Gloria Swanson went to public schools in Chicago; Key West, Florida; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her film debut was an extra in The Fable of Elvira and Farina and the Meal Ticket. From the following year on she had leading roles in pictures for Keystone, then a year with Triangle and, in 1919, a contract with Cecil B. DeMille. DeMille transformed her from a typical Mack Sennett comedienne to a lively, provocative, even predatory, star. She collected husbands (e.g., the indigent Henri de la Falaise) and lovers (e.g., Joseph P. Kennedy, father of former President John F. Kennedy). Kennedy produced her Queen Kelly, directed by Erich von Stroheim (it was von Stroheim's copy of this film that Swanson was watching as Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd. when she leaped into the projection beam shouting "Have they forgotten what a star looks like? I'll be up there again, so help me!" - ironic in that the butler-projectionist was, again, von Stroheim). She survived the switch to talkies, even learning how to sing for Music in the Air, but her kinds of films were over with by that time. She returned to the stage in the 1940s ("Reflected Glory", "Let us Be Gay", "A Goose for a Gander"). She was a clothes designer and artist; she founded Essence of Nature Cosmetics; and she made television appearances through the 1960s and 1970s, doing cameos and pushing health foods. She received Best Actress nominations for Sadie Thompson, The Trespasser and "Sunset Boulevard".
Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson (1954): $350/week
Sunset Blvd. (1950): $50,000
Father Takes a Wife (1941): $35,000
Music in the Air (1934): $250,000
Perfect Understanding (1933): $250,000
Tonight or Never (1931): $250,000
Careless Heart (1931): $250,000
What a Widow! (1930): $100,000
The Trespasser (1929): $100,000
Sadie Thompson (1928): $150,000
Zaza (1923): $6,500/week
The Sultan's Wife (1917): $85/week
Dangers of a Bride (1917): $85/week
Teddy at the Throttle (1917): $85/week
Haystacks and Steeples (1916): $85/week
The Danger Girl (1916): $85/week
Hearts and Sparks (1916): $85/week
A Dash of Courage (1916): $65/week
The Nick of Time Baby (1916): $85/week
The Broken Pledge (1915): $3.25/day
The Romance of an American Duchess (1915): $3.25/day
Sweedie Goes to College (1915): $3.25/day
His New Job (1915): $3.25/day
The Fable of Elvira and Farina and the Meal Ticket (1915): $3.25/day

Second husband 'Herbert K. Somborn' ran the legendary Brown Derby restaurant from 1926 until his death in 1934; at that time, their daughter, 'Gloria Swanson Somborn', took over. See also Wilson Mizner. God-mother of director/writer Dirk Wayne Summers, and had signed to appear in "The Great Sex War" (1969), a film he was producing in Mexico. However, Swanson and her soon to be husband, William Dufty, took it upon themselves (without being asked) to rewrite the screenplay. The "changes" in the script that Swanson desired were not ones that Summers wanted to include, so they mutually released each other from their contracts. This did not impact their close relationship, apparently. Swanson accompanied Summers to Mexico for a location scouting trip. Her last husband, William Dufty, was a well-known author of books and a few screenplays, such as Lady Sings the Blues, the Billie Holiday story. It was Dufty, translator of "You Are All Sanpaku," by George Ohsawa, who was influenced by Swanson to take an interest in health and become involved in holistic-health related literature. Met her third husband, the Marquis (or "Marquess") Henri de la Falaise, when he worked as her interpreter in France on 'Madame Sans-Gêne (1925)' . Wrote her own autobiography in rebuttal to certain claims made by Rose Kennedy in her 1974 memoirs. Mother of a biological daughter, Gloria, by her second husband, and also of an adopted son, Joseph Patrick, whom everyone thought (erroneously) was named for her lover at the time, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (father/founder of the Kennedy political clan). Mother of actress Michele Farmer. Hated acting in slapstick comedy, which was pretty much all of her early career. Was engaged to Marshall Neilan for some time in the 1920s. One of her best friends was the actress Lois Wilson . Daughter Gloria was born in 1920. Visited Charles Chaplin on the et of A Countess from Hong Kong after they hadn't seen each other for 50 years on the set of His New Job Her performance as Norma Desmond in "Sunset Blvd." (1950) is ranked #69 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures at 6748 Hollywood Boulevard and another for television at 6301 Hollywood Boulevard. Her performance as Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) is ranked #31 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. When she died, her book collection was sold to the Gotham Book Mart in New York City. All of the books were concerned with health and nutrition.