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Photograph: Silent Era image collection.

Greta Garbo

Born 18 September 1905 in Stockholm, Sweden, as Greta Lovisa Gustafson.
Died 15 April 1990 in New York, New York, USA, of pneumonia.

Sister of actor Sven Garbo and actress Alva Garbo.

Greta Garbo began working in motion pictures as a model circa 1921, appearing in advertising films. Her acting career began in earnest in Luffar-Petter (1922). Her appearance in Gösta Berlings saga (1924) began her artistic dependence on director Mauritz Stiller and led to her international recognition. Her last European film was Die Freudlose Gasse (1925) for German director G.W. Pabst, appearing with Asta Nielsen and Werner Krauss. In the summer of 1925, Garbo accepted an invitation from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to come to Hollywood to appear in American films.

Her first MGM film was The Torrent (1926) with Ricardo Cortez. As MGM explored what kind of roles were to be assigned to her, Garbo starred in The Temtpress (1926) with Antonio Moreno, Flesh and the Devil (1927) with John Gilbert (which ignited their love affair), and Love (1927) with John Gilbert. Then, in rapid succession, Garbo starred in The Divine Woman (1928) with fellow Swede Lars Hanson and directed by Swedish director Victor Sjöström, The Mysterious Lady (1928) with Conrad Nagel, A Woman of Affairs (1928) with John Gilbert, Wild Orchids (1929) with Nils Asther, The Single Standard (1929) with Nils Asther, and The Kiss (1929) with Conrad Nagel.

With Greta Garbo being one of the studio’s hottest stars, her transition into sound films was delayed and carefully managed by MGM as Garbo worked on her English speaking skills. Her first talkie was Anna Christie (1930) after which she continued in 13 more MGM features from 1930 through 1941, including her best-remembered films Mata Hari (1931), Grand Hotel (1932), Queen Christina (1933), Anna Karenina (1935), Camille (1936) for which she earned an Academy Award nomination, and Ninotchka (1939) with director Ernst Lubitsch.

References: Website-IMDb.