60 Fun Facts About Greta Garbo

In which city was Greta Garbo born in 1905?

She grew up in the working-class Södermalm district in a three-bedroom cold-water flat, the youngest of three children.

What was Garbo's surname at birth?

Her mother worked in a jam factory and her father, a labourer, died of Spanish flu when she was 14.

As a small child Garbo was nicknamed 'Kata'; where did the nickname come from?

She was a shy daydreamer who disliked school and left it at 13, never attending high school.

Before acting, Garbo modelled hats for the catalogue of which Swedish department store?

She had started as a soap-lather girl in a barber shop before running errands in the store's millinery department.

Which director recruited Garbo in 1924 for The Saga of Gösta Berling and became her mentor?

Born Moshe Stiller in Helsinki, he is also believed to have suggested the screen name Garbo.

The Saga of Gösta Berling was based on the debut novel of which Nobel Prize-winning author?

Garbo played Countess Elizabeth Dohna in her first leading role, alongside Lars Hanson.

Garbo's 1925 film Die freudlose Gasse (Joyless Street), made in Berlin, was directed by whom?

She co-starred with Asta Nielsen and said that in expression and versatility she was 'nothing to her'.

Which MGM chief brought Garbo to Hollywood in 1925 after seeing her in Gösta Berling?

His daughter recalled him saying 'It was her eyes ... I can make a star out of her.'

After crossing the Atlantic, Garbo and Stiller waited in New York how long without word from MGM?

They then went to Los Angeles on their own and waited another five weeks before a friend got MGM's production boss to grant a screen test.

Garbo's first American film, Torrent (1926), adapted a novel by which Spanish writer?

She replaced Aileen Pringle as a peasant girl turned singer, and her second film The Temptress adapted another Ibáñez novel.

Which 1926 film, Garbo's third in America, made her an international star?

Silent-film historian Kevin Brownlow said she gave 'a more erotic performance than Hollywood had ever seen' in it.

Which leading man co-starred in Garbo's 1926 breakthrough film and became her off-screen lover?

Legend says he proposed and a wedding was arranged, but she backed out; they made four films together in all.

Which 1928 film's profits made Garbo MGM's top box-office star, displacing Lillian Gish?

It was her third picture with Gilbert, and by then all eight of her post-Temptress silents had been hits.

Garbo demanded black screens on set, explaining that if alone, her face would do what?

She also barred all visitors from her sets, including the studio brass.

Garbo's last silent film, The Kiss (1929), was also the last silent film made by which studio?

The studio was the last in Hollywood to convert to sound, partly out of fear that her accent would not work in sound films.

Garbo's first talking picture, Anna Christie (1930), adapted a play by which dramatist?

MGM's marketing made a sensation of her speaking voice and it became the highest-grossing film of the year.

Roughly how far into Anna Christie does Garbo speak her first line, ordering a whisky?

Her English was so good by then that she had to add an accent in retakes to sound more Swedish.

Which MGM colleague beat Garbo to the Best Actress Oscar for her Anna Christie nomination?

That nomination was combined with her work in Romance; she was the first Nordic performer ever nominated for acting.

After finishing Anna Christie in English, Garbo shot a second version of the film in which language?

It was released in December 1930 with a different director and cast; a silent version with titles was also made.

Garbo's 1931 film Susan Lenox was used to boost which then little-known actor?

She was ranked the most popular female star in America in both 1930 and 1931.

In Mata Hari (1931) Garbo played the World War I spy opposite which leading man?

The release reportedly 'caused panic', with police reserves needed to control the crowds.

What profession does Garbo's Grusinskaya have in the 1932 MGM film that won Best Picture?

The ensemble included John Barrymore, Joan Crawford and Wallace Beery, and the film won Best Picture.

The 1932 film in which Garbo played Grusinskaya holds what unique Academy Award distinction?

It came from Vicki Baum's novel Menschen im Hotel and was remade as Week-End at the Waldorf in 1945.

The AFI's 30th most memorable movie quote, 'I want to be alone', comes from which Garbo film?

Garbo insisted in a 1955 LIFE piece that what she had said in life was 'I want to be let alone'.

Garbo's 1933 MGM contract renewal, conditional on Queen Christina, set what per-film salary?

The negotiations took nearly a year and the film became one of the studio's biggest productions to that point.

Which British actor was set to debut opposite Garbo in Queen Christina before a poor screen test?

Garbo insisted on her former lover instead, giving the declining star his fourth and last film with her.

For Queen Christina's famous final shot, Rouben Mamoulian wanted Garbo's face to be what?

He described the earlier bedroom sequence, in which she memorises the room, as 'a sonnet'.

Garbo's close friend Mercedes de Acosta wrote a screenplay for her to play which historical figure, a project MGM refused?

De Acosta, an acknowledged lesbian, had a sporadic and volatile romance with Garbo according to both women's biographers.

Garbo turned down the dying heiress in Dark Victory to instead make which 1935 literary adaptation?

She had already played the same Tolstoy heroine in a 1927 silent released as Love, and this version won her the New York Film Critics Circle award.

Garbo's 1935 Tolstoy adaptation won which prize at the Venice Film Festival?

Fredric March played Vronsky and Basil Rathbone was Karenin; the film grossed over $2.3 million.

In Camille (1936) Garbo played the courtesan Marguerite Gautier; who directed it?

Many critics call it her finest performance and Garbo named it her own favourite of her films.

Which actor played Armand opposite Garbo in Camille?

The film's producer died during production, and his death deepened the sombre mood of the closing scenes.

Camille was based on a novel and play by which French author?

La dame aux camélias also inspired Verdi's opera La traviata; the film earned Garbo her third Oscar nomination.

The May 1938 'Box Office Poison' article naming Garbo was published on behalf of which group?

Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich and Fred Astaire made the same list.

Ninotchka (1939), Garbo's first departure from drama, was directed by whom?

MGM sold it with the tagline 'Garbo laughs!', and it was banned in the Soviet Union.

Which future director co-wrote the Ninotchka screenplay with Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch?

A decade later he offered her the lead in his 1950 drama about a faded silent star, and she declined.

In Ninotchka, Garbo plays a Soviet envoy sent to which city to recover confiscated jewels?

Three bumbling trade agents have been seduced by the city before she arrives to sort them out.

Who played opposite Garbo in both Ninotchka and her final film Two-Faced Woman?

MGM hoped to recapture the earlier hit's success by turning her into a chic modern woman.

How many feature films did Garbo make in total before retiring at 36?

They spanned just 16 years, and although offers kept coming, none of the projects she accepted ever reached the screen.

Two-Faced Woman drew a 'C' (condemned) rating from which body, unusual for a major studio release?

The Archbishop of New York also singled it out, and the film was banned in Boston and Providence before scenes were reshot.

In Two-Faced Woman Garbo's character pretends to be what in order to win back her husband?

She plays a ski instructor whose magazine-editor husband, played by Douglas, expects a submissive wife.

In 1949 Garbo was offered which iconic role that she declined?

She had signed with producer Walter Wanger in 1948 for a Balzac adaptation that also never happened.

In which year did Garbo receive an Academy Honorary Award?

She had been nominated four times for Best Actress and never won competitively.

Garbo became a naturalised US citizen in which year?

Two years later she bought the seven-room apartment at 450 East 52nd Street where she lived for the rest of her life.

To protect her privacy in retirement, Garbo preferred to be addressed by what alias?

Her apartment buzzer showed only a solitary G, and 'Garbo-watching' became a New York sport.

Which conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra had a highly publicised relationship with Garbo in 1937-38?

The pair travelled around Europe together, though whether the affair was romantic or platonic remains unclear.

Which British photographer described a 1947-48 affair with Garbo in his memoirs?

He competed for her affection with George Schlee, the Russian-born millionaire who became her companion until 1964.

Garbo's ashes were interred in 1999 at which cemetery just south of her native city?

She left her entire $32 million estate to her niece, and only close friends knew about her thrice-weekly dialysis.

In 2011 Sweden's Riksbank announced Garbo's portrait would appear on which banknote?

The US and Swedish postal services had jointly issued commemorative Garbo stamps in 2005.

Where did the AFI rank Garbo in its 1999 list of classic Hollywood's greatest female stars?

Her art collection, including Renoirs and Bonnards, was worth millions when she died.

Which studio boss arranged Garbo's screen test, then had her teeth fixed and English taught?

His actress wife recalled Garbo complaining 'Mr. Thalberg, I am just a young gur-rl!' about the worldly roles he chose for her.

MGM publicised her first sound film with a two-word tagline ending in which verb?

The 1930 film was the highest-grossing release of its year and earned her first Oscar nomination.

The 1939 tagline 'Garbo laughs!' announced her move into which genre?

The film revived a career that had stalled after the 'box office poison' label of 1938.

Where did Garbo study acting from 1922 to 1924?

Before that she worked as a soap-lather girl in a barber shop and in a department store's millinery department.

Garbo's father died in 1920 after falling ill during which epidemic?

Karl Alfred Gustafsson, a laborer, lost his job when he fell ill; Greta was 14 when he died.

Which Garbo film of the 1926-27 season was her only one of the period to lose money?

Expensive re-shoots sank it despite strong grosses; it was a harrowing experience for both Garbo and Stiller.

In Conquest (1937), Garbo played Marie Walewska opposite which actor as Napoleon?

Clarence Brown's lavish production flopped at the box office, prompting MGM to try comedy with Ninotchka.

How many Academy Award nominations for Best Actress did Garbo receive in total?

Her first was a combined nomination for Anna Christie and Romance in 1930; she never won competitively.

To whom did Garbo leave her entire $32 million estate?

Her fortune came mostly from stocks and bonds plus an art collection with works by Renoir, Bonnard and Kandinsky.

Garbo was a White House dinner guest on 13 November 1963, how long before JFK's assassination?

Her niece said Garbo always spoke of it as a magical evening.