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 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. At 18, Greta was on a roll. Following The Joyless Street both Greta and Stiller were offered contracts with MGM. Her first US film was Ibáñez' Torrent. 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, Love, and A Woman of Affairs, Greta starred in Anna Christie (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 which was somewhat of a letdown, but bounced back as lead role in Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) with Clark Gable. The film was a hit and led to another exciting title role in Mata Hari. Greta continued to give intensified performances in whatever was handed her. The next year Greta was cast in another hit Grand Hotel. But it was MGM's Anna Karenina 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 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, 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.



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) (1931): $5,000/week
Flesh and the Devil (1926): $600/week
Torrent (1926): $400/week

Interred at Skogskyrkogården Cemetery, Stockholm, Sweden. October 1997: Ranked #38 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. 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". 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. She disliked Clark Gable, a feeling that was mutual. She thought his acting was wooden while he considered her a snob. Before making it big, she worked as a soap-latherer in a barber's shop back in Sweden. In the mid-1950s she bought a seven-room-apartment in New York City (450 East 52nd Street) and lived there until she died. 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 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. 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. 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. 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. Related to Anna Sundstrand of the Swedish pop group Play. 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. Popularized trenchcoats & berets in the 1930s. She was voted the 25th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. Her favorite American director was Ernst Lubitsch, although Clarence Brown, 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). She was voted the 8th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine. 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." 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). Aunt of Gray Reisfield (daughter of Sven Gustafson). 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 #53 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. Is portrayed by Kristina Wayborn in The Silent Lovers (1980) (TV) 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. Throughout her entire MGM career, she 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. In late 1934, after Queen Christina (1933) and The Painted Veil (1934), which were both huge hits in Europe (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 three films after "Camille". Mentioned in The Killers' "The Ballad of Michael Valentine". Was offered the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd. (1950), but she turned it down. Gloria Swanson was cast instead and she went on to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance.