nomination, as did her performance in Romance that same year. In 1932 she played the title role in Mata Hari and appeared in Grand Hotel with Joan Crawford. In 1934 she signed a new contract with MGM which gave her near-total artistic control over her films. She used this license to fire Laurence Olivier from Queen Christina and replace him with John Gilbert, who had been largely unemployed as an actor since the advent of sound. She passed over the starring role in Dark Victory to play the title role in Anna Karenina in 1935, and two years later earned a third Academy Award nomination for her performance in Camille. Her fourth and final Academy Award nomination came in 1939 for Ninotchka. Two years later, she appeared in her final film, Two Faced Woman, which bombed at the box office. By now disenchanted with the Hollywood system, she retired from movies and moved to New York. In 1954 a special Academy Award "for unforgettable performances" was bestowed upon her. The remainder of Greta Garbo's years were spent living in New York. Though she initially socialized and mingled with members of the jet set, her last years were increasingly reclusive. She was particularly known for going on regular daily walks, often followed by fans and photographers. The movie Garbo Talks (1984) centers around one young man's (Ron Silver) desparate attempts to meet the film star on one of her walks and convince her to visit his dying mother, played by Anne Bancroft. According to some reports, Greta Garbo unknowingly walked past the cameras while a conversation on the street was being filmed as part of a gay porn film, technically making it her last movie. In 1990, she finished writing her autobiography. In April of that same year, she died. Stories of Greta Garbo's lesbianism were nearly as old as her career, and were pretty much confirmed by Mercedes de Acosta in her own autobiography. Further evidence lies in her close friendships with Tallulah Bankhead and other actresses known or rumored to be lesbian and her friendships with Mauritz Stiller, Adrian, Cecil Beaton (with whom she was also briefly involved sexually) and other known Hollywood gay and bisexual men. Practically every leading man romanticly linked to Garbo in official studio publicity was known to be secretly gay or bisexual. Recently released "love letters" exchanged between Garbo and de Acosta neither confirmed nor refuted the claims of a romance between the two women. One of the more interesting theories about Greta Garbo was that she was in fact a man, based largely on the cloud surrounding her autopsy. Whatever their degree of truth, the rumors and theories surrounding this aloof actress merely combined with her stunning beauty and outstanding performances to enhance what came to be called "the Garbo Mystique." Greta Garbo's film credits include Herr och fru Stockholm (1920); En Lyckoriddare (1921); Konsum Stockholm Promo (1921); Peter the Tramp (1922); Gösta Berlings Saga (1924); Joyless Street (1925); Torrent (1926); The Temptress (1926); Flesh and the Devil (1926); Love (1927); The Divine Woman (1928); The Mysterious Lady (1928); A Woman of Affairs (1928); Wild Orchids (1929); A Man's Man (1929); The Single Standard (1929); The Kiss (1929); Anna Christie (1930); Romance (1930); Inspiration (1931); Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) (1931); Mata Hari (1931); Grand Hotel (1932); As You Desire Me (1932); Queen Christina (1933); The Painted Veil (1934); Anna Karenina (1935); Camille (1936); Conquest (1937); Ninotchka (1939); and Two-Faced Woman (1941). Links: Internet Movie Database: Greta Garbo The Silent Films of Greta Garbo Greta Garbo: A Life Apart Website Thumbnail Gallery of Garbo Photos Denny Jackson's Greta Garbo Page Greta Garbo - Legendary Actress E! Online - Credits - Greta Garbo Creative Quotations from Greta Garbo (1905-1990) Women Celebrities - Greta Garbo
|
||||||||||
