Image:GloriaSwanson.jpg
'''Gloria Swanson''' (March_27, 1897 – April_4, 1983) was an American actress.
==Early life==
Born '''Gloria May Josephine Swanson (or Svensson)''' in a small house in Chicago,_Illinois to a Swedish_American father, who was a soldier, and a Polish_American mother, but she grew up mainly in Puerto_Rico, Chicago, and Key_West,_Florida.
==Silent films==
Her film debut was in 1914 as an extra in ''The_Song_of_Soul'', but by four years later she was a star in ''Teddy_at_the_Throttle''. She played in many Mack_Sennett Slapstick comedies, and in 1919 she signed with Cecil_B._DeMille, who turned her into a romantic lead in such films as ''Don't Change Your Husband'', ''Male and Female'', ''The Affairs of Anatol'', and ''Why Change Your Wife?''. Swanson later appeared in a series of films directed by Sam Wood. In 1922 she starred in the Silent_film ''Beyond_the_Rocks'' with Rudolph_Valentino (this film had been believed lost but was rediscovered in 2004 in a private collection in The_Netherlands.)
In her heyday, audiences flocked to her films not only for her emotional portrayals in lurid romances, but to see her wardrobe. Frequently decked out in beads, jewels, peacock and ostrich feathers, haute couture of the day or extravagent period pieces, one would hardly suspect that Gloria was barely five feet tall.
She was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her performance as Sadie_Thompson in the 1928 film, costarring and directed by Raoul Walsh, of the same title that was based on Somerset_Maugham's novel, ''Rain''.
Swanson's unfinished 1929 film ''Queen_Kelly'' was directed by Erich_von_Stroheim and produced by Joseph_P._Kennedy,_Sr., father of President John_F._Kennedy. She was romantically linked to the elder Kennedy at the time.
Swanson ultimately made it into the "talkies," even singing in 1934's ''Music_in_the_Air''.
==Comeback in ''Sunset Boulevard''==
Image:SunsetBoulevardDVD.jpg
After several other former silent screen actresses (including Mary_Pickford, Pola_Negri and Mae_West) turned down the role, Swanson starred in 1950's ''Sunset Boulevard'' and it is scenes from ''Queen Kelly'' that her character Norma Desmond watches with her co-stars William Holden and Eric von Stroheim. Swanson was nominated for her 3rd Best Actress Oscar but lost to Judy_Holliday (who was photographed sitting next to Swanson and Jose_Ferrer in New York during the telecast), but Swanson was gracious in defeat.
She received several subsequent acting offers but turned most of them down, saying they tended to be pale imitations of Norma Desmond.
Image:Three_for_Bedroom_C_screenshot.jpg in a scene from the 1952 Warner_Bros. film ''Three for Bedroom C''.]]
Her last serious, respectable Hollywood motion picture was ''Three_for_Bedroom_C'' (her first color film) in 1952. Swanson played an aging movie star who, along with her precocious daughter, hides out in the compartment of a scientist (Warren) during a cross-country rail journey from New York to Los Angeles. Shot exclusively aboard ''Super_Chief'' Passenger_cars loaned to the production company by the Santa Fe Railway, the film met with lukewarm reviews and did not, as had been hoped, revitalize Swanson's career.
==Television==
Swanson hosted a Television anthology series, ''Crown_Theatre_with_Gloria_Swanson'', in which she occasionally acted. Her last acting role was in the television horror film ''Killer Bees'' in 1974, though she also appeared as herself in the movie ''Airport 1975'', the same year. Through the 1970's and early 1980's, Swanson appeared on various talk and variety shows such as ''The_Carol_Burnett_Show'' and ''The_Tonight_Show_Starring_Johnny_Carson'' to recollect on her films and to lampoon them as well.
==Marriages==
* She married actor Wallace_Beery (1885-1949) in 1916. They divorced in 1919 with no children but according to Swanson she miscarried after Beery, encouraged by his mother, secretly gave her a poison intended to induce an abortion.
* She married Herbert K. Somborn (1881-1934), then president of Equity Pictures Corporation and later the owner of the Brown_Derby restaurant, in 1919. Their daughter, Gloria Swanson Somborn, was born in 1920. Their divorce, finalized in January 1925, was sensational. Somborn accused her of adultery with 13 men including Cecil_B._DeMille and Marshall Neilan. During this divorce in 1923 Swanson adopted a baby boy named Sonny Smith (1922-1975). She renamed him '''Joseph Patrick Swanson''' in tribute to her then lover, Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr., the Kennedy family patriarch.
* Her third husband was French aristocrat Henry de la Falaise, Marquis de la Falaise whom she married in 1925 after the Somborn divorce was finalized. He became a film executive representing Pathé in the United States. She conceived a child with him but had an abortion which she said (in her autobiography, ''Swanson on Swanson'') she regretted. This marriage ended in divorce in 1931.
* In August 1931, Swanson married Michael Farmer (1902-1975). Although frequently described as a sportsman the only evidence of the Irishman's prowess was his frequent betrothals. Unfortunately Swanson's divorce from La Falaise had not been finalized at the time, making the actress technically a bigamist. She was forced to remarry Farmer the following November, by which time she was four months pregnant with Michelle Bridget Farmer, who was born in 1932. The Farmers were divorced in 1934.
* In 1945 Swanson married William N. Davey and they divorced in 1946.
* Swanson's final marriage was in 1976 and lasted until her death. Her sixth husband, writer William_Dufty (1916-2002), was the co-author of Billie_Holiday's autobiography ''Lady_Sings_the_Blues'' and the author of ''Sugar_Blues'', a best-selling health book. Swanson shared her husband's enthusiasm for macrobiotic diets.
To understand the Swanson at the height of her fame and popularity, one only needs to read this oft-repeated telegram she sent to her studio from Paris:
"Arrving in New York Tuesday. Arrange ovation."
Gloria Swanson died in New York City of a heart ailment at the age of 86; she was cremated and her ashes were buried at the Episcopal Church of Heavenly Rest in New York City.
She has two stars on the Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame, one for motion pictures at 6748 Hollywood Boulevard and another for television at 6301 Hollywood Boulevard.
==Academy Award nominations==
*1951 - Best Actress in a Leading Role — ''Sunset Boulevard''
*1930 - Best Actress in a Leading Role — ''The_Trespasser''
*1929 - Best Actress in a Leading Role — ''Sadie_Thompson''
==Trivia==
*Gloria Swanson was the favorite actor of the character Granny in ''The_Beverly_Hillbillies'' and appeared in one episode as herself. In this hilarious show, all the members of the Clampett family get parts in Gloria's new silent movie, "Passion's Plaything," which gently pokes fun at the Swanson legend.
*She was a long-time Vegetarian and early health food advocate who was known for bringing her own meals to public functions in a paper bag.
*Swanson told actor Dirk_Benedict about macrobiotic diets when he was battling Prostate_cancer at a very young age. He had refused conventional therapies and credited this kind of diet and healthy eating with his recovery.
*Had a reputation as a difficult and occasionally unpleasant character, albeit a fascinating one. This is referenced in the TV movie, ''White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd'' (1991), where Swanson is portrayed in that light and is rebuked by the actress playing Patsy_Kelly, Todd's comedy partner.
*Swanson auditioned for the leading female role in ''His New Job'', a Charlie_Chaplin short, but Chaplin did not see her as leading lady material and cast her in the brief role of a stenographer. She later admitted that she hated slapstick comedy and had been deliberately uncooperative.
==Filmography==
*''The_Song_of_Soul'' (1914) (short subject)
*''Sweedie_Goes_to_College'' (1915) (short subject)
*''The_Romance_of_an_American_Duchess'' (1915) (short subject)
*''At_the_End_of_a_Perfect_Day'' (1915)
==Further reading==
''Swanson on Swanson'', 1980, autobiography
*Ronald_Kessler, ''The Sins of the Father: Joseph_P._Kennedy and the Dynasty He Founded'', Warner, 1996, ISBN 0446-603848, chapter 6
==External links==
*{{imdb name|id=0841797|name=Gloria Swanson}}.
*{{ibdb name|id=68850|name=Gloria Swanson}}
* Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Gloria Swanson
* Gloria Swanson Photo Galleries
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