Greta Garbo

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Birthday:

18 September 1905, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Birth Name:

Greta Lovisa Gustafsson

Height:

171 cm

Greta Garbo was born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson on September 18, 1905, in Stockholm, Sweden, to Anna Lovisa (Johansdotter), who worked at a jam factory, and Karl Alfred Gustafsson, a laborer. She was fourteen when her father died, which left the family destitute. Greta was forced to leave school and go to work in a department store. The store used her as a model in its newspaper ads. She had no film aspirations until she appeared in short advertising film at that same department store while she was still a teenager. Erik A. Petschler, a comedy director, saw the film and gave her a small part in his Luffar-Petter (1922). Encouraged by her own performance, she applied for and won a scholarship to a Swedish drama school. While there she appeared in at least one film, En lyckoriddare (1921). Both were small parts, but it was a start. Finally famed Swedish director Mauritz Stiller pulled her from the drama school for the lead role in Gösta Berlings saga (1924). At 18 Greta was on a roll.Following Die freudlose Gasse (1925) both Greta and Stiller were offered contracts with MGM, and her first film for the studio was the American-made Torrent (1926), a silent film in which she didn't have to speak a word of English. After a few more films, including The Temptress (1926), Love (1927) 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 garnered her an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress (she didn't win). Later that year she filmed Romance (1930), which was somewhat of a letdown, but she bounced back in 1931, landing another lead role in Mata Hari (1931), which turned out to be a major hit.Greta continued to give intense performances in whatever was handed her. The next year she was cast in what turned out to be yet another hit, Grand Hotel (1932). However, it was in MGM's Anna Karenina (1935) that she gave what some consider the performance of her life. She was absolutely breathtaking in the role as a woman torn between two lovers and her son. Shortly afterwards, she starred in the historical drama Queen Christina (1933) playing the title character to great acclaim. She earned an Oscar nomination for her role in the romantic drama Camille (1936), again playing the title character. Her career suffered a setback the following year in Conquest (1937), which was a box office disaster. She later made a comeback when she 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, Two-Faced Woman (1941), another comedy. But the film drew controversy and was condemned by the Catholic Church and other groups and was a box office failure, which left Garbo shaken.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 and raising 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 her went the "Garbo Mystique". She was 84. Show less «

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'r...Show more »

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. Show less «

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.

[on her famous Grand Hotel (1932) quote] I never said, "I want to be alone". I only said, "I want to be left alone". There is a whole world ...Show more »

[on her famous Grand Hotel (1932) quote] I never said, "I want to be alone". I only said, "I want to be left alone". There is a whole world of difference. Show less «

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 wo...Show more »

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. Show less «

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 othe...Show more »

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. Show less «

[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 t...Show more »

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. Show less «

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

[on secrets] Every one of us lives his life just once; if we are honest, to live once is enough.

[1926, on Hollywood] Here, it is boring, incredibly boring, so boring I can't believe it's true.

[1932, on her recreational preferences] If I needed recreation, I liked to be out of doors: to trudge about in a boy's coat and boy's shoes;...Show more »

[1932, on her recreational preferences] If I needed recreation, I liked to be out of doors: to trudge about in a boy's coat and boy's shoes; to ride horseback, or shoot craps with the stable boys, or watch the sun set in a blaze of glory over the Pacific Ocean. You see, I am still a bit of a tomboy. Most hostesses disapprove of this trousered attitude to life, so I do not inflict upon them. Show less «

[1932, on another factor contributing to her decision to shun publicity] I am still a little nervous, a little self-conscious about my Engli...Show more »

[1932, on another factor contributing to her decision to shun publicity] I am still a little nervous, a little self-conscious about my English. I cannot express myself well at parties. I speak haltingly. I feel awkward, shy, afraid. In Hollywood, where every teat table bristles with gossip writers, what I say might be misunderstood. So I am silent as the grave about my private affairs. Rumors fly about. I am mum. My private affairs are strictly private. Show less «

[1932, on director Mauritz Stiller, the nature of her relationship with him and the part it played in cultivating her well-publicized prefer...Show more »

[1932, on director Mauritz Stiller, the nature of her relationship with him and the part it played in cultivating her well-publicized preference for privacy over publicity] Stiller's death was a great blow to me. For so long I had been his satellite. All Europe at that time regarded Stiller as the most significant figure in the film world. Directors hurried to the projecting rooms where his prints were shown. They took with them their secretaries and, in the dim silence, they dictated breathless comments on the wide sweep of his magnificent technique. Stiller had found me, an obscure artist in Sweden, and brought me to America. I worshiped him. There are some, of course, who say it was a love story. It was more. It was utter devotion which only the very young can know - the adoration of a student for her teacher, of a timid girl for a mastermind. In his studio, Stiller taught me how to do everything: how to eat; how to turn my head; how to express love - and hate. Off the screen I studied his every whim, wish and demand. I lived my life according to the plans he laid down. He told what to say and what to do. When Stiller died I found myself like a ship without a rudder. I was bewildered - lost - and very lonely. I resolutely refused to talk to reporters because I didn't know what to say. By degrees I dropped out of the social whirl of Hollywood. I retired into my shell. I built a wall of repression around my real self, and I lived - and still live - behind it. Show less «

My talents fall within definite limitations. I am not as versatile an actress as some think.

Is there anything better than to be longing for something, when you know it is within reach?

If you are blessed, you are blessed, whether you are married or single.

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...Show more »

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. Show less «

I smoke all the time, one after the other.

I have been reading other life stories. Some people were born in red brick houses, others in plain white board ones. What is the difference?...Show more »

I have been reading other life stories. Some people were born in red brick houses, others in plain white board ones. What is the difference? We were all born in houses. I will not have it printed that I was born in this house or that; that my mother was this or my father that. They were my mother and my father, just as yours were your mother and your father. To me that is what counts. Why should the world talk about them? I don't want the world to talk about my mother and my father. Show less «

[on her childhood] I was up and down. Happy one moment. The next moment, there was nothing left for me.

There seems to be a law that governs all our actions, so I never make plans.

I'm tired and nervous and I'm in America. Here, you don't know that you live.

[on America] It is bitter to think of one's best years disappearing in this unpolished country.

[1927 interview] Let's not talk of me! It is New Year's Eve. In Sweden, that means so much, so very much. There, we go to church and eat and...Show more »

[1927 interview] Let's not talk of me! It is New Year's Eve. In Sweden, that means so much, so very much. There, we go to church and eat and drink and see everybody we know. I have been blue all day. At home, in Stockholm, they are skiing and skating and throwing snowballs at one another. The cheeks are red - oh, please, let's not talk of me. Show less «

[1927] I was born; I grew up; I have lived like every other person. Why must people talk about me? We all do the same things in ways that ar...Show more »

[1927] I was born; I grew up; I have lived like every other person. Why must people talk about me? We all do the same things in ways that are just a little different. We go to school, we learn; we are bad at times; we are good at other. We find our life work and we do it. That's all there is to anyone's life story, isn't it? Show less «

The creative artist should be a rare and solitary spirit. My work absorbs me. I have time for nothing else.