Глория Свансон: Жизнь и карьера американской актрисы

American actress (1899–1983)

Gloria Josephine Mae Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most famously for her 1950 turn in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, which also earned her a Golden Globe Award. Swanson was born in Chicago and raised in a military family that moved from base to base. Her infatuation with Essanay Studios actor Francis X. Bushman led to her aunt taking her to tour the actor's Chicago studio. The 15 year old Swanson was offered a brief walk on for one film, beginning her life's career in front of the cameras. Swanson was soon hired to work in California for Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios comedy shorts opposite Bobby Vernon. She was eventually recruited by Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount Pictures, where she was put under contract for seven years and became a global superstar. She starred in a series of films about society, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, including Male and Female (1919). She continued as a successful movie star in The Affairs of Anatol (1921) and Beyond the Rocks (1922). She also starred in critically acclaimed performances such as Zaza (1923) and Madame Sans Gêne (1925). In 1925, Swanson joined United Artists as one of the film industry's pioneering women filmmakers. She produced and starred in the 1928 film Sadie Thompson, earning her a nomination for Best Actress at the first annual Academy Awards. Her sound film debut performance in 1929's The Trespasser, earned her a second Academy Award nomination. Queen Kelly (1928–29) was a box office disaster, but is remembered as a silent classic. After almost two decades in front of the cameras, her film success waned during the 1930s. Swanson received renewed praise for her return to the screen in her role as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (1950). She made only three more films, but guest starred on several television shows, and acted in road productions of stage plays.

Swanson was born in a small house in Chicago in 1899, the only child of Adelaide (née Klanowski) and Joseph Theodore Swanson (né Svensson), a soldier. She was raised in the Lutheran faith. Her father was a Swedish American and her mother was of German, French, and Polish ancestry. Because of her father's attachment to the U. S. Army, the family moved frequently. She spent some of her childhood in Key West, Florida, where she was enrolled in a Catholic convent school, and in Puerto Rico, where she saw her first motion pictures.

Her family once again residing in Chicago, the adolescent Gloria developed a crush on actor Francis X. Bushman and knew he was employed by Essanay Studios in the city. Swanson later recalled that her Aunt Inga brought her at the age of 15 to visit Bushman's studio, where she was discovered by a tour guide. Other accounts have the star struck Swanson herself talking her way into the business. In either version, she was soon hired as an extra. The movie industry was still in its infancy, churning out short subjects, without the advantage of today's casting agencies and talent agents promoting their latest find. A willing extra was often a valuable asset. Her first role was a brief walk on with actress Gerda Holmes, that paid an enormous (in those days) $3.25. The studio soon offered her steady work at $13.25 (13.25 in 1914 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years) per week. Swanson left school to work full time at the studio. In 1915, she co starred in Sweedie Goes to College with her future first husband Wallace Beery. Swanson's mother accompanied her to California in 1916 for her roles in Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios comedy shorts opposite Bobby Vernon and directed by Clarence G. Badger. They were met at the train station by Beery, who was pursuing his own career ambitions at Keystone. Vernon and Swanson projected a great screen chemistry that proved popular with audiences. Director Charley Chase recalled that Swanson was "frightened to death" of Vernon's dangerous stunts. Surviving movies in which they appear together include The Danger Girl (1916), The Sultan's Wife (1917), and Teddy at the Throttle (1917). Badger was sufficiently impressed by Swanson to recommend her to the director Jack Conway for Her Decision and You Can't Believe Everything in 1918. Triangle had never put Swanson under contract, but did increase her pay to $15 a week. When she was approached by Famous Players–Lasky to work for Cecil B. DeMille, the resulting legal dispute obligated her to Triangle for several more months. Soon afterward, Triangle was in a financial bind and loaned Swanson to DeMille for the comedy Don't Change Your Husband.

At the behest of DeMille, Swanson signed a contract with Famous Players–Lasky on December 30, 1918, for $150 a week, to be raised to $200 a week, and eventually $350 a week. Her first picture under her new contract was DeMille's World War I romantic drama For Better, for Worse. She made six pictures under the direction of DeMille, including Male and Female (1919) in which she posed with a lion as "Lion's Bride". While she and her father were dining out one evening, the man who would become her second husband, Equity Pictures president Herbert K. Somborn, introduced himself, by inviting her to meet one of her personal idols, actress Clara Kimball Young. Why Change Your Wife?, Something to Think About (both 1920), and The Affairs of Anatol (1921) soon followed. She next appeared in 10 films directed by Sam Wood, starting with The Great Moment (1921) and including Beyond the Rocks in 1922 with her longtime friend Rudolph Valentino. Valentino had become a star in 1921 for his appearance in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but Swanson had known him since his days as an aspiring actor getting small parts, with no apparent hope for his professional future. She was impressed by his shy, well mannered personality, the complete opposite of what his public image would become. After her films with Wood, she appeared in Zaza (1923) directed by Allan Dwan. During her time at Famous Players–Lasky, seven more of her films were directed by Dwan. In 1925, Swanson starred in the French American comedy Madame Sans Gêne, directed by Léonce Perret. Filming was allowed for the first time at many of the historic sites relating to Napoleon. While it was well received at the time, no prints are known to exist and it is considered to be a lost film. Swanson appeared in a 1925 short produced by Lee de Forest in his Phonofilm sound on film process. She made a number of films for Paramount, including The Coast of Folly (1925), Stage Struck (1925) and The Untamed Lady (1926). Before she could produce films with United Artists, she completed Fine Manners with Paramount and turned down an offer to make The King of Kings with DeMille.

She turned down a one million dollar a year (1000000.0 in 1927 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years) contract with Paramount in favor of joining the newly created United Artists partnership on June 25, 1925, accepting a six picture distribution offer from president Joseph Schenck. At the time, Swanson was considered the most bankable star of her era. United Artists had its own Art Cinema Corporation subsidiary to advance financial loans for the productions of individual partners. The partnership agreement included her commitment to a buy in of $100,000 of preferred stock subscription.

The Swanson Producing Corporation was set up as the umbrella organization for her agreement with United Artists. Under that name, she produced The Love of Sunya with herself in the title role. The film, co starring John Boles, was directed by Albert Parker, based on the play The Eyes of Youth by Max Marcin and Charles Guernon. The production was a disaster, with Parker being indecisive and the actors not experienced enough to deliver the performances she wanted. The film fell behind in its schedule, and by the time of its release, the end product had not lived up to Swanson's expectations. While it did not lose money, it was a financial wash, breaking even on the production costs.

She engaged the services of director Raoul Walsh in 1927 and together they conceived of making a film based on W. Somerset Maugham's short story "Miss Thompson". Gloria Swanson Productions proposed to film the controversial Sadie Thompson about the travails of a prostitute living in American Samoa, a project that initially pleased United Artists president Joseph Schenck. As she moved forward with the project, association members urged Schenck to halt the production due to its subject matter. The members took further steps by registering their discontent with Will H. Hays, Chairman of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. Walsh previously had his own battles with the Hays office, having managed to skirt around censorship issues with What Price Glory? By bringing him to the table, literally over breakfast in her home, Hays and Swanson developed a working relationship for the film. Hays was enthusiastic about the basic story, but did have specific issues that were dealt with before the film's release. The project was filmed on Santa Catalina Island, just off the coast of Long Beach, California. Gross receipts slightly exceeded $850,000 (850000.0 in 1927 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years). At the first annual Academy Awards, Swanson received a nomination for Best Actress for her performance, and the film's cinematographer George Barnes was also nominated.

By the end of 1927, Swanson was in dire financial straits, with only $65 in the bank. Her two productions had generated income, but too slowly to offset her production loan debts to Art Cinema Corporation. Swanson had also not made good on her $100,000 subscription for preferred United Artists shared stock. She had received financial proposals from United Artists studio head Joseph Schenck, as well as from Bank of America, prior to engaging the services of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. as her financial advisor. He proposed to personally bankroll her next picture and conducted a thorough examination of her financial records. Kennedy advised her to shut down Swanson Producing Corporation. She agreed to his plan for a fresh start under the dummy corporate name of Gloria Productions, headquartered in Delaware. Upon his advice, she fired most of her staff and sold her rights for The Love of Sunya and Sadie Thompson to Art Cinema Corporation. Kennedy then created the position of "European director of Pathé" to put her third husband Henry de La Falaise on the payroll. Sound films were already becoming popular with audiences, most notably the films of singer Al Jolson, who had success with The Jazz Singer released in 1927 and The Singing Fool in 1928. Kennedy, however, advised her to hire Erich von Stroheim to direct another silent film, The Swamp, subsequently retitled Queen Kelly. She was hesitant to hire Stroheim, who was known for being difficult to deal with and who was unwilling to work within any budget. Kennedy, nevertheless, was insistent and was able to get Stroheim released from contractual obligations to producer Pat Powers. Stroheim worked for several months on writing the basic script. Filming of Queen Kelly began in November. His filming was slow, albeit meticulous, and the cast and crew suffered from long hours. Shooting was shut down in January, and Stroheim fired, after complaints by Swanson about him and about the general direction the film was taking. Swanson and Kennedy tried to salvage it with an alternative ending shot on November 24, 1931, directed by Swanson and photographed by Gregg Toland. Only two other films were made under Gloria Productions. The Trespasser in 1929 was a sound production, and garnered Swanson her second Oscar nomination. Written by Edmund Goulding, with Laura Hope Crews fine tuning the dialogue, Kennedy approved funding for the go ahead on the production. The film was a melodrama, complete with musical numbers sung by Swanson and completed in 21 days. The world premiere was held in London, the first American sound production to do so. Swanson was mobbed by adoring fans. Before leaving London, she sang at a concert carried over the BBC. What a Widow! in 1930 was the final film for Gloria Productions.

Mary Pickford and her husband Douglas Fairbanks hosted the March 29, 1928, episode of the Dodge Hour radio program, originating from Pickford's private bungalow at United Artists, and broadcast to audiences in American movie theaters. The brainchild of Joseph Schenck, it was a promotional come on to attract audiences into movie theaters to hear the voices of their favorite actors, as sound productions became the future of commercial films. On hand were Swanson, Charlie Chaplin, Norma Talmadge, John Barrymore, Dolores del Río and D. W. Griffith.

Before she began filming Perfect Understanding as Gloria Swanson British Productions Ltd., she finished a two film package production for Art Cinema, which included Indiscreet and Tonight or Never (1931). Perfect Understanding, a 1933 sound production comedy, was the only film produced by this company. Made entirely at Ealing Studios, it co starred Laurence Olivier as Swanson's on screen husband. United Artists bought back all of her stock with them, in order to provide her financing to make this film, and thereby ending her relationship with the partnership. The film was panned by the critics upon its release and failed at the box office.

When she made the transition to sound films as her career simultaneously began to decline, Swanson moved permanently to New York City in 1938. Swanson starred in Father Takes a Wife for RKO in 1941. She began appearing in stage productions and starred in The Gloria Swanson Hour on WPIX TV in 1948. Swanson threw herself into painting and sculpting and, in 1954, published Gloria Swanson's Diary, a general newsletter. She toured in summer stock, engaged in political activism, designed and marketed clothing and accessories, and made personal appearances on radio and in movie theaters.

The film Sunset Boulevard was conceived by director Billy Wilder and screenwriter Charles Brackett, and came to include writer D. M. Marshman Jr. They bandied about the name of Mae West, whose public persona even in her senior years was as a sex symbol, but she objected to playing a has been. Mary Pickford was also considered for the lead role of Norma Desmond. It was director George Cukor who suggested Swanson, noting that she was once such a valuable asset to her studio that she was, " carried in a sedan chair from her dressing room to the set". The storyline of the film follows a faded silent movie actress Norma Desmond (Swanson), in love with a failed screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden). She lives at the mansion with her former husband director turned butler Max von Mayerling (Erich von Stroheim), who personally disliked the role and only agreed to it out of financial need. A clip from Queen Kelly was used for the scene where Joe and Norma are watching one of her silent films, and she declares, " we didn't need dialogue, we had faces". Norma plays a card game of bridge with a group of actors also known as "the Waxworks". They included Buster Keaton, H. B. Warner and Anna Q. Nilsson. During the scene leading up to Cecil B. DeMille's cameo, where Max chauffeurs Joe and Norma to the studio, her Isotta Fraschini luxury automobile was towed from behind the camera, because Stroheim had never learned how to drive. Norma's dreams of a comeback are subverted, and when Gillis tries to break up with her, she threatens to kill herself, but instead kills him. She becomes delusional by the time the police and news media arrive. Max sets up the studio lighting towards her on the staircase and directs her down towards the waiting police and news cameras, where she says, "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close up." Although Swanson had objected to enduring a screen test for the film, she had been glad to be making much more money than she had been in television and on stage. She found the overall experience of making the movie a pleasure, and later stated, "I hated to have the picture end When Mr. Wilder called ‘Print it!’ I burst into tears ” She was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award, but lost to Judy Holliday.

Swanson received several acting offers following the release of Sunset Boulevard, but turned most of them down, saying they tended to be pale imitations of Norma Desmond. Her last major Hollywood motion picture role was also her first color film, the poorly received 3 for Bedroom C in 1952. Nationally syndicated columnist Suzy called it "one of the worst movies ever made." In 1956, Swanson made Nero's Mistress, an Italian film shot in Rome, which starred Alberto Sordi, Vittorio de Sica and Brigitte Bardot. Her final screen appearance, in 1974, was as herself in Airport 1975.

Swanson hosted The Gloria Swanson Hour, one of the first live television series in 1948 in which she invited friends and others to be guests. Swanson later hosted Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson, a television anthology series in which she occasionally acted. Through the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s, Swanson appeared on many different talk and variety shows such as The Carol Burnett Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson to recollect her movies and to lampoon them as well. On The Carol Burnett Show in 1973, Swanson reprised her impersonation of Charlie Chaplin from both Sunset Boulevard and Manhandled. She was the "mystery guest" on What's My Line. She acted in "Behind the Locked Door" on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1964 and, in the same year, she was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her performance in Burke's Law. She made a guest appearance on The Dick Cavett Show in the summer of 1970; a guest on the same show as Janis Joplin. She made a notable appearance in a 1966 episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, in which she plays herself. In the episode, the Clampetts mistakenly believe Swanson is destitute and decide to finance a comeback movie for her – in a silent film. After near retirement from movies, Swanson appeared in many plays throughout her later life, beginning in the 1940s. Actor and playwright Harold J. Kennedy, who had learned the ropes at Yale and with Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre, suggested Swanson do a road tour of "Reflected Glory", a comedy that had run on the Broadway stage with Tallulah Bankhead as its star. Kennedy wrote the script for the play A Goose for the Gander, which began its road tour in Chicago in August 1944. Swanson also toured with Let Us Be Gay. After her success with Sunset Boulevard, she starred on Broadway in a revival of Twentieth Century with José Ferrer, and in Nina with David Niven. Her last major stage role was in the 1971 Broadway production of Butterflies Are Free at the Booth Theatre. Kevin Brownlow and David Gill interviewed her for Hollywood, a television history of the silent era.

Swanson was a vegetarian and an early health food advocate who was known for bringing her own meals to public functions in a tin box. In 1975, Swanson traveled the United States and helped to promote the book Sugar Blues written by her husband, William Dufty. He also ghostwrote Swanson's 1981 autobiography Swanson on Swanson, which became a commercial success. The same year, she designed a stamp cachet for the United Nations Decade for Women, which was her last creative project. She was a pupil of the yoga guru Indra Devi and was photographed performing a series of yoga poses, reportedly looking much younger than her age, for Devi to use in her book Forever Young, Forever Healthy; but the publisher Prentice Hall decided to use the photographs for Swanson's book, not Devi's. In return, Swanson, who normally never did publicity events, helped to launch Devi's book at the Waldorf Astoria in 1953. As a Republican she supported the 1940 and 1944 campaigns for president of Wendell Willkie and the 1964 presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater. In 1980, she chaired the New York chapter of Seniors for Reagan Bush. In 1964, Swanson spoke at a "Project Prayer" rally attended by 2,500 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The gathering, which was hosted by Anthony Eisley, a star of ABC's Hawaiian Eye series, sought to flood the United States Congress with letters in support of mandatory school prayer, following two decisions in 1962 and 1963 of the United States Supreme Court, which struck down mandatory prayer as conflicting with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Joining Swanson and Eisley at the Project Prayer rally were Walter Brennan, Lloyd Nolan, Rhonda Fleming, Pat Boone, and Dale Evans. Swanson declared "Under God we became the freest, strongest, wealthiest nation on earth. Should we change that?"

Wallace Beery and Swanson married on her 17th birthday on March 27, 1916, but by her wedding night she felt she had made a mistake and saw no way out of it. She did not like his home or his family and was repulsed by him as a lover. After becoming pregnant, she saw her husband with other women and learned he had been fired from Keystone. Taking medication given to her by Beery, purported to be for morning sickness, she miscarried the fetus and was taken unconscious to the hospital. Soon afterwards, she filed for divorce, which was finalized on December 12, 1918. Under California law in that era, after a divorce was granted, there was a one year waiting period before it became finalized so that either of the parties could remarry.

She married Herbert K. Somborn on December 20, 1919. He was at that time president of Equity Pictures Corporation and later the owner of the Brown Derby restaurant. Their daughter, Gloria Swanson Somborn, was born on October 7, 1920. In 1923, she adopted one year old Sonny Smith, whom she renamed Joseph Patrick Swanson after her father. During their divorce proceedings, Somborn accused her of adultery with 13 men, including Cecil B. DeMille and Marshall Neilan. The public sensationalism led to Swanson having a "morals clause" added to her studio contract. Somborn was granted a divorce in Los Angeles, on September 19, 1923.

During the production of Madame Sans Gêne, Swanson met her third husband, Henri, Marquis de la Falaise (commonly known as Henri de la Falaise), who had been hired to be her translator during the film's production. Though Henri was a Marquis and related to the famous Hennessy cognac family, he had no personal wealth. She had conceived a child with him before her divorce from Somborn was final, a situation that would have led to a public scandal and possible end of her film career. She had an abortion, which she later regretted. They married on January 28, 1925, after the Somborn divorce was finalized. Because of the possibility that Swanson's divorce from La Falaise had not been finalized at the time of the wedding, she was forced to remarry Farmer the following November, by which time she was four months pregnant with Michelle Bridget Farmer, who was born on April 5, 1932.

Swanson and Farmer divorced in 1934 after she became involved with married British actor Herbert Marshall. The media reported widely on her affair with Marshall. After almost three years with the actor, Swanson left him once she became convinced he would never divorce his wife Edna Best, for her. In an early manuscript of her autobiography written in her own hand decades later, Swanson recalled "I was never so convincingly and thoroughly loved as I was by Herbert Marshall."

Davey was a wealthy investment broker whom Swanson met in October 1944 while she was appearing in A Goose for the Gander. They married January 29, 1945. Swanson had initially thought she was going to be able to retire from acting, but the marriage was troubled by Davey's alcoholism from the start. Erratic behavior and acrimonious recriminations followed. Swanson and her daughter Michelle Farmer visited an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and gathered AA pamphlets, which they placed around the apartment. Davey moved out. In the subsequent legal separation proceedings, the judge ordered him to pay Swanson alimony. In an effort to avoid the payments, Davey unsuccessfully filed for divorce on the grounds of mental cruelty. He died within a year, not having paid anything to Swanson, and left the bulk of his estate to the Damon Runyon Cancer Memorial Fund.

Swanson's final marriage occurred in 1976 and lasted until her death. Her sixth husband William Dufty was a writer who worked for many years at the New York Post, where he was assistant to the editor from 1951 to 1960. He was the co author (ghostwriter) of Billie Holiday's autobiography Lady Sings the Blues, the author of Sugar Blues, a 1975 best selling health book still in print, and the author of the English version of Georges Ohsawa's You Are All Sanpaku. Besides her Fifth Avenue apartment, she and Dufty spent time at their homes in Beverly Hills, California; Colares, Portugal; Croton on Hudson, New York; and Palm Springs, California. After Swanson's death, Dufty returned to his former home in Birmingham, Michigan. He died of cancer in 2002.

Swanson died of a heart ailment at the New York Hospital on April 4, 1983, having recently returned from her home on the Portuguese Riviera. Her body was cremated and her ashes interred at the Church of the Heavenly Rest on Fifth Avenue in New York City, attended by a small number of family members. After Swanson's death, there was a series of auctions from August to September 1983 at William Doyle Galleries in New York. Collectors bought her furniture and decorations, jewelry, clothing, and memorabilia from her personal life and career.

In 1960, Gloria Swanson was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for motion pictures at 6750 Hollywood Boulevard, and another for television at 6301 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1955 and 1957, Swanson was awarded The George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film, and in 1966, the museum honored her with a career film retrospective, titled A Tribute to Gloria Swanson, which screened several of her movies. In 1974, Swanson was one of the honorees of the first Telluride Film Festival. A parking lot by Sims Park in downtown New Port Richey, Florida, is named after the star, who is said to have owned property along the Cotee River. In 1982, a year before her death, Swanson sold her archives of over 600 boxes for an undisclosed sum, including photographs, artwork, copies of films and private papers, including correspondence, contracts, and financial dealings, to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Upon her death in 1983, much of the remainder of her holdings was purchased by UT Austin at an auction held at the Doyle New York gallery. An undisclosed amount of memorabilia was also gifted to the HRC Center between 1983 and 1988.

Note: The list below is limited to New York Broadway theatrical productions. + Broadway credits of Gloria SwansonTitleDateRoleRef(s) (Reference(s)) A Goose for the GanderJanuary 23, 1945 – February 3, 1945KatherineBathshebaMarch 26, 1947 – April 19, 1947Twentieth CenturyDecember 24, 1950 – June 2, 1951Lily GarlandNinaDecember 5, 1951 – January 12, 1952NinaButterflies Are FreeSeptember 7, 1971 – July 2, 1972Mrs. Baker

+ Short subjectTitleYearRoleNotesStudio/Distributor Ref(s) (Reference(s)) The Song of the Soul 1914 Unconfirmed The Misjudged Mr. Hartley 1915 Maid At the End of a Perfect Day 1915 Hands Bouquet to Holmes Uncredited, actual release date of January 26, 2015 The Ambition of the Baron1915 Bit partEssanay Filmstarring Francis X. Bushman His New Job1915 StenographerEssanay Film<br/ >Written and directed by Charlie Chaplin The Fable of Elvira and Farina and the Meal Ticket 1915 Farina, Elvira's Daughter Credited as Gloria Mae<br/ >Essanay Film Sweedie Goes to College 1915 College GirlWallace Beery played Sweedie in a series of shortsEssanay Film The Romance of an American Duchess 1915 Minor Role UncreditedEssanay Film The Broken Pledge 1915 GloriaEssanay Film A Dash of Courage 1916Keystone/Trianglewith Bobby Vernondirected by Clarence G. Badger Hearts and Sparks 1916Keystone/Trianglewith Bobby Vernondirected by Clarence G. Badger A Social Cub 1916Keystone/Trianglewith Bobby Vernondirected by Clarence G. Badger The Danger Girl1916 Reggie's madcap sisterKeystone/Trianglewith Bobby Vernondirected by Clarence G. Badger Haystacks and Steeples 1916Keystone/Trianglewith Bobby Vernondirected by Clarence G. Badger The Nick of Time Baby1916Keystone/Trianglewith Bobby Vernondirected by Clarence G. Badger Teddy at the Throttle1917 Gloria Dawn, His Sweetheart Uncreditedwith Bobby VernonKeystone/Triangledirected by Clarence G. Badger Baseball Madness 1917Victor Film/Universal Dangers of a Bride 1917Keystone/Triangledirected by Clarence G. Badger Whose Baby?1917Keystone/Trianglewith Bobby Vernondirected by Clarence G. Badger The Sultan's Wife1917 GloriaKeystone/Trianglewith Bobby Vernondirected by Clarence G. Badger The Pullman Bride1917 The GirlParamount Mack Sennettdirected by Clarence G. Badger A Trip to Paramountown1922 HerselfParamount

+ Feature film credits of Gloria SwansonTitleYearRoleNotesStudio/Distributor Ref(s) (Reference(s)) Society for Sale 1918 Phylis ClyneTriangle Film Corporation Her Decision 1918 Phyllis DunbarTriangle Film Corporationdirected by Jack Conway You Can't Believe Everything 1918 Patricia ReynoldsTriangle Film Corporationdirected by Jack Conway Station Content1918 Kitty ManningTriangle Film Corporationdirected by Arthur Hoyt One reel survives Everywoman's Husband1918 Edith EmersonTriangle Film Corporationdirected by Gilbert P. Hamilton Shifting Sands1918 Marcia GreyTriangle Film Corporationdirected by Albert Parker The Secret Code 1918 Sally Carter RandTriangle Film Corporationdirected by Albert Parker Wife or Country 1918 Sylvia HamiltonTriangle Film Corporationdirected by E. Mason Hopper Don't Change Your Husband1919 Leila PorterFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Cecil B. DeMille For Better, for Worse1919 Sylvia NorcrossFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Cecil B. DeMille Male and Female1919 Lady Mary LasenbyFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Cecil B. DeMille Why Change Your Wife?1920 Beth GordonFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Cecil B. DeMille Something to Think About1920 Ruth AndersonFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Cecil B. DeMille The Affairs of Anatol1921 Vivian Spencer – Anatol's WifeFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Cecil B. DeMille The Great Moment 1921 Nada Pelham/Nadine PelhamFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Sam Wood Under the Lash 1921 Deborah KrilletFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Sam Wood Don't Tell Everything 1921 Marian WestoverFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Sam Wood Her Husband's Trademark1922 Lois MillerFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Sam Wood Her Gilded Cage 1922 Suzanne OrnoffFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Sam Wood Beyond the Rocks1922 Theodora FitzgeraldFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Sam Wood The Impossible Mrs. Bellew 1922 Betty BellewFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Sam Wood My American Wife 1922 Natalie ChesterFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Sam Wood Prodigal Daughters 1923 Swifty ForbesFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Sam Wood Bluebeard's 8th Wife 1923 Mona deBriacFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Sam Wood Hollywood 1923 Cameo roleFamous Players–Lasky/Paramount Zaza1923 ZazaFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Allan Dwan The Humming Bird1924 ToinetteFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Sidney Olcott A Society Scandal 1924 Marjorie ColbertFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Allan Dwan Manhandled1924 Tessie McGuireFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Allan Dwan Her Love Story 1924 Princess MarieFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Allan Dwan Wages of Virtue 1924 CarmelitaFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Allan Dwan Madame Sans Gêne 1925 Madame Sans GêneFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Léonce Perret The Coast of Folly 1925 Joyce Gathway/Nadine GathwayFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Allan Dwan Stage Struck1925 Jennie HagenFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Allan Dwan The Untamed Lady 1926 St. Clair Van TasselFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Frank Tuttle Fine Manners1926 Orchid MurphyFamous Players–Lasky/Paramountdirected by Richard Rosson The Love of Sunya1927 Sunya Ashling Swanson Producing Corporation/United Artistsdirected by Albert Parker Sadie Thompson1928 Sadie Thompson Gloria Swanson Productions/United Artistsdirected by Raoul Walsh Queen Kelly1928 Kitty Kelly/Queen Kelly Joseph P. Kennedy/United Artistsdirected by Erich von Stroheim The Trespasser1929 Marion DonnellGloria Productions/United Artistsdirected by Edmund GouldingReleased in two versions, one silent, and the other with sound What a Widow! 1930 Tamarind BrookGloria Productions/United Artistsdirected by Allan Dwan Indiscreet1931 Geraldine "Gerry" TrentFeature Productions, Inc. A DeSylva, Brown & Henderson Productiondirected by Leo McCarey Tonight or Never1931 Nella VagoFeature Productions, Inc./United Artistsdirected by Mervyn LeRoy Perfect Understanding1933 Judy Rogers Gloria Swanson British Productions, Ltd./United Artistsdirected by Cyril Gardner Music in the Air1934 Frieda Hotzfelt Erich Pommer Productions/Fox Filmdirected by Joe May Father Takes a Wife1941 Leslie Collier OsborneMarcus Lee/RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. directed by William Dorfman Sunset Boulevard1950 Norma Desmond Charles Brackett/Paramountdirected by Billy Wilder 3 for Bedroom "C"1952 Ann Haven/costume designer Brenco Pictures Corporation/Warner Bros. directed by Milton H. Bren Nero's Weekend (aka Nero's Mistress)1956 AgrippinaLes Films Marceau and Titanus/Manhattan Films Internationaldirected by Steno Airport 19751974 HerselfUniversal Picturesdirected by Jack Smight

+ TelevisionTitleYearRole Notes Ref(s) (Reference(s)) The Gloria Swanson Hour1948 Hostess Variety show The Peter Lind Hayes Show1950 Herself Episode #1.1sitcom show Hollywood Opening Night 1953 Episode: "The Pattern" Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson1954–1955 Hostess 25 episodes The Steve Allen Show1957 Norma Desmond Episode #3.8 Straightaway 1961 Lorraine Carrington Episode: "A Toast to Yesterday" Dr. Kildare1963 Julia Colton Episode: "The Good Luck Charm" Burke's Law1963–1964 Various roles 2 episodes Kraft Suspense Theatre1964 Mrs. Charlotte Heaton Segment: "Who Is Jennifer?" The Alfred Hitchcock Hour1964 Mrs. Daniels Episode: "Behind the Locked Door" My Three Sons1965 Margaret McSterling Episode: "The Fountain of Youth" Ben Casey1965 Victoria Hoffman Episode: "Minus That Rusty Old Hacksaw" The Beverly Hillbillies1966 Herself Episode: "The Gloria Swanson Story" The Eternal Tramp Special1972 Narratoraka Chaplinesque, My Life and Hard Times The Carol Burnett Show1973 Herself Episode #7.3 Killer Bees1974 Madame Maria von Bohlen Television movie The Great Debate1974 HerselfCanadian interview show with James Bawden Hollywood1980 HerselfTelevision documentary