Gloria Swanson
A silent screen legend and the epitome of early Hollywood glamour, actress Gloria Swanson rose to great heights in the 1920s, only to struggle like many of her day did once the age of talkie films took hold. But unlike her silent film contemporaries, Swanson had a trick or two up her sleeve and delivered a powerful, Oscar-nominated performance as the delusional Norma Desmond in Billy Wilder's "Sunset Boulevard" (1950), widely considered to be the greatest film noir ever made. Prior to that triumph, Swanson had reigned supreme during the silent era as a top actress whose elaborate feathered boas and bejeweled headdresses were the height of fashion. She first achieved stardom in several of Cecil B. DeMille's bedroom farces like "Don't Change Your Husband" (1919) and "Why Change Your Wife?" (1920) before making a series of dramas that propelled her to the top. Mid-decade, Swanson became one of the most famous stars in the world thanks to roles in "Zaza" (1923), "Madame Sans-Gene" (1925) and "The Untamed Lady" (1926). Prompted to break out and produce her movies independently, Swanson staggered a bit with the production-plagued "The Love of Sunya" (1927), but rebounded with "Sadie Thompson" (1928) - her last critical and financial hit until "Sunset Boulevard." Swanson remained until her death in 1983 a true Tinseltown legend.
Photos
Gloria Swanson
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Zaza | Unknown (Character) | - | 2013 |
30% |
|
Airport 1975 | Self | - | 1974 |
No Score Yet |
|
Killer Bees | Madame Maria von Bohlen (Character) | - | 1974 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Nero's Big Weekend | Agrippina (Character) | - | 1956 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Three for Bedroom C | Ann Haven (Character) | - | 1952 |
98% |
|
Sunset Boulevard | Norma Desmond (Character) | - | 1950 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Father Takes a Wife | Leslie Collier Osborne (Character) | - | 1941 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Music in the Air | Frieda Hotzfelt (Character) | - | 1934 |
No Score Yet |
|
Perfect Understanding |
Judy (Character), Producer |
- | 1933 |
No Score Yet |
|
Indiscreet | Geraldine "Gerry" Trent (Character) | - | 1931 |
No Score Yet |
|
Tonight or Never | Nella Vago (Character) | - | 1931 |
100% |
|
Queen Kelly |
Kitty Kelly/ Producer |
- | 1929 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | La Reina Kelly | Unknown (Character) | - | 1929 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Trespasser | Marion Donnell (Character) | - | 1929 |
86% |
|
Sadie Thompson |
Sadie Thompson (Character), Producer |
- | 1928 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Love of Sunya | Sunya Ashling (Character) | - | 1927 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Fine Manners | Orchid Murphy (Character) | - | 1926 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Stage Struck | Unknown (Character) | - | 1925 |
43% | No Score Yet | Madame Sans-Gêne | Catherine Hubscher (Character) | - | 1925 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Humming Bird | Unknown (Character) | - | 1924 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Manhandled | Tessie McGuire (Character) | - | 1924 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Zaza | Zaza (Character) | - | 1923 |
86% |
|
Beyond the Rocks | Theodora Fitzgerald (Character) | - | 1922 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Affairs of Anatol | Vivian Spencer (Character) | - | 1921 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Prodigal Knight | Vivian Spencer - Anatol's Wife (Character) | - | 1921 |
No Score Yet |
|
Why Change Your Wife? | Beth Gordon (Character) | - | 1920 |
No Score Yet |
|
Don't Change Your Husband | Leila Porter (Character) | - | 1919 |
No Score Yet |
|
Male and Female | Lady Mary Lasenby (Character) | - | 1919 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | For Better, for Worse | Sylvia Norcross (Character) | - | 1919 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Shifting Sands | Marcia Grey (Character) | - | 1918 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Station Content | Kitty Manning (Character) | - | 1918 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Teddy at the Throttle | Gloria Dawn, His Sweetheart (Character) | - | 1917 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Sultan's Wife | Unknown (Character) | - | 1917 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Danger Girl | The Danger Girl (Character) | - | 1916 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Carol Burnett Show | Guest | 1973 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | What's My Line? |
Unknown (Character), Guest |
1950 1965 1973 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Beverly Hillbillies | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ben Casey | Victoria Hoffman (Guest Star) | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | My Three Sons | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Unknown (Character) | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dr. Kildare | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1963 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | I've Got a Secret | Guest | 1952 1960 |