Greta Garbo (1905-1990) was one of the greatest, and most mysterious, actresses of the silver screen. Her fame came as much from her on-screen accolades as from her secretive life out of the public eye.
Greta Garbo (1905-1990) was one of the greatest, and most mysterious, actresses of the silver screen. Her fame came as much from her on-screen accolades as from her secretive life out of the public eye.
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Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica.
Today, we’re talking about one of the greatest– and most mysterious– actresses of the silver screen. Her fame came as much from her on-screen accolades as from her secretive life out of the public eye. Please welcome a well-known recluse: Greta Garbo.
Greta was born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson on September 18, 1905 in Stockholm, Sweden. She was the third, and youngest, child of Anna and Karl Gustafsson, rural laborers. Greta was particularly close to her father. When he fell ill, she helped him make rounds at charity hospitals. But he died when she was just 14. To support the family, Greta worked as a latherer in a barber shop and later in a department store modeling and selling hats.
Greta was shy and solitary, but she was enamored with acting. She’d stand outside local theaters to watch performers come and go. When she was 15, she got her first break acting in an advertisement for the department store she worked at. By the time she was 17, she’d left to study at Stockholm’s Royal Dramatic Theatre. There, she was taught to analyze movement and gesture– lessons that would come in handy in Stockholm’s thriving silent film scene.
In 1923, Greta was scouted by Mauritz Stiller, a Swedish film director, to play the lead in his new movie. Mauritz became Greta’s mentor, even coming up with her now-infamous stage name, “Garbo.”
In 1925, Greta secured a deal with Louis B Mayer of MGM Films. She and Mauritz set sail for Hollywood. Upon arrival, Greta found herself isolated in her new surroundings. She hardly spoke English, and found out her older sister had died back in Sweden. To make matters even worse, Mauritz was not chosen to direct Greta’s first American picture and was fired from the second.
Despite Greta’s rocky start in Hollywood, she was an instant success. Her debut films, “Torrent” and “The Temptress” hailed her screen presence as a revelation. Motion Picture Magazine wrote: “She is not so much an actress as she is endowed with individuality and magnetism.” Greta was a strong actor, but she was a natural on film.
She cemented her stardom in 1927 with her third film, Flesh and the Devil. She followed it up by transitioning from silent films to talkies– a jump many of her contemporaries lost their careers to. By the 30s, Greta was a box office star. The country was engulfed in “Garbomania.” In 1939, she even shed her melancholic persona to star as a rom-com heroine in Ninotchka. That movie won her a third Oscar nomination, and garnered more than four hundred thousand moviegoers during a 3-week run at Radio City.
Greta was a commanding presence in Hollywood. By the mid-1930s, she was making $450,000 a year: the highest paid actor in America. She negotiated a contract that gave her the ability to veto costars, scripts, and directors. It was a highly unusual responsibility in the Hollywood studio system.
On screen, Garbo played a “vamp,” a sexually liberal archetype we’d probably call a “man-eater.” Off-screen, she played an entirely different persona– she dressed in men’s clothes and hardly spoke about love affairs publicly. Greta was so private, she was essentially famous for how little people knew about her.
Greta shunned celebrity. She once told a reporter, “I will no longer . . . shake hands with prize-fighters and egg-and-milk men so they will have pictures to put in the papers.” She also rejected the femme fatale persona the studio gave her. Paparazzi only ever caught her in cardigans and trench coats, men’s shoes and ties, and a slouchy hat and large sunglasses that covered her face. In referencing herself, Greta would call herself a “fellow” and sometimes sign her letters “Harry” or “Harry Boy.”
Contemporaries as well as historians have theorized about Greta’s sexuality, which she kept as private as the rest of her life. She had a publicized romance early in her career with co-star John Gilbert. She’s rumored to have affairs with Mercedes De Acosta, Tallulah Bankhead, Billie Holiday, Louise Brooks, and Marlene Dietrich – many of whom we’ve talked about on Womanica.
Newspapers of the time referred to Greta’s sexuality coyly, using coded language. They often referenced Sappho and violets, words associated with lesbians. So when a gossip of the era wrote that “a bunch of violets were always to be found at the head” of Greta’s bed, they were insinuating more than Greta’s decoration preferences.
Greta’s on- and off- screen personas came to a head in 1933’s Queen Christina, a partially-true biopic about the 17th-century monarch. In it, she wore tunics and tight trousers as she kissed her lady-in-waiting on the lips, and delivered the ever-iconic line: “I shall die a bachelor!”
By the end of the 1930s, Greta was one of the many stars labeled “box office poison.” She was well-liked by studios, but her audience turnout was dwindling.
In 1941, at 36 years old, Greta Garbo retired from acting. She had made 28 movies over the course of 16 years.
Greta moved to New York’s upper east side and lived the rest of her life in relative quiet. She collected art and became a naturalized citizen. She’d often go on walks around her neighborhood. When people would stop her on the street, she’d simply reply “no” or put her index finger to her mouth and say “shh.”
In 1954, Greta received an Academy Honorary Award, but she did not attend the ceremony. She died on April 15, 1990 from natural causes. She was 84 years old.
All month, we’re highlighting queer stars of the stage and screen. For more information find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!