Greta Garbo is one of the greatest actresses of all time, remembered for her remarkable roles in both silent and talking films before World War II. Garbo was known for her melancholy, somber persona, fabulous looks, and natural instincts.
Modeling Career
She was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1905. Her father died from the Spanish flu when she was only 15. Garbo left the school and went to work in a department store as a salesperson to support her mother. She started her modeling career with the same department store as a teenager, the store used her as a model in its newspaper and billboard advertisings. After modeling hats for the store’s catalogs, Garbo earned a more lucrative job as a fashion model. Encouraged by her own performance, she applied for and won a scholarship to a Swedish drama school.
Film Career
Greta began her professional film career with a small role in a short comedy film ‘Peter the Tramp’ in 1922. Swedish director Mauritz Stiller gave her a lead role in his film ‘The Saga of Gosta Berling’ when she was studying in a drama school. The film’s success in both Sweden and Germany made Greta famous. She moved to America in 1925 and within a year she got the role of a Spanish peasant who is desperate to become an opera star in the film ‘The Torrent’. Greta rose to prominence with her performance in two super-hit movies ‘The Temptress’ and ‘Flesh and the Devil’ in the same year. The films were both successful and made the actress an international star.
Greta had a Swedish accent and she worked hard to improve her accent. She made her debut in sound in a movie adaption of Eugene O’Neill’s ‘Anna Christie’ in 1930. Greta played the role of Mata Hari, a German Spy of World War I in the film ‘Mata Hari’. She also portrayed the role of a Russian Ballerina in the movie ‘Grand Hotel’ in 1932. Both films were MGM’s highest-earning films of 1931 and 1932. In 1933, Garbo took on one of her most ambitious roles as a fictional Swedish monarch in ‘Queen Christina’. She showcased her talent and fabulous performance in more than 40 films and dramas throughout her professional career.
Personal life
Greta Garbo never married and she had no children. Although she had a romantic relationships with famous actors including John Gilbert, Leopold Stokowski, and many others. Recent biographers and others believe that Garbo was bisexual, and she also had a relationship with some famous women including actress Lilyan Tashman and Mercedes de Acosta.
Greta Garbo’s death
Greta Garbo was successfully treated for breast cancer in 1984 and she also suffered from gastrointestinal and periodontal ailments. Greta was died on 15 April 1990, in the hospital as a result of pneumonia and renal failure. She was cremated in Manhattan, and her ashes were interred in 1999 at Skogskyrkogården Cemetery just south of her native Stockholm.
Here below are some gorgeous photos of legendary actress form her life and early career.
