Gloria Swanson

Gloria Swanson
Swanson in 1941
Born	Gloria May Josephine Swanson (1899-03-27)March 27, 1899 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	April 4, 1983(1983-04-04) (aged 84) New York City, U.S.
Resting place	Church of the Heavenly Rest, New York City
Other names	Gloria Mae
Occupations	Actress producer
Years active	1914–1983
Political party	Republican
Spouses	Wallace Beery ​ ​ (m. 1916; div. 1918)​ Herbert K. Somborn ​ ​ (m. 1919; div. 1922)​ Henry de La Falaise ​ ​ (m. 1925; div. 1931)​ Michael Farmer ​ ​ (m. 1931; div. 1934)​ William Davey ​ ​ (m. 1945; div. 1946)​ William Dufty ​ (m. 1976)​
Children	3
Signature

Gloria Swanson (Gloria Josephine Mae, March 27, 1899 – April 4, 1983) was an American movie, television, stage, voice, radio, silent movie actress, singer and movie producer. She played Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. She won a Golden Globe Award in 1951 and a Saturn Award in 1975. She was known for having an affair with Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.. Swanson was born in Chicago, Illinois. She studied at Hawthorne Scholastic Academy. She was married six times, having a relationship with Wallace Beery (1916-1919), Herbert K. Somborn (1919-1922), Henri de la Falaise (1925-1930), Michael Farmer (1931-1934), William Davey (1945-1946) and William Dufty (1976-1983). Swanson had three children. She died of heart failure. She was buried at the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York City.

Early life

Swanson was born in a small house in Chicago in 1899. She was raised in the Lutheran faith. Her father was Joseph Theodore Swanson (né Svensson). He was a Swedish American soldier. Her mother was Adelaide (née Klanowski). She had German, French, and Polish ancestry. Her family moved often because her father was in the US Army. For some of her childhood, she lived in Key West, Florida. There, she went to a Catholic convent school. She also lived in Puerto Rico. Here, she saw her first movies.

Career

Bobby Vernon with Gloria Swanson and Teddy the Dog in Teddy at the Throttle (1917)

Her family moved to Chicago again when Swanson became adolescent. Gloria was soon hired by Essanay Studios as an extra.

Movies were still new. Extras were usually very important. Her first role was a walk-on with Gerda Holmes. For this, she was paid $3.25. The studio soon gave her a job for $13.25 (equivalent to $358 in 2021) per week. Swanson left school to work at the studio. In 1915, she co-starred in Sweedie Goes to College. Her future first husband, Wallace Beery also acted in this movie.

Portrait (1917)

In 1916, Swanson and her mother wet to California for her parts in Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios comedy shorts. At the studio, Swanson became popular with audiences. She was in many movies with Bobby Vernon. They were both in the The Danger Girl (1916), The Sultan's Wife (1917), and Teddy at the Throttle (1917). The director, Clarence G. Badger was by Swanson. He recommended her to the director Jack Conway. With Conway, Swanson played in Her Decision and You Can't Believe Everything in 1918. Her pay was soon increased to $15 a week.

Swanson in Male and Female (1919)

Movies

Key

†	Is a lost movie.

Shorts

Short subject

Title	Year	Role	Notes Studio/Distributor	Ref(s)
The Song of the Soul †	1914		Unconfirmed
The Misjudged Mr. Hartley †	1915	Maid
At the End of a Perfect Day †	1915	Hands Bouquet to Holmes	Uncredited, actual release date of January 26, 2015
The Ambition of the Baron	1915	Bit part	Essanay Film starring Francis X. Bushman
His New Job	1915	Stenographer	Essanay Film Written and directed by Charlie Chaplin
The Fable of Elvira and Farina and the Meal Ticket †	1915	Farina, Elvira's Daughter	Credited as Gloria Mae Essanay Film
Sweedie Goes to College †	1915	College Girl	Wallace Beery played Sweedie in a series of shorts Essanay Film
The Romance of an American Duchess †	1915	Minor Role	Uncredited Essanay Film
The Broken Pledge †	1915	Gloria	Essanay Film
A Dash of Courage †	1916		Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger
Hearts and Sparks †	1916		Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger
A Social Cub †	1916		Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger
The Danger Girl	1916	Reggie's madcap sister	Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger
Haystacks and Steeples †	1916		Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger
The Nick of Time Baby	1916		Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger
Teddy at the Throttle	1917	Gloria Dawn, His Sweetheart	Uncredited with Bobby Vernon Keystone/Triangle directed by Clarence G. Badger
Baseball Madness †	1917		Victor Film/Universal
Dangers of a Bride †	1917		Keystone/Triangle directed by Clarence G. Badger
Whose Baby?	1917		Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger
The Sultan's Wife	1917	Gloria	Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger
The Pullman Bride	1917	The Girl	Paramount-Mack Sennett directed by Clarence G. Badger
A Trip to Paramountown	1922	Herself	Paramount

Features

Feature film credits of Gloria Swanson

Title	Year	Role	Notes Studio/Distributor	Ref(s)
Society for Sale †	1918	Phylis Clyne	Triangle Film Corporation
Her Decision †	1918	Phyllis Dunbar	Triangle Film Corporation directed by Jack Conway
You Can't Believe Everything †	1918	Patricia Reynolds	Triangle Film Corporation directed by Jack Conway
Station Content	1918	Kitty Manning	Triangle Film Corporation directed by Arthur Hoyt One reel survives
Everywoman's Husband	1918	Edith Emerson	Triangle Film Corporation directed by Gilbert P. Hamilton
Shifting Sands	1918	Marcia Grey	Triangle Film Corporation directed by Albert Parker
The Secret Code †	1918	Sally Carter Rand	Triangle Film Corporation directed by Albert Parker
Wife or Country †	1918	Sylvia Hamilton	Triangle Film Corporation directed by E. Mason Hopper
Don't Change Your Husband	1919	Leila Porter	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Cecil B. DeMille
For Better, for Worse	1919	Sylvia Norcross	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Cecil B. DeMille
Male and Female	1919	Lady Mary Lasenby	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Cecil B. DeMille
Why Change Your Wife?	1920	Beth Gordon	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Cecil B. DeMille
Something to Think About	1920	Ruth Anderson	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Cecil B. DeMille
The Affairs of Anatol	1921	Vivian Spencer – Anatol's Wife	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Cecil B. DeMille
The Great Moment †	1921	Nada Pelham/Nadine Pelham	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood
Under the Lash †	1921	Deborah Krillet	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood
Don't Tell Everything †	1921	Marian Westover	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood
Her Husband's Trademark	1922	Lois Miller	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood
Her Gilded Cage †	1922	Suzanne Ornoff	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood
Beyond the Rocks	1922	Theodora Fitzgerald	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood
The Impossible Mrs. Bellew †	1922	Betty Bellew	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood
My American Wife †	1922	Natalie Chester	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood
Prodigal Daughters †	1923	Swifty Forbes	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood
Bluebeard's 8th Wife †	1923	Mona deBriac	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood
Hollywood †	1923	Cameo role	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount
Zaza	1923	Zaza	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Allan Dwan
The Humming Bird	1924	Toinette	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sidney Olcott
A Society Scandal †	1924	Marjorie Colbert	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Allan Dwan
Manhandled	1924	Tessie McGuire	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Allan Dwan
Her Love Story †	1924	Princess Marie	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Allan Dwan
Wages of Virtue †	1924	Carmelita	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Allan Dwan
Madame Sans-Gêne †	1925	Madame Sans-Gêne	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Léonce Perret
The Coast of Folly †	1925	Joyce Gathway/Nadine Gathway	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Allan Dwan
Stage Struck	1925	Jennie Hagen	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Allan Dwan
The Untamed Lady †	1926	St. Clair Van Tassel	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Frank Tuttle
Fine Manners	1926	Orchid Murphy	Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Richard Rosson
The Love of Sunya	1927	Sunya Ashling	Swanson Producing Corporation/United Artists directed by Albert Parker
Sadie Thompson	1928	Sadie Thompson	Gloria Swanson Productions/United Artists directed by Raoul Walsh
Queen Kelly	1928	Kitty Kelly/Queen Kelly	Joseph P. Kennedy/United Artists directed by Erich von Stroheim
The Trespasser	1929	Marion Donnell	Gloria Productions/United Artists directed by Edmund Goulding Released in two versions, one silent, and the other with sound
What a Widow! †	1930	Tamarind Brook	Gloria Productions/United Artists directed by Allan Dwan
Indiscreet	1931	Geraldine "Gerry" Trent	Feature Productions, Inc. A DeSylva, Brown & Henderson Production directed by Leo McCarey
Tonight or Never	1931	Nella Vago	Feature Productions, Inc./United Artists directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Perfect Understanding	1933	Judy Rogers	Gloria Swanson British Productions, Ltd./United Artists directed by Cyril Gardner
Music in the Air	1934	Frieda Hotzfelt	Erich Pommer Productions/Fox Film directed by Joe May
Father Takes a Wife	1941	Leslie Collier Osborne	Marcus Lee/RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. directed by William Dorfman
Sunset Boulevard	1950	Norma Desmond	Charles Brackett/Paramount directed by Billy Wilder
3 for Bedroom "C"	1952	Ann Haven/costume designer	Brenco Pictures Corporation/Warner Bros. directed by Milton H. Bren
Nero's Weekend (aka Nero's Mistress)	1956	Agrippina	Les Films Marceau and Titanus/Manhattan Films International directed by Steno
Airport 1975	1974	Herself	Universal Pictures directed by Jack Smight

Television

Television

Title	Year	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
The Gloria Swanson Hour	1948	Hostess	Variety show
The Peter Lind Hayes Show	1950	Herself	Episode #1.1 sitcom show
Hollywood Opening Night	1953		Episode: "The Pattern"
Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson	1954–1955	Hostess	25 episodes
The Steve Allen Show	1957	Norma Desmond	Episode #3.8
Straightaway	1961	Lorraine Carrington	Episode: "A Toast to Yesterday"
Dr. Kildare	1963	Julia Colton	Episode: "The Good Luck Charm"
Burke's Law	1963–1964	Various roles	2 episodes
Kraft Suspense Theatre	1964	Mrs. Charlotte Heaton	Segment: "Who Is Jennifer?"
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	1964	Mrs. Daniels	Episode: "Behind the Locked Door"
My Three Sons	1965	Margaret McSterling	Episode: "The Fountain of Youth"
Ben Casey	1965	Victoria Hoffman	Episode: "Minus That Rusty Old Hacksaw"
The Beverly Hillbillies	1966	Herself	Episode: "The Gloria Swanson Story"
The Eternal Tramp Special	1972	Narrator	aka Chaplinesque, My Life and Hard Times
The Carol Burnett Show	1973	Herself	Episode #7.3
Killer Bees	1974	Madame Maria von Bohlen	Television movie
The Great Debate	1974	Herself	Canadian interview show with James Bawden
Hollywood	1980	Herself	Television documentary

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations of Gloria Swanson

Year	Award	Result	Category	Film or series	Ref(s)
1929	Academy Award	Nominated	Best Actress	Sadie Thompson
1931				The Trespasser
1951				Sunset Boulevard
1951	Golden Globe Award	Won	Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1964		Nominated	Best TV Star – Female	Burke's Law
1951	Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists	Won	Best Actress – Foreign Film (Migliore Attrice Straniera)	Sunset Boulevard
1951	Jussi Award	Won	Best Foreign Actress
1950	National Board of Review of Motion Pictures	Won	Best Actress
1980			Career Achievement Award	-
1975	Saturn Award	Won	Special Award	-

References

Citations

• Balio, Tino (2009). United Artists, Volume 1, 1919–1950: The Company Built by the Stars. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-23003-6.(subscription required)
• Bawden, James; Miller, Ron (2016). "Gloria Swanson". Conversations with Classic Film Stars: Interviews from Hollywood's Golden Era. The University Press of Kentucky. pp. 14–26. ISBN 978-0-8131-6712-1.(subscription required)
• Beauchamp, Cari (2009). Joseph P. Kennedy presents : his Hollywood years (First Vintage books ed.). New York. ISBN 978-0-307-47522-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Birchard, Robert S. S. (2009). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood. The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-2636-4.(subscription required)
• Carper, James C. (2009). The Praeger handbook of religion and education in the United States. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 978-0-275-99227-9.
• Desjardins, Mary R. (2015). Recycled Stars: Female Film Stardom in the Age of Television and Video. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-7603-3.
• Dufty, William (1993). Sugar Blues. Grand Central Publishing.
• Harzig, Christiane; Matovic, Margareta, eds. (2018). "Embracing a Middle-Class Life: Swedish-American Women in Lake View". Peasant Maids, City Women: From the European Countryside to Urban America. Cornell University Press. pp. 261–298. ISBN 978-1-5017-2554-8.(subscription required)
• Hershfield, Joanne (2000). Invention Of Dolores Del Rio. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-5282-2.(subscription required)
• Holbrook, Morris (2011). Music, Movies, Meanings, and Markets : Cinemajazzamatazz. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-203-81553-3.
• King, Rob (2009). The fun factory : the Keystone Film Company and the emergence of mass culture. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25538-8.
• Lennig, Arthur (2000). Stroheim. The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-7125-8.(subscription required)
• Moss, Marilyn (2011). "Pre-Code Walsh". Raoul Walsh: The True Adventures of Hollywood's Legendary Director. The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-3394-2.(subscription required)
• Pearson, Drew (May 14, 1964). "The Washington Merry-Go-Round" (PDF). dspace.wrlc.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 16, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
• Phillips, Gene (2010). Some Like It Wilder: The Life and Controversial Films of Billy Wilder. The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-7367-2.(subscription required)
• Quirk, Lawrence J. (1984). The Films of Gloria Swanson. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-0874-4.
• Shearer, Stephen Michael (2013). Gloria Swanson : the Ultimate Star. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-1-250-00155-9.
• Syman, Stefanie (2010). The Subtle Body: the Story of Yoga in America. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-53284-0. OCLC 456171421.
• Thomson, David (2014). The New Biographical Dictionary of Film (Sixth ed.). New York. ISBN 978-0-375-71184-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Welsch, Tricia (2013). Gloria Swanson: Ready for Her Close-Up. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-62103-991-4.(subscription required)
• Mino, Salvestri (1925). Gloria Swanson: La grande attrice di moda (PDF). Milan, Gloriosa Editore.

Further reading

• Card, James (1994). Seductive Cinema: The Art of Silent Film (paperback reprint). University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-3390-8.
• Hudson, Richard (1970). Gloria Swanson. Castle Books. LCCN 75-88280.
• Kobal, John (1985). People Will Talk. Knopf, New York. Especially Introduction and Chapter 1. ISBN 0-394-53660-6.
• Staggs, Sam (2003). Close-up on Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-27453-X.
• Tapert, Annette (1998). The Power of Glamour. Crown Publishers, Inc. Introduction and Chapter 1. ISBN 0-517-70376-9.

Other websites

General

• Gloria Swanson on IMDb
• Gloria Swanson at the Internet Broadway Database
• Gloria Swanson at the TCM Movie Database
• Gloria Swanson Archived December 21, 2016, at the Wayback Machine at the Women Film Pioneers Project
• Glorious Gloria Swanson – Tribute site
• Gloria Swanson's papers Archived January 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin
• Gloria Swanson photographs and bibliography

Interviews

• Gloria Swanson, video of The Mike Wallace Interview, April 28, 1957
• Gloria Swanson, interview on Dick Cavett Show on YouTube, August 3, 1970