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Greta
Louisa Gustafsson was born in Stockholm, Sweden on September
18, 1905. She grew up in poverty, and went to work at the
age of 13 when her father died. Her very first job was working
as a lather girl in a barber shop.
While
working as a salesgirl for a department store, she appeared
in a promotional film for the store called How Not To Dress.
She took on several roles in promotional films and applied
for, and won a scholarship to the Royal Dramatic Theatre training
school. While in school she was discovered by Maurice Stiller,
one of the great directors of Sweden's golden age of film.
He cast her in a film known as Gosta Berling's Saga which
attracted film critics across Europe.
Stiller
became her mentor: coaching her, bringing her into his social
circle and managing all of her personal affairs. The two of
them were known as Pygmalion and Galatea, Beauty and the Beast
or Svengali and Trilby.
In
1924 Stiller was offered a job in Hollywood by Louis B. Mayor.
He would only accept the position if Garbo were included in
the offer. Mayor accepted somewhat reluctantly...
Mayor
soon realized her ability to mesmerize an audience and midway
during the filming of The Torrent, he revised her contract
to raise her salary. Her third American film costarred John
Gilbert, and there was a huge attraction between the two,
very obvious to even filmgoers. This only heightened her appeal
of mystique.
Although
Greta Garbo never won an academy award in 1935 the New York
Times named her as best actress for her role in Anna Karenina.
In 1954 the Academy did award her with an award "for her unforgettable
screen performances.
She
retired at the height of her career in 1941. This paired with
her aloof mysteriousness made the public crave to know more
about her. She carefully guarded her personal life from the
press. She lived in recluse until her death on April 15, 1990.
The cause of her death was never publicized, but it is believed
she had kidney problems. On June 17, 1999, nine years after
her death, her family held a private service to bury her ashes
in the secluded Skogskyrkogarden cemetery in Garbo's hometown
of Stockholm.
Although
seldom in the public eye she remained in the public's mind,a
woman of beauty and mystery, a legend.
Original
biography written by Dawn Marie, Bombshells.Com. Sources include:
IMDB, 1992 Brompton Books
publication by Marie Cahill, Greta Garbo - A Hollywood Portrait
and CNN.com.
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