If you’re into the golden age of Hollywood, then you probably have heard about Greta Garbo. She was known as the queen of Hollywood and had so much reverence, respect, and made her millions, okay? But she also lived a very quiet, private life. And many say it’s because of her secret life, her secret love life.
And though while she was alive, there was always some speculations. She never outwardly spoke about what she did in her private bedroom, right? But it all came to light and a lot of things made sense. for instance, she was very aloof and didn’t really want people around her. She wanted to be left alone a lot. We’re going to get into all of that, but before we get into all that, hey friend, welcome to my channel, Karine Alude, where we deep dive and break down the most iconic stars through history.
If you’re not yet subscribed, please be sure to do so and turn on your notifications so you never miss an upload. Now, without further ado, let’s get into this video. Let’s start with a little bit about her personality before we get into her childhood and career so you guys can kind of get a feel for who Greta Garbo was.
Greta Garbo avoided social events from the beginning of her career, preferring to spend her time alone or with friends. She hardly ever gave interviews and didn’t ever sign any autographs or respond to fan mail. She also never showed up at any Oscar ceremonies, not even after being nominated. Her dislike to the media and attention was undoubtedly real, which at first irritated the studios.
She claimed in a 1928 interview that she has had always longed to be alone and that this longing for solitude dates back to when she was a child. “I’ve always had mood swings. I dislike having to deal with a lot of people. I go nowhere, see no one,” she wrote in a letter to a friend. “Being alone is stressful and sad, but there are moments when being with someone is even more challenging,” she stated in the same letter.
“I am really exhausted and can’t seem to get myself together to arrange where to go. I’m sorry, but I always seem to have a little trouble and it’s not even in my head. Because Garbo was suspicious and mistrustful of the media and often at odds with MGM executives, she spurned Hollywood’s publicity rules. She was routinely referred to by the press as a Swedish Spanx.
Her retinance and fear of strangers perpetuated the mystery and mystique she projected both on screen and in real life. Mjan eventually capitalized on it for it bolstered the image of the silent and reclusive woman of mystery in spite of her strainous efforts to avoid publicity. Garbo became one of the 20th century’s most publicized woman.
And it’s strange, right? Because she really did not even want to be publicized. In retirement, Garbo generally led a private life of simplicity and leisure with her maid being her best friend. She made no public appearances and avoided the publicity she loathed. Garbo turned her back on Hollywood as World War II began overseas.
She withdrew from the public eye. Like Sweden, she remained neutral. Garbo’s only contribution to the war effort was a $5,000 donation to the Finnish relief fund. In memory of her mentor, Morit Stiller, Hollywood’s biggest stars threw themselves into the war effort. Greta Garbo kept out of the public eye, wandering around the United States.
She only went out for walks during rainstorms, anonymous behind her umbrella. Housekeepers in her new Beverly Hills home reported that she spent her time lounging and riding home to Sweden. But there was that trace of call it manic depression or schizophrenia. Very mild, but it was there and she knew it. I think that being a very very big movie star makes most of them strange.
But she was strange to start with. I think she was lonely. It isolated her because she was such a big movie star. >> This extended to her reluctance to be watched performing, even by the cast and crew. Garbo wanted a closed set, unheard of at that time. I had a line and I walked away and turned back. She said, “Don’t look at me.
” So, I had to go off and keep my back to her. I don’t believe she plotted and planned to be cruel to anybody. Her cruelty was simply a sort of self-obsession and a lack of any consideration for anybody else. >> I don’t think she was a particularly happy person ever. I think that was part of her melancholic nature. Public taste for the Garbo brand of mystery at an all-time high.
MGM began to consciously play on her reclusive persona in films such as Grandel. >> Contrary to myth, from the beginning, she had had many friends and acquaintances with whom she socialized and later traveled. Although it has also been said that she didn’t trust many people and wanted privacy and didn’t have many friends.
She actually did have friends. One biographer claims that she could have been bipolar cuz she was quoted as saying in 1933 that I am very happy one moment, the next there is nothing left for me. Garbo disliked domesticity in any shape or form or being complacent or stuck in one place like as far as living conditions. She never wanted a permanent home of her own.
She preferred living in rented houses or hotels. She viewed possessions as milestones around one’s neck. Her neighbors didn’t smile or talk to her unless she talked or smiled to him. She was also a very savvy businesswoman. She invested in a lot of stocks and bonds and a lot of business ventures while she was alive.
And one of her key financial advice was to not have any noose around your head. And she believed owning a home caused that. So, was she ahead of her time? I think so. Right. She removed her money from wartime Sweden and invested it in America. Most notably, she bought property in the 300 block of Rodeo Drive. She spent her time traveling back and forth between New York and California, managing her money and attending parties.
She bought a small collection of impressionist and expressionist paintings. Her investments guaranteed she would never need to work again. Her whole conversation at that time was about what to eat, the best vegetables to eat. >> The money did her in. She had so much it made her lazy. >> Garbo invented a new identity for herself, Harriet Brown.
It became known in social circles that she was no longer to be addressed as Garbo. Harriet Brown was welcomed by international society and traveled in the company of Aristotle Onassus and the Rothschild family. In return for the company of the mysterious lady, they offered Garbo all the protection their money could buy. >> Let’s get into some of her fashion.
She is known for her fashion sense because she had that gender fluidity where that masculine attire along with the feminine touch. She gained notoriety as the art deco diva. Following her appearance in Torrrent in 1926, she preferred the shoes and attire of men. And in addition, her fashion has been characterized as trench coat, simple shoes, shirts, cigarettes, pants, slouch hat, and big sunglasses.
The slouchy hat is credited with being made popular by Garau. Now, as far as makeup, Greta Garau has gorgeous eyes. It was one of her most notable features. To enhance her already stunning baby blues, Garbo would put petroleum jelly under her eyes and wear a mix of petroleum jelly and charcoal as eyeliner.
She really had the demeanor of Marlene Dietrich, which I did a video for, which I’ll link in the comment. And Marlene Dietrich was just wild. They even were rumored to have an affair together, but hid it from Hollywood and started to claim that they never even met each other. But it was like a little known secret in Hollywood that they had an affair together. Okay.
And Marla Drip was one to have at least three lovers a day. I did a video for her. She’s very interesting that they had similar stops, right? In terms of diet, Garbo survived almost entirely on chicken, dried apricots, and whole milk with brown beans and biscuits for snacks. An old article from the 30s described Garbo’s daily diet and fitness routine, saying her main breakfast dish was a bowl of cornflakes, which she spread several spoonfuls of jam, like she’ll put the jam inside of the cornflakes and then poured a cup of
coffee. As soon as breakfast was over, she took the jam back upstairs and locked it in her bedroom. To work up an appetite for this morning meal, Barbbo spent 30 minutes in her bathing suit on the terrace with doing vigorous Swedish calisthenics. Lunch was served promptly at noon and invariably consisted of raw carrots.
Although for variety, both yellow and red carrots were served. They were eaten straight without salt, which was never allowed on the table. And at tea between 3:30 and 4:30, Garbo applied herself with sandwiches, honey, jam, and cake. At dinner, she reverted to her vegetarian diet, consuming only raw salad, and fruit.
The day was over at 8:00 when Garbo went to bed. And here’s some fun facts. She enjoyed the opera. She liked to whistle. She delights in roller skating, swimming, tennis, and spaghetti. Garbo loved whiskey. She liked to take walks on cemeteries, which many people found odd, but that was one of her pastimes.
She also loved long walks in general. She loved the sea and the ocean. Ice cream was her guilty pleasure. Greta loved watching soap operas and game shows. Her favorite were General Hospital in the afternoon. And she also loved Will of Fortune and Jeopardy. The Hollywood Squares was also another favorite of hers. And she also loved Michael Jackson and his music and was said to even gush over him like a teenager. She loved colors also.
Garbo loved green and pinks and wanted to be surrounded by vibrancy and life. >> This is CNN. I’m sure she has cable because she watches MTV videos. Loves it. Loves avocados. Loves to eat chocolate chip cookies. And although she’s into uh yoga, she smokes cigarettes, which a lot of people don’t know.
and uh she’s going to be giving that up pretty soon. But >> Greta Garbo did not simply become a star. She became a carefully engineered paradox. In an era when Hollywood was under increasing pressure to appear morally upright, she embodied something far more complex, desire without indecency, sensuality without confession, and fame without exposure.
Her influence on film, culture, and even moral boundaries was not loud or rebellious on the surface, but it was deeply subversive underneath. At a time when censorship loomed and public standards were tightening, especially as the industry moved towards stricter enforcement of the production code, studios found themselves in a delicate position.
They needed to sell fantasy, romance, and sex appeal, but without crossing lines that would provoke outrage. Garbo became the solution to that problem. She could communicate intense longing, emotional intimacy, and erotic tension without ever appearing crude. Her performances were not built on overt gestures or explicit dialogue, but on stillness, gaze, and suggestion.
A look from Garbo could carry more weight than a page of script. This is where her influence becomes particularly striking. She redefined what sexuality could look like on screen. Instead of loud seduction, she offered restraint. Instead of flamboyance, she gave ambiguity. The studios recognized that this made her not only acceptable, but powerful.
She could pass through the filters of censorship while still delivering the very thing those filters were meant to suppress. In doing so, she helped shape a new cinematic language, one where desire lived between the lines. Equally important was her unusual appeal across gender lines. Garbo was not framed solely as an object of male desire.
There was something androgynous, even elusive about her presence that drew in female audiences as well. Women didn’t just admire her. They studied her, identified with her, and in some cases were captivated by her in ways that went beyond conventional admiration. Hollywood, whether explicitly or implicitly, understood this dual appeal.
In a period when direct portrayals of same-sex attraction were taboo, Garbo’s persona allowed for a kind of coded ambiguity. Her roles and screen presence created space for interpretations that could resonate differently depending on the viewer without ever making anything overt enough to trigger backlash. This subtle navigation of boundaries fed into a broader cultural shift.
Barau’s image suggested that sexuality itself could be fluid, internal, and unspoken. Not announced, not labeled, just felt for audiences in a restrictive era. That suggestion alone was powerful. It introduced ideas without naming them, allowing Hollywood to experiment with themes that might otherwise have been considered unacceptable.
But perhaps the most crucial element of Garbo’s influence was not what she showed, but what she withheld. In a system that thrived on publicity, gossip columns, and carefully staged interviews, Garbo refused to participate. She spoke little, avoided the press, and revealed almost nothing about her private life. This was not typical star behavior.
It was strategic mystique. By denying the public access, she became more fascinating. By refusing explanation, she invited projection. That silence amplified everything else. Her performances felt more intimate because audiences knew so little about her. Her expressions seemed more meaningful because they weren’t diluted by offscreen overexposure.
In many ways, Garbo taught Hollywood that mystery itself could be a form of control and a form of allure. Her legacy then is not just in the film she made, but in the template she helped establish. The idea that a star could be both distant and deeply affecting. That sexuality could be implied rather than declared. That ambiguity could be more powerful than clarity.
And that withholding whether of words, identity, or intention could shape culture just as much as anything shown outright. Known as the divine garbo, Gratagabo was a screen icon to rival all others. But it was a mystery created around her which has kept her legend alive. >> Garbo, divine, mysterious, reclusive. What was the secret of Greta Garbo? Oncreen, she was raw sexuality.
Offscreen, her affairs with men and women captivated the press, and her silence made her a legend. Garbo’s natural manner distinguished her from more histrionic silent actors. She seemed relaxed and confident in the role of the vamp. MGM discovered that Garbo’s gift lay in her ability to hold back from overt sexuality and yet still suggest great depths of volcanic passion.
It was the age of jazz and anything goes, but it was also the era of prohibition and religious fundamentalism. It was a revelation for female audiences of the 1920s to see that a woman could be as passionate as a man. Garbo’s erotic screen performances appealed to both sexes. And I remember as a young girl looking at it and saying, “I didn’t know people looked like that.
I didn’t know they could be so beautiful.” >> On screen, MGM enhanced the mystique of its new star by teaming her with the best photographers and designers. Clarence Sinclair Bull was assigned to do all her official photography. He would become known as the man who shot Garbo. Garbo created a new kind of glamour, a combination of sexuality, fashion, and mystery.
He referred to her as the Mona Lisa of the 20th century. Greta Garbo gave her last formal interview in 1927. Audiences wanted to know more about the woman behind the face, but Garbo refused to talk. The studio played along since her reticence seemed to create more interest in the Swedish Sphinx. >> She had the first paparazzi hanging outside her doors.
She had fans throwing themselves under her car. Her mystery followed her offscreen into her private life. >> In one interview, Garbo asked, “Is it that Americans have no love affairs themselves that they always want to hear about other people’s?” MGM had waited 3 years after the coming of sound to give Garbo a voice.
When she broke her silence in 1930, audiences held their breath. After all, her Swedish accent might prove unpopular with American audiences. Other actors had been ruined by sound. But Garbo’s low, throaty voice enhanced her sexual appeal. Garbo entered a new circle at the salons of Saverell, who had collected a group of European expatriate artists.
The century’s greatest minds looked upon Garbo as a goddess, investing the young actress with profound depths that went undemonstrated. Playwright Bear told Breiter Thomas Man, director Billy Wilder, Garbo’s cosmopolitan look was now making bigger profits abroad. The gargo cost in excess of $30,000 in the early 30s.
Money that was spent on one garment for a moment of film time was astronomical. I mean, you’re looking at 30 or 40 homes in that one dress. Yet, this was done. She was a goddess. Director Erns Lubich and screenwriter Billy Wilder masterfully helped Garbo to parody her dead pan sensuality. As a concession to changing tastes, MGM tried to soften her image in the late 1930s.
>> But this was a different combination entirely. There was such unspoken sex going on filming a love scene. They were fully clothed, but they were lied down. And this was unheard of in American films. So, she wasn’t just pure evil. The way the classic vamp was. She was like the horror you could take home to mother. Daged for the cameras.
Tests revealed that the Garbo Gilbert phenomenon quite literally set pulses racing, particularly among female fans. It’s been said that Garbo had a love affair with the camera, but she knew exactly what she was doing. She fought against the morality of the time of her time which god knows it was five centuries ago.
>> Morning. What are you doing up so early? I couldn’t sleep. That means you’re either happy or unhappy. Which is a happy. I’m glad. >> I think that to portray a bisexual or somebody who gave off the aura of bisexuality I think interested her must have projected bisexuality of a kind.
Let’s face it, by now it’s not a sin, but she obviously did project by sexuality. >> With the sort of message Garboa was sending out on screen, it was hardly surprising that she found herself the object of attention to female fans such as Mercedes Dar Costa. >> At that time, Gertie Garber was a goddess uh as other actors were. There was no Entertainment Tonight, no CNN.
He saw them on the screen and that was it. Occasionally, uh in a newspaper, they were they were living gods. Despite her major influence, the studio still did not give her any power and treated her horribly. When her sister died of cancer, they refused to give her leave to go mourn and bury her sister. On top of that, her mentor and lover, who was actually behind her fame, director Morith Stiller, was exiled from Hollywood.
The studios banned him from working on their sets and blocked him from speaking to Garbo. It was a way for them to have full control over her because she was in love with him and they wanted no one to have influence over her or that much power. The studios back then were very, very strict and stars had no room to be individuals. They didn’t care if you were sick or had loved ones who died, which even included spouses and children.
Once a star signed a contract, the only thing that can stop them from working is if they died. >> Greta’s sister, Alva Gustiffson, died of cancer. Garbo asked for permission to go home, but the studio said no. Instead, MGM rushed Garbo into another film. >> Garbo represented absolutely no problem for them.
They had her at a base salary, and all the problems were with Mar Stiller. So, it wasn’t long before they succeeded in separating the two. >> Maurice Stiller was finished in Hollywood and suffering from an unidentified lung ailment. He never recovered from his illness. He kept a framed picture of his protege at his deathbed. >> Some friends of mine were working in a film and a old character actor was sitting there and she went over and took his hand and held it to her face.
Said, “He has hands like the man I love.” Deprived of her mentor and estranged from her lover, Garbo responded to conflict on the set by not showing up for work. Garbo began to make plans to go home. MGM retaliated. the Hollywood press in their pocket. The studio made her seem unmanageable. >> They realized that she was serious.
She was not like the actresses they were used to who were so grateful for this attention that they were willing to sign on the dotted line. Garbo was perfectly happy to go home to go back to Sweden. >> Her arrival in Gutterberg Harbor in December 1928. Garbo was mobbed by the Swedish press. The window of her taxi cab was broken by the pressure of crowds against the glass.
MGM was not willing to lose their top female star to Europe. Garbo received a new contract, one that would limit her work to two films a year and most importantly time off to visit home. In Stockholm, she was unable to walk the streets and could not visit Stiller’s grave. She was forced to rent an apartment under an assumed name. In terms of her religion, Greta Garbo was raised in the Lutheran Swedish State Church Evangelical and confirmed there in 1920, though she was not known for active religious practice.
Later in life, she leaned towards spiritual, esoteric, and theosophical beliefs, often finding traditional organized religion unappealing while focusing on individual spirituality. She was influenced by Eastern philosophies, studying Hindu and Buddhist texts, often looking for a spiritual path. notes Vanity Fair.
Fellow actors and critics often described her uncanny acting ability as pure witchcraft, noting a supernatural hypnotic quality in her performances. Later in life, she practiced meditation and learned yoga, including headstands from Leupold Stakowski. During the late 20s and 30s, Greta Garbo reigned as one of Hollywood’s most powerful and enigmatic screen queens.
often referred to as the immortal one. Her on-screen presence was marked by a striking blend of sensuality and intensity as she portrayed themes of adultery, seduction, lust, murder, and even spiritual devotion in ways that captivated audiences worldwide. One of her most telling cinematic moments comes from the flesh and the devil, which opens with a haunting line, “When the devil cannot reach us through the spirit, he creates a beautiful woman to tempt us through the flesh.
” In many ways, Garbo came to embody that archetype. Aware of the emotional and sensual influence she held over audiences, she once described her own image with provocative self-awareness, stating, “I am a woman who’s unfaithful to a million men.” As noted by biographer Barry Paris, Garbo’s influence extended beyond conventional screen roles, helping pave the way for figures like May West, while also introducing audiences to more esoteric and unconventional spiritual imagery.
In her film Matahari, she performs a highly suggestive dance before a statue of the Hindu god Shiva declaring, “Shiva, I dance for you tonight as the bioderas dance in the sacred temples of Java.” The performance left a deep impression on her co-star Ramon Novaro, who described a dramatic transformation in her presence, saying, “The moment she began acting, her whole being changed, and the force she radiated electrified those acting with her.
” Offscreen, Garbo’s fascination with the spiritual and metaphysical world became a defining aspect of her personal life. She openly spoke about seeking out occultists, mediums, and others engaged in supernatural practices, explaining, “I didn’t have anyone to whom I could talk freely, so I went to occultists, devil worshippers, mind readaders, and those who occupied themselves with the summoning of spirits.
Because I believed in life after death, I kept trying to talk to my father and Mo. During my dreams, I heard their voices, terrible, angry voices. This lifelong interest led her into close relationships with spiritual adviserss, including May West psychic, Kenny Kingston, who worked with Garbo for decades.
Reflecting on their connection, Kingston said, “I gave Garbo what would be the first of many brief psychic readings.” He later recalled one particularly intimate moment. It was in that apartment that I met with Garbo after our dear Gaylord passed. This time to hold a seance and attempt to make contact with him in spirit.
You must come see me, she insisted. It was very important for her to know that Gaylord was doing well. We were able to get those answers for her. Garber’s reliance on these practices appeared to deepen over time. She described a personal connection with the spiritual presence, saying, “I would kneel and speak to him.
he would give me advice, especially about taking care of my health and living long because death is boring. At the same time, she recounted unsettling experiences tied to these pursuits, including her ability to hear voices at grave sites, voices she had already described as terrible, angry voices. She later reflected on how her environment influenced this path, stating, “The Hollywood mindset led me to astrology, occultism, and magic.
I read books and magazines on these elusive subjects. Later, when reading alone could not satisfy my interest, I began searching out mediums, fortune tellers, card readers, and anyone else with extrensory perception. Those close to her believed she understood the power she held, not just as an actress, but as a figure of fascination and influence.
As Kingston put it, she knew how to get attention and be woripped, and she did it. According to Watkins magazine, during her lifetime, Garbo became intimate with a number of notable occultists. She embarked on a sexual relationship with conductor Leopold Stakowski, who told her that they shared a destiny written in the stars by the gods themselves.
In the 1970s, Garbo and her friend, the art dealer and esotericist Sam Green, spent time exploring questions of metamsychosis and spirit communication. The photographer Cecil Beaton described Garbo as an enigma brimming with spiritual thoughts. Mercedes Deacosta called her rather a crazy mystic Swede and actor Leif Ericson saw her as the hippie of the world, surveying the scene but not partaking.
Garbo’s interest in the occult led her to adopt a semi aesthetic lifestyle. When not working, she followed a routine of rising everyday at 6:00 a.m. to practice yoga and perform breathing exercises. Well into her 60s, she practiced calisthenics and ate a diet of natural unprocessed foods. She rejected materialism, aware of the risk of becoming a slave to material possessions.
Mercedes remarked that Garbo lived not just a solitary life, but a simple and austere one as well. Ceil beaten described Garbo as a true aesthetic whose mind was occupied only with the more uncorrupted aspects of life. She once said she believed building churches was unnecessary. Everything people needed to commune with the divine was to be found within themselves.
Now, as far as her childhood, Greta Lovissa Gustafson, forgive me for mispronouncing, otherwise she was known as Greta Garbau. She was born on September 18th, 1905 in Stockholm, Sweden. Her parents, Anna Lavisa and Carl Alfred, lived in a working-class district and struggled to make ends meet. Her mother, Anna, worked at a jam factory.
Maybe that’s why she loved jam so much and protected and put it over her cereal. while her father Carl was a laborer. The family lived in a three-bedroom cold water flat, which was regarded as the city’s slum. Greta was the youngest of three children. Her childhood was marked by poverty and anxiety with evenings spent in a cramped apartment filled with the tension of financial struggle.
Gardo later recalled saying, “It was eternally gray, those long winter nights. My father would be sitting in a corner scribbling figures on a newspaper, and on the other side of the room, my mother’s preparing raggedy old clothes, sighing. We children would be talking in very low voices or just sitting silently.
We were filled with anxiety as if there were danger in the air. Such evenings are unforgettable for a sensitive girl, but also for a girl like me. Where we lived, all the houses and apartments looked alike. Their ugliness matched by everything surrounding us. End quote. And she would later on speak about how poverty really shaped her and made her feel so small.
And it was very, very traumatizing to her to experience that. It was this dark gray and black. That’s all she could remember her childhood as. And despite the difficulties, Greta was a bright and imaginative child who dreamed of becoming an actress. She was a natural leader and enjoyed directing her friends and amateur theater performances.
However, Greta’s childhood was not without its challenges. She disliked school and preferred to spend time alone ever since she was a child. Greta later acknowledged that her lack of formal education resulted in an inferiority complex. her father to whom she was very close became ill with the Spanish flu in 1919 and lost his job.
Greta became his primary caregiver and took him to the hospital for weekly treatments. But sadly, he passed away the following year when Greta was just 14 years old. And despite the hardships of her childhood, Greta remained determined to pursue her dreams. She participated in amateur theater production. She did not attend high school, which was typical of a Swedish working-class girl at that time.
Greta Lovvisa Gustoson was born on September 18th, 1905 in the workingclass soldermal area of Stockholm. The Gustiffsons had a son and a daughter, Sven and Alba. Greta came as a surprise. >> Was a story that uh Carl Gustafson’s employer had offered to adopt the child and uh her mother said that God would basically take care of it.
She came from a family that were one generation removed from peasant stock in a very poor area where as she used to say even the grass didn’t grow. >> G and I came from the same part of Stockholm which I’m very proud of. If you didn’t have much money that’s where you live. >> Greta’s beloved father Carl Alfred Gustiffson was in poor health but he held a series of heavy labor jobs.
The family lived under constant threat of poverty. >> She had this very sensitive skin. and she said, “I was born of very thin skin.” >> Greta, known as Kata as a child, had a vivid imagination. She used to sun herself on a nearby roof and pretend she was at a beach. Kata left school at 13 to care for her ailing father full- time.
Two years later, he died from a kidney infection. >> She said, “As a child, I got off somewhere.” We talked about that. I got off alone. She told me there were there were things within her that were difficult for her. When she saw her brother and sister crying, 15-year-old Kata reportedly said, “A great tragedy should be born silently.” >> She said, “I was born the way I was born. I can’t help that.
” >> Greta got a job in the hat department at Pub, the Paul U. Bergstrom department store. In class photos, Greta is the only student not looking at the camera. >> Now, in terms of her career, Greta Garau is undoubtedly one of Hollywood’s most iconic actresses. But how did she get her start in the movie industry? Well, it all began with her job as a soap lather girl in a barber shop.
Her modeling career took off when she modeled hats for the store’s catalog and later became a fashion model. In 1920, she appeared in her first commercial advertisement for women’s clothing and soon caught the attention of director Eric Arthur, who cast her in his short comedy Peter the Garbo then studied at the Royal Dramatic Training Academy in Stockholm from 1922 to 1924.
In 1925, Garbo was brought to Hollywood from Sweden at the request of mayor. Despite not being able to speak English, she arrived in New York with her director, Moritz Stiller. However, a Swedish friend in Los Angeles helped her get a screen test with MGM production boss Irving Talberg, who immediately began grooming her for stardom, making her lose weight, fixing her teeth, hair, etc.
You know, giving her an a whole new identity as it was customary in Hollywood during those days. With her elegant image and unique acting style, Garbo rose to become one of Hollywood’s greatest actresses. Some of her most popular films included Anna Christi, Grand Hotel, and Nutka. She often played complex characters with a touch of mystery and intrigue.
And despite her Swedish accent, Garbo became one of the biggest box office draws of the 1930s and won critical acclaim for her work in film. During her first year at drama school, the 17-year-old Greta auditioned for Moritz Stiller, one of Sweden’s leading film directors. He thereafter acted as a tremendous sengali figure in her life.
>> He was just charmed by her initially. I think she was rough clay, you know, that he could mold into something that he could bring out something in her that that she had no idea what her gifts were yet. >> Still began to mold Rea and he was the one who changed her last name from Gustoson to Garbo because Garbo would look better on theater mares.
Garbo was hired by German director GW Paps for the joyless street. Paps directed her on the set, but Stiller continued to direct her at night in their hotel room. >> Stiller was a homosexual. However, um there is correspondence that indicates that he had quite a hold over Garbo and and possibly even a sexual one. >> During filming, Maurice Stiller negotiated a deal with MGM chief Lou B.
Mayor who was in Paris. Still insisted that Mayor also sign Garbo. Mayor did so without comment. At the time, MGM publicity chief Howard Deetsz said of Garbo, “I hate that name. It reminds me of garbage.” There was no crowd of cameras to meet the pair in New York. Still in her teens and seldom away from her family, Gabo now found herself a very long way from home.
>> First months were pretty traumatic for her. She missed her family. She was very dependent on her mother and her brother and her sister. And suddenly they’re not there as a support system at all. When Greta Garbo came to MGM, first of all, she wasn’t even old enough to sign her own contract.
they had to send back to Sweden for her mother to cosign. You have an actress who has arrived in Hollywood but doesn’t know the language, so she’s totally dependent on for the first year on her interpreter. The studio is able to control things much more. >> America was unimpressed with Greta, but a series of amateur photos was about to launch Garbo’s career.
>> When Garbo first got to MGM, they did not have any concept of what they were going to do with her. She was bigger than all of the other stars who were tiny little people with this was not sweet. This was not dainty. This was a lady who walked like a young horse. Nobody could visualize this as an attractive person.
Wide shoulders and big hands and and of course the famous big feet. Mistake her for a lesbian if you didn’t know better. >> of the reclusive star began to take shape. >> And they did. They pretended that she refused to be interviewed, but it was the studio that wanted to keep her shut up. Studio decided that she would be the silent Swede.
They pretended that she didn’t want to talk, but the truth was she talked too much. >> Vader Arnold Gent took this series of test shots were sent west to Louis B. Mayor, who did not recognize her as the actress Stiller had insisted he hire. He demanded that girl in the pictures report for work in Los Angeles immediately.
Her eccentric requirements on set, such as prohibiting visitors and demanding black flats or screens, earned her a reputation for being difficult to work with. She continued to wow audiences with her unique acting style and netted a significant fortune from her career. Her net worth at the height of her Hollywood career was estimated at around 5 million which is equivalent to roughly 82 to 90 million in today’s time.
This is crazy, right? In terms of awards, Greta Garbo received three Academy Award nominations but never won any. However, she was honored with an honorary Oscar in 1954 for her unique and unforgettable contributions to film. Her legacy not only shaped Hollywood’s golden age, but also had a lasting impact on cinema history. Now, in terms of her relationship, Garau never married, had no children, and lived alone as an adult.
Her most famous romance was with her frequent co-star John Gilbert, but a lot of people speculated that he was just her beard, her excuse to, you know, not be gay or whatever because the times that it was in. But soon after their romance began, Gilbert began helping her develop acting skills on the set, and teaching her how to behave like a star, how to socialize at parties, and deal with studio bosses.
Gilbert allegedly proposed to her numerous times, with Garbo agreeing, but backing out at the last minute. “I was in love with him,” she said, “but I froze. I was afraid he would tell me what to do and boss me. I always wanted to be the boss.” End quote. In later years, Garbo said of Gilbert, “I can’t remember what I ever saw in him.” Oof.
Recent biographers and others have speculated that because it can be assumed she had intimate relationships with women as well as men. Garbo was bisexual, even predominantly lesbian. Silent film star Louise Brooks stated that she and Garbo had a brief liaison. And as we stated, it was alleged that her and Marlay Dietrich had a love affair.
And in 1931, Garbo befriended the writer and acknowledged lesbian Mercedes Deacosta. And according to Garbau’s and Deacosta’s biographers began a sporadic and volatile romance. The two remained friends with ups and downs for almost 30 years during which time Garbo wrote Deosta 181 letters, cards and telegrams. >> Mercedes Dosta was an extraordinary woman who once made the declaration I can get any woman from any man.
And having read Mercedes’s papers um I have a feeling that this was true. It was at one of Salkavertell’s salons that Garbo met Mercedes deacosta. In her autobiography, Mercedes claims that she and Garbo spent six rapturous weeks in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Garbo and the flamboyant the Aosta hit it off immediately.
She was as different from Garbo and temperament as John Gilbert had been. The Aosta marked the occasion with photographs of Garbo. She said, “If homosexuality, if it’s flaunted, brought out,” she said, “I I find that a bit sorted, but yet if it’s kept discreet,” she said, ” uh, I don’t know why anyone should protest.
” The gossip columns began to report on her new gal pal, Mercedes, saying that the most talked about woman in Hollywood is the woman no wife fears. Garbo’s relationship with Mercedes seemed to cool off when she moved into a new home in Brentwood. She began an affair with her Queen Christina director, Ruben Mimoleon. Mercedes was furious and camped out on Garbo’s doorstep.
>> A lot of very close friends are confused about this very same thing. Friend of hers told me that she might have been a lesbian. Well, you know, actually, well, she was kind of bisexual. Oh, maybe she was asexual after, you know, I mean, you go back and forth. >> Garbo inspired and yet defied interpretation oncreen and off.
Mercedes de Aosta, Garbo’s rejected lover, consoled herself in the arms of Garbo’s professional rival, the genderbending Marina Dietrich. She had her demons definitely not able to have a fulfilled sexual life away from the press. What would they say? What would they say? She would always say to me. >> During the war years, Garbo spent time with George and Valentina Schlay, who ran a fashion company called Valentina Gowns.
>> And for a while, it was a threesome. It was Valentina. In fact, Mrs. Slingman told me she thought that Garbo had had had an affair with Valentina. >> He got Garbo away from Valentina and made her his friend. Then at one point it seems that George Lelay got rather fed up with this. In a sense, Valentina lost her husband, her best friend, and to some extent her business as well, all in one fell swoop.
So that was a bitter pill to swallow. >> Thing about Gigi was that she needed a man or someone in her life as an anchor and George became that anchor. >> In ‘ 64, George Schlade died suddenly. His widow Valentina called in a priest to exercise Garbo’s presence from their New York apartment. Mercedes de Aosta had published her memoirs in 1960.
She wrote in poetic detail about meeting Garbo and their subsequent affair. The Mercedes was one of those figures who just um hung in there till the end and was absolutely miserable in the last year or so of her life when she was really very very ill. Um that garb wouldn’t make a sign of life at all and Mercedes somehow was mysteriously always there.
other rumors out there in Hollywood about her, but during the times it was very much prohibited. It was a very conservative conservative society in America. So, a lot of these starlets had to really hide it. And there was a lot of exposees that I saw online that described the depression that Greta Garbo described because she talked about always being in a constant perpetual state of depression all of her life was from not being able to express her identity.
So, that could have been it also, not necessarily bipolar disorder. And Marlene Dietrich was a little bit more open about her identity as we saw. She spoke freely about Annie. She didn’t hide anything. But Greta Garbo just probably didn’t have much of the courage to do so. There were a lot more women who are a little bit more bolder like Mercedes that you’d say that would speak out about how they lived and how they were, but she just was not.
Comment below your thoughts. Do you think that she was depressed or do you think that because of hiding her identity or do you think it had anything to do with just bipolar disorder? Now, in terms of her death, Garbo was successfully treated for breast cancer in 1984. And towards the end of her life, only Garbo’s closest friends knew she was receiving six-hour dialysis treatments three times a week.
Garbo passed away on April 15th, 1990 at the age of 84 in the hospital as a result of pneumonia and renal failure. >> Greta’s kidneys began to fail in the late 1980s. She would no longer take her walks, thus ending her already limited contact with acquaintances. In her final years, all that remained were relatives.
Her niece Gray, daughter of brother Sven, arranged for her aunt to undergo dialysis treatments. Wednesday, April 11th, 1990, she went for her regular diialysis treatment, but did not return. Her relatives chose not to bury her in the Gustapson family plot, fearing that even in death, Garbo would not be left alone.
When asked about her personal papers before her death, she told an acquaintance she wanted them burned up just as she wanted to be cremated. The location of her ashes remains undisclosed. Before Suther auctioned off the contents of Garbo’s apartment, they were put on public display. It would be the only visible evidence of Greta Garbo’s private life.
>> I’m sitting down. >> Garbo’s niece inherited an estimated $55 million in investments and property. So, she lived a pretty long life if you’d say so, 84 in the ‘9s. So, she got to see a lot. Garbo made numerous investments, as we stated, primarily in stocks and bonds, and left her entire estate, which was 32 million, equivalent to 72 million in 2022 to her niece, which is a lot, and her niece is living big.
Okay, her estate still runs her home. But this is all I have to say about Garbo. I’m really interested to hear what you guys think about this. I love you guys so much. Thank you for tuning in. Ant next side.
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