Gloria Swanson

Born:

March 27, 1899¹

Born as:

Gloria Josephine May Swanson²

Died:

April 4, 1983

I have decided that when I am a star, I will be every inch and every moment the star

Biography:

At age sixteen Gloria was hired as an extra at Essanay Studios, where she met actor Wallace Beery. They married in 1916 and went to Hollywood where Beery accepted an offer from a Mack Sennett's film studio on the condition his wife also to be hired. In this early years she played mostly comedic roles and slapstick, which she disliked.

In 1919 Swanson moved over to Cecil B. De Mille's at Paramount where she became a star. She scored successfully in several DeMille films like Don't Change Your Husband, For Better or For Worse, Male and Female, all in 1919 and Why Change Your Wife? (1920).

In 1924 while filming Madame Sans Gene (1925) she fell in love with the impoverished Marquis Henri Le Bailly de la Falaise de la Coudray, by whom she became pregnant. To elude ruinous publicity she decided to end the pregnancy.

She was the highest salaried woman in films in the mid-1920's, making $250,000 a week. In 1927, with the help of her lover Joseph P Kennedy, Swanson began producing her own films; including the two features for which she received her first Best Actress Oscar nominations, Sadie Thompson (1928) and The Trespasser (1929). Both lost a fortune in their business endeavor.

Swanson retired from the screen in 1934 after having made an only moderately successful transition to sound films.

In 1950 when director Billy Wilder needed to cast an older actress for Sunset Boulevard, few women in Hollywood wanted the role. Swanson accepted and played an aging, half-mad, silent movie queen.

Gloria established a successful line of cosmetics she named Essence of Nature and promoted a line of clothing she designed called Forever Young. She continued to work on stage and television throughout the rest of her life.

Her last film was Airport (1975) in which she played herself.

Academy awards:

1951 Nominated Best Actress for: Sunset Blvd. (1950)
1930 Nominated Best Actress for: The Trespasser (1929)
1929 Nominated Best Actress for: Sadie Thompson (1928)

Selected Movies:

Sunset Blvd. (1950)
The Love of Sunya (1927)
Sadie Thompson (1928)
Manhandled (1924)
Stage Struck (1925)
The Trespasser (1929)
Music in the Air (1934)
Zaza (1923)
Fine Manners (1926)
Something to Think About (1920)
Why Change Your Wife? (1920)

Bibliography » Books:

Bibliography » Web:

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For Ever Godard - Swanson's house is for sale
JCK - Gloria's ring is for sale

Trivia

1. There is some doubt about her birth year. It may be 1897 or 1899.

2. There are some questions about her birth name. Some sources say she was born Svensson and she renamed her name to Swanson. In fact her father Joseph Svensson was of Swedish descent and hé changed it to Swanson. So she was born as Gloria Swanson.

Swanson was shocked when director Wilder told her that the monkey in Sunset Boulevard was her lover. “Now, one more time Gloria and show us what you feel. After all Norma Desmond was fucking the monkey.”
--Source: Close-up on Sunset Boulevard, Page 97

Gloria Swanson was shocked when director Wilder told her that the monkey was her lover. “Now, one more time Gloria and show us what you feel. After all Norma Desmond was fucking the monkey.”
--Source: Close-up on Sunset Boulevard, Page 97

In 1919 Gloria shot Male and Female. In an ancient Babylon scene, Swanson gets thrown to the lions. It was a dangerous scene with a real lion. One of the trainers asked Director DeMille if Swanson was menstruating. After verifying she was not, the filming could start. Swanson: “Every hair was standing on end. Every cell in my body quivered when the animal roared. His hot breath seemed to go up and down my spine.”
--Source: Cecil B. DeMille: A Life in Art, Page 182

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Gloria Swanson

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Gloria Swanson

Born:

Born as:

Died:

Biography:

Academy awards:

Selected Movies:

Bibliography » Books:

Bibliography » Web:

Trivia