A silent screen legend and epitome of early Hollywood glamour who began her career at Chicago's Essanay Studios in 1913, Gloria Swanson married Wallace Beery, another Essanay performer, in 1916 and the pair moved to Hollywood. After appearing in a series of Mack Sennett's romantic comedies at Triangle, she moved to Paramount, back to Triangle, and then back again to Paramount, where she reached stardom in the snappy, sophisticated bedroom farces of Cecil B DeMille ("Male and Female" 1919, "The Affairs of Anatol" 1921).
By the mid-20s, the larger-than-life Swanson was at the peak of her popularity, starring in such lavish vehicles as "Bluebeard's Eighth Wife", "Zaza" (both 1923), "Madame Sans-Gene" (1925), and "The Untamed Lady" (1926). When she returned from Europe with a Marquis as her husband, she received a welcome worthy of any actual queen. In 1927, with financial assistance from investor and erstwhile lover Joseph P Kennedy, Swanson began producing her own films; these included the two features for which she received her first Best Actress Oscar nominations, "Sadie Thompson" (1928) and "The Trespasser" (1929). Her company ran into massive fiscal problems, however, with director Erich von Stroheim's extravagant "Queen Kelly" (1928).
Despite having a fine speaking (and singing) voice, Swanson retired from the screen in 1934 after having made an only moderately successful transition to sound films. She made numerous comebacks before her death in 1983, the most fruitful being her brilliant Oscar-nominated performance as reclusive, aging silent screen star Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard" (1950).
- Also Credited As:
Gloria Josephine Mae Svensson, Gloria Mae
- Born:
March 27, 1899 in Chicago, Illinois
- Died:
April 4, 1983.
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Job Titles:
Actor, Producer
Significant Others
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Companion: Craney Gratz. playboy Swanson dated after moving to Southern California
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Companion: Joseph P Kennedy. born in 1888; involved in the late 1920s; produced three of Swanson's films including "Sadie Thompson" and "Queen Kelly"; later served as ambassador to Great Britain (1937-40); father of US President John F Kennedy and US Senators Robert F Kennedy and Edward M Kennedy; died in 1969
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Companion: Marshall Neilan. involved in the early 1920s; Swanson's husband Herbert Somborn sued her for divorce based on her relationship with Neilan
Milestones
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1915 Became an extra at Essanay studios in Chicago
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1915 First acting role, "Elvira Farina"
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1916 Went to Hollywood with Wallace Beery; both hired by Mack Sennett's Keystone company
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1917 Followed Sennett when he left Triangle to join Paramount
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1919 Moved to Cecil B DeMille's unit at Paramount; began starring in series of sophisticated bedroom farces including "Don't Change Your Husband" and "Male and Female"
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1922 Teamed on screen with Valentino in "Beyond the Rocks"
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1924 First did her Chaplin impression on screen in "Manhandled"
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1925 Starred in "Madame Sans Gene", filmed on location in France
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1926 Left Paramount
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1927 Bankrolled by Joseph P Kennedy; formed own production company, with films released through United Artists
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1927 Experienced box office flop with "The Love of Sunya"
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1928 Received first Best Actress Academy Award nomination for title role in "Sadie Thompson"
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1928 Starred in the silent film "Queen Kelly", produced by Kennedy and directed by Erich von Stroheim; Swanson put together a version for release in Europe but it was a box office disappointment; footage later interpolated in "Sunset Boulevard"
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1929 Garnered second Best Actress Oscar nomination for "The Trespasser", her first talking picture
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1933 Went to Great Britain to star in "Perfect Understanding"
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1934 Played last starring role for seven years in the musical comedy "Music in the Air"; temporarily retired
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1941 Made a screen comeback in "Father Takes a Wife"
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1950 Resumed screen career with her signature role of Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard", directed by Billy Wilder; earned third Best Actress Academy Award nomination
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1951 Made TV appearance in an episode of "Hollywood Opening Night"
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1951 Returned to Broadway in "Twentieth Century"
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1953 Hosted and acted in the syndicated TV show "Crown Theater With Gloria Swanson" (aka "The Gloria Swanson Show")
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1961 Guest starred on "Dr. Kildare"
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1966 Appeared in an episode of the CBS sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies"
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1967 Made rare musical appearance as a guest on "The Carol Burnett Show" (CBS)
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1970 Succeeded Eileen Heckart in the role of the overprotective mother of a blind man in the comedy-drama "Butterflies Are Free" on Broadway; later toured with the play
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1974 Acted in final film, "Airport 1975"
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1974 TV-movie debut, "Killer Bees" (ABC)
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Returned to Triangle; starred in dramas