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IMDbPro

Gloria Swanson(1899-1983)

  • Actress
  • Producer
  • Costume Designer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
"Impossible Mrs. Bellew, The" Gloria Swanson 1922 Paramount  **I.V.
Home Video Trailer from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Play trailer1:52
E! True Hollywood Story (1996– )
5 Videos
99+ Photos
Gloria Swanson was born Gloria May Josephine Svensson in Chicago, Illinois. She was destined to be perhaps one of the biggest stars of the silent movie era. Her personality and antics in private definitely made her a favorite with America's movie-going public. Gloria certainly didn't intend on going into show business. After her formal education in the Chicago school system and elsewhere, she began work in a department store as a salesclerk. In 1915, at the age of 18, she decided to go to a Chicago movie studio with an aunt to see how motion pictures were made. She was plucked out of the crowd, because of her beauty, to be included as a bit player in the film The Fable of Elvira and Farina and the Meal Ticket (1915). In her next film, she was an extra also, when she appeared in At the End of a Perfect Day (1915). After another uncredited role, Gloria got a more substantial role in Sweedie Goes to College (1915). In 1916, she first appeared with future husband Wallace Beery. Once married, the two pulled up stakes in Chicago and moved to Los Angeles to the film colony of Hollywood. Once out west, Gloria continued her torrid pace in films. She seemed to be in hit after hit in such films as The Pullman Bride (1917), Shifting Sands (1918), and Don't Change Your Husband (1919). By the time of the latter, Gloria had divorced Beery and was remarried, but it was not to be her last marriage, as she collected a total of six husbands. By the middle 1920s, she was the highest-paid actress in Hollywood. It has been said that Gloria made and spent over $8 million in the '20s alone. That, along with the six marriages she had, kept the fans spellbound with her escapades for over 60 years. They just couldn't get enough of her. Gloria was 30 when the sound revolution hit, and there was speculation as to whether she could adapt. She did. In 1928, she received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her role of Sadie Thompson in the film of the same name but lost to Janet Gaynor for 3 different films. The following year, she again was nominated for the same award in The Trespasser (1929). This time, she lost out to Norma Shearer in The Divorcee (1930). By the 1930s, Gloria pared back her work with only four films during that time. She had taken a hiatus from film work after 1934's Music in the Air (1934) and would not be seen again until Father Takes a Wife (1941). That was to be it until 1950, when she starred in Sunset Blvd. (1950) as Norma Desmond opposite William Holden. She played a movie actress who was all but washed up. The movie was a box office smash and earned her a third Academy Award nomination as Best Actress, but she lost to Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday (1950). The film is considered one of the best in the history of film and, on June 16, 1998, was named one of the top 100 films of all time by the American Film Institute, placing 12th. After a few more films in the 1950s, Gloria more or less retired. Throughout the 1960s, she appeared mostly on television. Her last fling with the silver screen was Airport 1975 (1974), wherein she played herself. Gloria died on April 4, 1983, in New York City at the age of 84. There was never anyone like her, before or since.
BornMarch 27, 1899
DiedApril 4, 1983(84)
BornMarch 27, 1899
DiedApril 4, 1983(84)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Nominated for 3 Oscars
    • 10 wins & 7 nominations total

Photos376

Gloria Swanson and Bobby Vernon in A Social Cub (1916)
Gloria Swanson in Bluebeard's 8th Wife (1923)
Ben Lyon and Gloria Swanson in Wages of Virtue (1924)
Laurence Olivier and Gloria Swanson in Perfect Understanding (1933)
Laurence Olivier and Gloria Swanson in Perfect Understanding (1933)
Laurence Olivier and Gloria Swanson in Perfect Understanding (1933)
Helen Dunbar and Gloria Swanson in Fine Manners (1926)
Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson in Don't Tell Everything (1921)
Gloria Swanson in Don't Change Your Husband (1919)
Gloria Swanson in The Great Moment (1921)
Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Eugene O'Brien and Gloria Swanson in Fine Manners (1926)

Known for

William Holden, Nancy Olson, and Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Sunset Blvd.
8.4
  • Norma Desmond
  • 1950
Sadie Thompson (1928)
Sadie Thompson
7.2
  • Sadie Thompson
  • 1928
Gloria Swanson in The Trespasser (1929)
The Trespasser
6.5
  • Marion Donnell
  • 1929
Gloria Swanson in Indiscreet (1931)
Indiscreet
6.2
  • Geraldine 'Gerry' Trent
  • 1931

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • Airport 1975 (1974)
    Airport 1975
    • Famous Actress Gloria Swanson
    • 1974
  • Killer Bees (1974)
    Killer Bees
    • Madame Maria von Bohlen
    • TV Movie
    • 1974
  • Joan Marshall in The Great Sex War (1969)
    The Great Sex War
    • (unconfirmed)
    • 1969
  • Ben Casey (1961)
    Ben Casey
    • Victoria Hoffman
    • TV Series
    • 1965
  • Tim Considine, William Frawley, Don Grady, Stanley Livingston, and Fred MacMurray in My Three Sons (1960)
    My Three Sons
    • Margaret McSterling
    • TV Series
    • 1965
  • Gene Barry in Burke's Law (1963)
    Burke's Law
    • Miss Lily Boles
    • Venus Hekate Walsh
    • TV Series
    • 1963–1964
  • The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962)
    The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
    • Mrs. Daniels
    • TV Series
    • 1964
  • Kraft Suspense Theatre (1963)
    Kraft Suspense Theatre
    • Mrs. Charlotte Heaton
    • TV Series
    • 1964
  • Dr. Kildare (1961)
    Dr. Kildare
    • Julia Colton
    • TV Series
    • 1963
  • Straightaway (1961)
    Straightaway
    • Lorraine Carrington
    • TV Series
    • 1961
  • Nero's Mistress (1956)
    Nero's Mistress
    • Agrippina
    • 1956
  • Hollywood Opening Night
    • TV Series
    • 1953
  • Gloria Swanson and James Warren in Three for Bedroom C (1952)
    Three for Bedroom C
    • Ann Haven
    • 1952
  • William Holden, Nancy Olson, and Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd. (1950)
    Sunset Blvd.
    • Norma Desmond
    • 1950
  • Dear Miss Gloria (1946)
    Dear Miss Gloria
    • Miss Gloria
    • Short
    • 1946

Producer

  • Gloria Swanson in Perfect Understanding (1933)
    Perfect Understanding
    • producer
    • 1933
  • Gloria Swanson in Queen Kelly (1932)
    Queen Kelly
    • producer (uncredited)
    • 1932
  • What a Widow! (1930)
    What a Widow!
    • producer
    • 1930
  • Sadie Thompson (1928)
    Sadie Thompson
    • producer (uncredited)
    • 1928
  • John Boles and Gloria Swanson in The Love of Sunya (1927)
    The Love of Sunya
    • producer (uncredited)
    • 1927

Costume Designer

  • Gloria Swanson and James Warren in Three for Bedroom C (1952)
    Three for Bedroom C
    • Costume Designer
    • 1952

Videos5

Sunset Boulevard: Centennial Collection
Clip 1:25
Sunset Boulevard: Centennial Collection
Sunset Blvd.
Trailer 3:14
Sunset Blvd.
Perfect Understanding
Trailer 0:50
Perfect Understanding
Airport 1975
Trailer 2:52
Airport 1975
The Simpsons Go Hollywood
Trailer 1:52
The Simpsons Go Hollywood

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative names
    • Gloria Mae
  • Height
    • 5′ 1″ (1.55 m)
  • Born
    • March 27, 1899
    • Chicago, Illinois, USA
  • Died
    • April 4, 1983
    • New York City, New York, USA(heart ailment)
  • Spouses
      William DuftyFebruary 2, 1976 - April 4, 1983 (her death)
  • Parents
      Joseph Theodore Swanson
  • Other works
    (2/18/51) Radio series: Guest-starred in "Theater Guild on the Air", episode "Promise", with Hume Cronyn.
  • Publicity listings
    • 7 Print Biographies
    • 6 Portrayals
    • 2 Interviews
    • 57 Articles
    • 8 Pictorials
    • 38 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Known for her extravagant lifestyle, it was reported that she earned $8,000,000 between 1918 and 1929 and spent nearly all of it. By the time of her death in 1983, her gross estate was valued at just over $1,440,000.
  • Quotes
    I have decided that when I am a star, I will be every inch and every moment a star.
  • Trademarks
      Her mole
  • Salaries
      Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson
      (1952)
      $350 /week

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