Greta Garbo - One of Hollywood’s Most Private Film Stars 1905-1990

I feel like a criminal who is hunted. . . . When photographers come, they draw crowds. I am frightened beyond control. When so many people stare, I feel almost ashamed.
—GRETA GARBO.

While some say it was caused by her Swedish upbringing, others attributed it to her own conscious desire to perpetuate her mystique, and still others viewed it as intense shyness; what is known is that Greta Garbo, one of the hottest movie stars of her time, would live the most private of personal lives. She would be the highest paid actress in the mid-1930s and would enrapture fans at her films, many of these movies being saved from their mediocrity by her presence. Yet she would never live the Hollywood lifestyle, would give almost no interviews, and eventually would end her acting career at a young age and then live a near-reclusive life.
Born on September IB, 1905, in Stockholm, Sweden, as Greta Louisa Gustafsson, she was the youngest of three siblings in a family that was subjected to financial strife when Greta’s father died when she was just fourteen. Being forced to work at a young age actually aided in the beginning of an acting career for the teenage Greta. Working as a clerk in a department store, she was asked to model for its catalog, and from there she garnered parrs in two short advertising films, as well as a spot in another short film.
Stagestruck even before these opportunities, eighteen-year-old Greta received a scholarship to a renowned acting school in Sweden. It was here that the country’s top film director, Mauritz Stiller, spotted her theatrical instinct and elegant looks and took her under his guidance. He cast her in his film The Atonement of Costa Berting, which appeared in 1924 and became a silent-screen sensation, not just in Sweden but throughout Europe. Soon after, Greta received a lead role in Joyless Street, Directed by G. W. Pabst, the film and Gretas performance were critically acclaimed and achieved record-breaking box-office success. To this day the film is considered a treasure of German realism.
In the summer of 1925, Mauritz and Greta, now both with contracts from Metro-GoIdwyn-Mayer in Hollywood, headed for California. There the still-young and adaptable Greta acted in The Torrent, but Mauritz had trouble adjusting to the new life and returned to Stockholm in 1928. Greta, though, was fast becoming Hollywood’s biggest star. From 1925 to 1929 she was featured in eleven silent movies and proved her range by portraying an array of characters. She was beautiful and intelligent, and her screen persona captivated both men and women with its intense passion and independence. There had been no actress like her before, and she aided America in updating its view of women.
In 1927 Greta starred in Flesh and the Devil and Love with John Gilbert and started an intense romance wirh him that would lasr several years. Yet she would literally leave the famed actor at the altar, believing their marriage wouldn’t work—in part because of the attention it would bring and in part because she thought John had too much of an interest in other women. While it lasted, their relationship created enormous attention and more money for reputation.” Greta looked into other roles after this, but none came through, partly because of World War II. In 1941 she moved into retirement, and while she lived a relatively isolated life, refusing any public appearances, it was one enriched by visits from an array of acquaintances and friends such as Jackie Kennedy, Winston Churchill, and Dag Hammarskjold.
In 1951 Greta became a U.S. citizen, and in 1954 she was awarded a special Academy Award for “unforgettable screen performances,” but did not attend the ceremonies. Although she traveled frequently, she moved into an apartment in New York City in 1953. The time away from the studio allowed the multifaceted, creative woman to enjoy painting, poetry, gardening, as well as designing clothing and furnishings—all without missing her rigorous daily exercise routine. She also spent much time acquiring artwork for what would become her internationally renowned collection. She died of natural causes in her New York home on April 15, 1990.

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