Greta Garbo: Never Alone

Website: Greta Garbo - the Ultimate Star

Greta Gustafsson was born in Stockholm in 1905 to poor but close-knit parents. At age 14 she began working to help support her family, first as a lather girl in a barbershop, then as a clerk in a department store selling hats. It was at this department store that she began modeling the very hats she sold for store advertisements. She became quite popular through these ads, and eventually she landed a part in her first motion picture, "Peter the Tramp" in 1922, in which she played a bathing beauty.

At age 16 Greta was admitted to study at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm - one of only seven students to be admitted that year. Fate was in her midst, because during that period she met Mauritz Stiller, the director who eventually led to Garbo's signing with MGM Studios. Stiller, a highly-regarded director in Sweden, gave the newly-named Garbo an important role in 1924's "The Story of Gösta Berling". The silent film was considered a masterpiece in its day and was a huge success throughout Europe.

While Garbo was working on the set of "Joyless Street", her next major motion picture, Stiller and Mayer sat down together in Berlin and signed Garbo to a motion picture contract. She was only nineteen years old when she moved to Hollywood in 1925 at a pay rate of $100 a week.

In all, she appeared in 27 films, both silent films and talkies. Her beautiful voice gave new dimension to her characters, and she became a screen rival to another gorgeous voice - Marlene Dietrich. She starred in some notable classic films such as "Flesh and the Devil" in 1927, "Anna Christie" in 1930, the talking picture in which her deliciously low voice was first heard; 1932's Grand Hotel, "Queen Christina" in 1933, "Anna Karenina" in 1935, and 1939's "Ninotchka", in which she displayed her flair for comedy. She gained her final Oscar nomination for "Ninotchka", but lost to Vivien Leigh and "Gone With the Wind", which swept the Awards that year. While she never won an Oscar during her filming years, in 1954 Garbo was awarded an Honorary Academy Award for her "unforgettable screen performances."