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Most people, even if they know very little about Old Hollywood, will somehow conjure up an image of a glamorous diva calling out "I'm ready for my close-up!". Well, today we meet the woman who literally gave us that very phrase. She was, and always would be, ready for a close-up...
Gloria Swanson was born Gloria Josephine May Swanson, in Chicago, IL. Her father was in the military, so she and her mother moved around a lot with him. Gloria said she attended 16 different schools growing up! At age 13, she tried her hand at stage acting and found she had a knack for it. Gloria also loved movies and had quite a crush on actor Francis X. Bushman. Her aunt arranged for them to take a tour of Essanay Studios in Chicago (where Francis worked).
Teenage Gloria
Before you know it, 15-year-old Gloria was a movie extra at Essanay Studios. She even did a screen test with Charlie Chaplin! Her first role paid $3.25 (which was huge in 1914), and she eventually got steady work at the studio for $13.25 per week. This is equivalent to $342.00 per week in the 21st century, just saying. In any event, Gloria decided she'd found her niche and quit school at age 16.
Around this time, one of Gloria's co-stars (actor Wallace Beery) became interested in her. Never mind the fact that there was a good 15 years between them! When Wallace moved to California to work at Keystone Studios, he wrote letters to Gloria, encouraging her to move West as well. The following year, she and her mother relocated to California, and Gloria and Wallace began dating. After a couple of months, the two either "had to" get married (*ahem*) or they suddenly decided to - no one's quite sure on that. Either way, Gloria married Wallace on her 17th birthday, and the union was disastrous from the start.
Gloria's career took off at Keystone Studios in Mack Sennett's numerous comedy shorts. She also worked for Triangle Studios before being approached by Jesse L. Lasky's company, Famous Players-Lasky (pre-Paramount Pictures). In 1918, Gloria signed a contract with them, and had a welcome change of image. She wasn't too fond of doing pie-in-the-face, slapstick comedy shorts, and with her new contract at a new studio, she was cast in more dramatic roles that suited her much better. Before too long, Gloria was making $350 per week!
In 1922, Gloria starred in Beyond the Rocks with her longtime friend Rudolph Valentino. The story was based on a 1906 novel, written by the (then) scandalous authoress Elinor Glyn, but was "tailor-fit" for Gloria's new image. The film was a success, and Gloria had said in her later years that she wanted to see it - but sadly, it was lost until 2003.
Gloria with 2 of her children; Gloria and Joseph (1924)
In 1925, Gloria (long since divorced from Wallace Beery) married French nobleman Marquis Henri de la Falaise. This was MAJOR NEWS for Americans, and when the newlyweds came home from Europe, they had a blow-out reception that started at the train station in New York City, and continued with a huge procession when they reached Los Angeles! Sadly, their marriage would only last 5 years, and Henri was only the 2nd in the total of 6 husbands.
Gloria and Henry threw some very lavish parties at their mansion (today known as the $10M Gloria Crest Estate above), including party favors of SOLID GOLD compacts for the ladies and SOLID GOLD cigarette cases for the men! She also hired a young lady solely to walk ahead of her and scatter rose petals on the ground (!?) - but when you're a superstar married to French nobility, why settle for any less???
Also in 1925, Gloria turned down a renewed contract with Paramount Pictures ($1M per year, people!) and instead signed with United Artists, where she had greater control over her movies - and would presumably make even more money. However...things did not start out smoothly. Her first film with United Artists, "The Love of Sunya", was a financial disaster. A rookie director, high production costs and falling behind schedule meant no profits for Miss Gloria. Her second film, "Sadie Thompson", did much better - although because it was about a prostitute attempting to start a new life, Will Hayes and his production code had some issues with the script. They were able to compromise, however, and "Sadie Thompson" did very well at the box office, with Gloria earning a nomination for Best Actress at the Academy Awards.
Unfortunately, the success of "Sadie Thompson" was not enough to keep Gloria financially stable, and by the end of 1927 she had a mere $65 in the bank. Those rose petals sure add up, don't they?? Her high cost of living, combined with the debt her company had accumulated, was a major burden and Gloria was nearly bankrupt...when she turned to her (married with 9 kids) boyfriend Joseph P. Kennedy. Yep. JFK's father. Joseph was a financial mogul with a lot of experience and success on Wall Street, and he offered to personally oversee her finances from then on - and bankroll her next film, "Queen Kelly", directed by Erich von Stroheim. But! "What goes up, must come down"...
French poster for "Queen Kelly"
Fast forward a couple of years, and Gloria discovers her lover had run her into even further financial ruin - he'd even opened a line of credit in her name at Bank of America (without her knowledge) and purchased lavish things for other people with her money. When she confronted him on it, Joseph literally got up and walked out - and never spoke to her again! "Queen Kelly", it must be noted, was never even released in the U.S. and was a horrible experience for Gloria on a personal level. For all of the drama that ensued from Gloria's blind trust - she took her contracts seriously after that, making sure she understood every word!
Gloria was off the big screen from 1933 until 1941, but she stayed busy! She started an inventions and patents company with a branch in Paris, run by her then-ex-husband-but-still-good-friend Henry (who helped get several inventors out of pre-WW2 Europe by sending them to America), performed on radio, theatre, designed and marketed clothing and even wrote newspaper columns! She was an avid "health freak" who always brought her own food to events, did yoga regularly and refused to use pesticides. When she was diagnosed with cancer, her natural doctor advised her to go vegetarian - and the cancer disappeared!
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
In 1950, Gloria was offered a role in the film that would supercharge her declining film career - "Sunset Boulevard". The lead role had been offered to her friend Mary Pickford, who declined but recommended Gloria for the part. The world agreed! Gloria was magnificent as Norma Desmond, an aging, former silent film star whom Hollywood had left behind. Side note: Louis B. Mayer hated the film. But who cared what he thought, anyways... More offers followed after "Sunset Boulevard", but Gloria always tried to hold out for more money. Unfortunately, she ended up missing out on many roles.
ABOVE: Photoshoot (1970's)
In 1983, Gloria suffered a heart attack and passed away. She had requested that her headstone read, "She paid the bills". Yeah, um....didn't happen. Her ashes were interred in New York City, at a small ceremony for family only. She was survived by her 6th husband and her 3 children: Gloria, Joseph and Michelle.
The lovely Gloria, as eccentric and fickle as she may have been, was far from being "just a pretty face". She accomplished a great deal on her own, both in and outside of the film industry. Unlike many people, Gloria was not afraid of branching out and starting all over - regardless of her age or where she was at in life. The world might be a much happier place if more of us took a cue from her on that: it's never too late to start over!
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