Gloria Swanson
Birthday: 27 March 1899, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Birth Name: Gloria May Josephine Svensson
Height: 155 cm
Gloria Swanson went to public schools in Chicago; Key West, Florida; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her film debut was as an extra in The Fable of Elvira and Farina and the Meal Ticket (1915). From the fo ...Show More
[on Marlene Dietrich] Her legs may be longer than mine, but unlike me, she doesn't have 7 grandchild Show more
[on Marlene Dietrich] Her legs may be longer than mine, but unlike me, she doesn't have 7 grandchildren. Hide
At 26, I felt myself a victim rather than a victor in the realm of pictures.
At 26, I felt myself a victim rather than a victor in the realm of pictures.
[To her mother following her triumphant return to Hollywood in 1924 after making Madame Sans-Gê Show more
[To her mother following her triumphant return to Hollywood in 1924 after making Madame Sans-Gêne (1925) in France] It's the saddest night of my life. I'm just 26. Where do I go from here? Hide
[on showing pictures of herself] You notice there are NO bathing beauty scenes? And I'll tell you wh Show more
[on showing pictures of herself] You notice there are NO bathing beauty scenes? And I'll tell you why: I was never a Sennet bathing beauty. Those glossies that sometimes turn up were publicity stills that I unfortunately made as a favor when I had a free hour. And I've paid for it all of my life. Hide
All they had to do was put my name on a marquee and watch the money roll in.
All they had to do was put my name on a marquee and watch the money roll in.
I have decided that when I am a star, I will be every inch and every moment a star.
I have decided that when I am a star, I will be every inch and every moment a star.
[on Erich von Stroheim] The experience of working with him was unlike any I had had in more than 50 Show more
[on Erich von Stroheim] The experience of working with him was unlike any I had had in more than 50 pictures. He was so painstaking and slow that I would lose all sense of time, hypnotized by the man's relentless perfectionism. Hide
[during the first screening of The Impossible Mrs. Bellew (1922)} Did we make that on location or in Show more
[during the first screening of The Impossible Mrs. Bellew (1922)} Did we make that on location or in the studio? Hide
It's amazing to find that so many people, who I thought really knew me, could have thought that Suns Show more
It's amazing to find that so many people, who I thought really knew me, could have thought that Sunset Blvd. (1950) was autobiographical. I've got nobody floating in my swimming pool. Hide
[on her role in Airport 1975 (1974)] I was holding out for a picture I could take my grandchildren t Show more
[on her role in Airport 1975 (1974)] I was holding out for a picture I could take my grandchildren to see, something exciting and contemporary without senseless violence. Hide
After 16 years in pictures I could not be intimidated easily, because I knew where all the skeletons Show more
After 16 years in pictures I could not be intimidated easily, because I knew where all the skeletons were buried. Hide
I haven't a very great sense of humor. When I see a comedy I laugh with the others. I'm sufficiently Show more
I haven't a very great sense of humor. When I see a comedy I laugh with the others. I'm sufficiently amused, but when it's over I have a feeling that I am not taking anything away with me. I don't think that comedy, unless it has a great deal of irony in it, corresponds to anything in life. It makes me feel vacant - just as though I had gone to a restaurant hungry and come away without eating. Hide
When I die, my epitaph should read "She Paid the Bills". That's the story of my private life.
When I die, my epitaph should read "She Paid the Bills". That's the story of my private life.
Hollywood has called me in turn "The Clothes Horse", "The Old Grey Mare"--and "Death of a Saleswoman Show more
Hollywood has called me in turn "The Clothes Horse", "The Old Grey Mare"--and "Death of a Saleswoman". Since my comeback in Sunset Blvd. (1950), I'm glad to say they've thought up a new title: "Gloss". Hide
[on being transported by police through a mob of fans to the premiere of The Trespasser (1929)] As I Show more
[on being transported by police through a mob of fans to the premiere of The Trespasser (1929)] As I felt my feet leave the ground, I could tell that someone behind me was standing on my train, so I screamed for one of the horsemen to pick it up. I was now completely horizontal, face down, like a battering ram, and that is the way they carried me through the crowd and into the theater lobby. Hide
[on her pre-Cecil B. DeMille years as a comedienne working for Mack Sennett] I played my comedies li Show more
[on her pre-Cecil B. DeMille years as a comedienne working for Mack Sennett] I played my comedies like Duse [serious classical actress Eleonora Duse], which is probably why I was so funny. Hide
Under God we became the freest, strongest, wealthiest nation on earth. Should we change that?
Under God we became the freest, strongest, wealthiest nation on earth. Should we change that?
As Daddy said, life is 95 percent anticipation.
As Daddy said, life is 95 percent anticipation.
I've given my memoirs far more thought than any of my marriages. You can't divorce a book.
I've given my memoirs far more thought than any of my marriages. You can't divorce a book.
All creative people should be required to leave California for three months every year.
All creative people should be required to leave California for three months every year.
[In 1922] I have gone through a long apprenticeship. I have gone through enough of being a nobody. I Show more
[In 1922] I have gone through a long apprenticeship. I have gone through enough of being a nobody. I have decided that when I am a star, I will be every inch and every moment the star! Everybody from the studio gateman to the highest executive will know it. Hide
I think all this talk about age is foolish. Every time I'm one year older, everyone else is too.
I think all this talk about age is foolish. Every time I'm one year older, everyone else is too.
[In a 1965 interview with DeWitt Bodeen] The public didn't want the truth, and I shouldn't have both Show more
[In a 1965 interview with DeWitt Bodeen] The public didn't want the truth, and I shouldn't have bothered to give it to them. In those days they wanted us to live like kings. So we did--and why not? We were in love with life. We were making more money than we ever dreamed existed, and there was no reason to believe it would ever stop. Hide
A crisis arose when several newspapers questioned whether my singing voice was real. I had not sung- Show more
A crisis arose when several newspapers questioned whether my singing voice was real. I had not sung--they wanted to know why. Hide
After seven years in one place, not to mention two marriages and 32 pictures, I felt I had earned a Show more
After seven years in one place, not to mention two marriages and 32 pictures, I felt I had earned a vacation. Hide
After years of negotiating, I felt bitter and resentful about Mr. Lasky [Jesse L. Lasky] and Paramou Show more
After years of negotiating, I felt bitter and resentful about Mr. Lasky [Jesse L. Lasky] and Paramount and I knew I always would. Hide
By the time I was 15, my mother had turned me into a real clotheshorse.
By the time I was 15, my mother had turned me into a real clotheshorse.
Two of the more trivial topics I never discuss are my marriage [of three weeks] to Wallace Beery and Show more
Two of the more trivial topics I never discuss are my marriage [of three weeks] to Wallace Beery and those frozen dinners which have become famous with my name on them. Hide
They won't ever let me forget Sunset Blvd. (1950). Maybe I shouldn't have done it. These people who Show more
They won't ever let me forget Sunset Blvd. (1950). Maybe I shouldn't have done it. These people who watch the film now never heard of me. They weren't alive when I did silent films. They think I was Norma Desmond, and I keep telling them Norma Desmond was a creation, not a real character. I NEVER was Norma Desmond, and I don't know anyone who lived like that! Hide
Every victory is also a defeat.
Every victory is also a defeat.
Gloria Swanson's FILMOGRAPHY
as Actor (47)
Gloria Swanson'S roles
Norma Desmond
Gloria Swanson
