Swanson was born in Chicago and raised in a military family that moved from base to base. Her infatuation withEssanay Studios actorFrancis 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 and eventually a stock-players contract, beginning her life's career in front of the cameras. Swanson left school, and was soon hired to work in California forMack Sennett'sKeystone Studios comedy shorts oppositeBobby Vernon.
She was eventually recruited byFamous 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 byCecil B. DeMille, includingMale and Female (1919). She continued as a successful movie star inThe Affairs of Anatol (1921) andBeyond the Rocks (1922). She also starred in critically acclaimed performances such asZaza (1923) andMadame Sans-Gêne (1925).
In 1925, Swanson joinedUnited Artists as one of the film industry's pioneering women filmmakers. She produced and starred in the 1928 filmSadie Thompson, earning a nomination for Best Actress at the first annualAcademy Awards. Her sound film debut performance in 1929'sThe 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 inSunset 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.[2] She was raised in theLutheran faith. Her father was a Swedish American and her mother was of German, French, and Polish ancestry.[3][4] Because of her father's attachment to the U.S. Army, the family moved frequently. She spent some of her childhood inKey West, Florida, where she was enrolled in a Catholic convent school,[5] and inPuerto Rico, where she saw her first motion pictures.[6]
Her family once again residing in Chicago, the adolescent Gloria developed a crush on actorFrancis X. Bushman and knew he was employed byEssanay 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.[7]
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 briefwalk-on with actressGerda Holmes, that paid an enormous (in those days) $3.25.[8] The studio soon offered her steady work at $13.25 (equivalent to $416 in 2024) per week.[9][10] Swanson left school to work full-time at the studio.[9] In 1915, she co-starred inSweedie Goes to College with her future first husbandWallace Beery.[11]
Portrait (1917)
Swanson's mother accompanied her to California in 1916 for her roles inMack Sennett'sKeystone Studios comedy shorts oppositeBobby Vernon and directed byClarence G. Badger. They were met at the train station by Beery, who was pursuing his own career ambitions at Keystone.[12] Vernon and Swanson projected a great screen chemistry that proved popular with audiences. DirectorCharley Chase recalled that Swanson was "frightened to death" of Vernon's dangerous stunts.[13] Surviving movies in which they appear together includeThe Danger Girl (1916),The Sultan's Wife (1917), andTeddy at the Throttle (1917).[14][15] Badger was sufficiently impressed by Swanson to recommend her to the directorJack Conway forHer Decision andYou Can't Believe Everything in 1918.[14][16] Triangle had never put Swanson under contract, but did increase her pay to $15 a week. When she was approached byFamous Players–Lasky to work forCecil 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 comedyDon't Change Your Husband.[17][15]
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.[18] Her first picture under her new contract was DeMille's World War I romantic dramaFor Better, for Worse.[19] She made six pictures under the direction of DeMille,[20] includingMale and Female[21] (1919), in which she posed with a lion as "Lion's Bride".[22] While she and her father were dining out one evening, the man who would become her second husband, Equity Pictures presidentHerbert K. Somborn, introduced himself, by inviting her to meet one of her personal idols, actressClara Kimball Young.[23]
Swanson and Rudolph Valentino in a scene fromBeyond the Rocks (1922)
After her films with Wood, she appeared inZaza (1923) directed byAllan Dwan. During her time at Famous Players–Lasky, seven more of her films were directed by Dwan.[29]
In 1925, Swanson starred in the French-American comedyMadame Sans-Gêne, directed byLéonce Perret.[30] 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 alost film.[31] Swanson appeared in a 1925 short produced byLee de Forest in hisPhonofilm sound-on-film process.[32] She made a number of films for Paramount, includingThe Coast of Folly (1925),Stage Struck (1925) andThe Untamed Lady (1926).[33] Before she could produce films with United Artists, she completedFine Manners with Paramount and turned down an offer to makeThe King of Kings with DeMille.[34]
Swanson on the March 7, 1925, cover ofLiberty magazine
She turned down a one-million-dollar-a-year (equivalent to $18,100,000 in 2024)[10] contract with Paramount in favor of joining the newly createdUnited Artists partnership on June 25, 1925, accepting a six-picture distribution offer from presidentJoseph Schenck.[35] At the time, Swanson was considered the most bankable star of her era.[36] United Artists had its own Art Cinema Corporation subsidiary to advance financial loans for the productions of individual partners.[37] The partnership agreement included her commitment to a buy-in of $100,000 of preferred stock subscription.[35]
The Swanson Producing Corporation was set up as the umbrella organization for her agreement with United Artists.[38] Under that name, she producedThe Love of Sunya with herself in the title role.[39] The film, co-starringJohn Boles, was directed byAlbert Parker, based on the playThe Eyes of Youth byMax Marcin and Charles Guernon.[38] The production was a disaster, with Parker being indecisive and the actors not experienced enough to deliver the performances he 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.[40] While it did not lose money, it was a financial wash, breaking even on the production costs.[41]
She engaged the services of directorRaoul Walsh in 1927 and together they conceived of making a film based onW. Somerset Maugham's short story "Miss Thompson".[42] Gloria Swanson Productions proposed to film the controversialSadie Thompson about the travails of a prostitute living in American Samoa, a project that initially pleased United Artists president Joseph Schenck.[43] 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 withWill H. Hays, Chairman of theMotion Picture Producers and Distributors of America.[44] Walsh previously had his own battles with the Hays office, having managed to skirt around censorship issues withWhat Price Glory?[45] By bringing him to the table, literally over breakfast in her home, Hays and Swanson developed a working relationship for the film.[46] Hays was enthusiastic about the basic story, but did have specific issues that were dealt with before the film's release.[46] The project was filmed onSanta Catalina Island, just off the coast ofLong Beach, California.[47] Gross receipts slightly exceeded $850,000 (equivalent to $15,400,000 in 2024).[10][41] At the first annualAcademy Awards, Swanson received a nomination for Best Actress for her performance, and the film's cinematographerGeorge Barnes was also nominated.[48]
By the end of 1927, Swanson was in dire financial straits, with only $65 in the bank.[49] Her two productions had generated income, but too slowly to offset her production loan debts to Art Cinema Corporation.[41][50] Swanson had also not made good on her $100,000 subscription for preferred United Artists shared stock.[41] She had received financial proposals from United Artists studio head Joseph Schenck, as well as from Bank of America, prior to engaging the services ofJoseph P. Kennedy Sr. as her financial advisor.[51] He proposed to personally bankroll her next picture and conducted a thorough examination of her financial records.[52] 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 inDelaware.[52] Upon his advice, she fired most of her staff and sold her rights forThe Love of Sunya andSadie Thompson to Art Cinema Corporation.[53] Kennedy then created the position of "European director ofPathé" to put her third husbandHenry de La Falaise on the payroll.[54]
Sound films were already becoming popular with audiences, most notably the films of singerAl Jolson, who had success withThe Jazz Singer released in 1927 andThe Singing Fool in 1928.[55] Kennedy, however, advised her to hireErich von Stroheim to direct another silent film,The Swamp, subsequently retitledQueen 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 producerPat Powers.[56] Stroheim worked for several months on writing the basic script.[55] Filming ofQueen Kelly began in November.[57] 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.[58] Swanson and Kennedy tried to salvage it with an alternative ending shot on November 24, 1931, directed by Swanson and photographed byGregg Toland.[59][60]
Only two other films were made under Gloria Productions.[25]The Trespasser in 1929 was a sound production, and garnered Swanson her second Oscar nomination.[61] Written byEdmund Goulding, withLaura Hope Crews fine-tuning the dialogue, Kennedy approved funding for the go-ahead on the production.[62] The film was a melodrama, complete with musical numbers sung by Swanson and completed in 21 days.[63] 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.[64]What a Widow! in 1930 was the final film for Gloria Productions.[65][66]
Mary Pickford and her husbandDouglas Fairbanks hosted the March 29, 1928, episode of theDodge 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.[67] On hand were Swanson,Charlie Chaplin,Norma Talmadge,John Barrymore,Dolores del Río, andD. W. Griffith.[68]
Before she began filmingPerfect Understanding as Gloria Swanson British Productions Ltd., she finished a two-film package production for Art Cinema, which includedIndiscreet andTonight or Never (1931).[69]Perfect Understanding, a 1933 sound production comedy, was the only film produced by this company.[70] Made entirely atEaling Studios, it co-starredLaurence Olivier as Swanson's on-screen husband.[71] 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.[69] The film was panned by the critics upon its release and failed at the box office.[72]
When she made the transition to sound films as her career simultaneously began to decline, Swanson moved permanently to New York City in 1938.[73] Swanson starred inFather Takes a Wife forRKO in 1941.[74] She began appearing in stage productions and starred inThe Gloria Swanson Hour onWPIX-TV in 1948.[75] Swanson threw herself into painting and sculpting and, in 1954, publishedGloria Swanson's Diary, a general newsletter.[76] She toured insummer stock, engaged in political activism, designed and marketed clothing and accessories, and made personal appearances on radio and in movie theaters.[74][77]
“It should be pointed out that Gloria Swanson wasnot Norma Desmond. Unlike her delusional screen counterpart, Swanson was fiercely realistic. She lived in the present –not in the past– and pursued many interests with passionate zeal. She was also a good actress. Judging by the number of people who think she was Norma Desmond, maybe a littletoo good.” – Biographer Lon Davis inSilent Lives: 100 Biographies of the Silent Film Era. (2008).[78]
The filmSunset Boulevard was conceived by directorBilly Wilder and screenwriterCharles Brackett, and came to include writerD. M. Marshman Jr.[79] They bandied about the name ofMae West, whose public persona even in her senior years was as a sex symbol, but she objected to playing a has-been.[80] Mary Pickford was also considered for the lead role of Norma Desmond.[81] It was directorGeorge 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".[80]
The storyline of the film follows a faded silent movie actress Norma Desmond (Swanson), in love with a failed screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden).[82] 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.[83] A clip fromQueen 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 hadfaces".[84] Norma plays a card game of bridge with a group of actors also known as "theWaxworks". They includedBuster Keaton,H.B. Warner andAnna Q. Nilsson.[85] During the scene leading up to Cecil B. DeMille's cameo, where Max chauffeurs Joe and Norma to the studio, herIsotta Fraschini luxury automobile was towed from behind the camera, because Stroheim had never learned how to drive.[86] 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,[87] where she says, "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."[88]
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.[80] 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...”[89] She was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award, but lost toJudy Holliday.[90]
Swanson received several acting offers following the release ofSunset Boulevard, but turned most of them down, saying they tended to be pale imitations of Norma Desmond.[91] Her last major Hollywood motion picture role was also her first color film, the poorly received3 for Bedroom C in 1952.[92] Nationally syndicated columnistSuzy called it "one of the worst movies ever made."[93] In 1956, Swanson madeNero's Mistress, an Italian film shot in Rome, which starredAlberto Sordi,Vittorio de Sica andBrigitte Bardot.[94] Her final screen appearance, in 1974, was as herself inAirport 1975.[95]
Swanson hostedThe Gloria Swanson Hour, one of the first live television series in 1948 in which she invited friends and others to be guests.[75] Swanson later hostedCrown Theatre with Gloria Swanson, a television anthology series in which she occasionally acted.[96]
Through the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s, Swanson appeared on many different talk and variety shows such asThe Carol Burnett Show andThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson to recollect her movies and to lampoon them as well.[97][98] OnThe Carol Burnett Show in 1973, Swanson reprised her impersonation of Charlie Chaplin from bothSunset Boulevard andManhandled.[99][100] She was the "mystery guest" onWhat's My Line.[101] She acted in "Behind the Locked Door" onThe Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1964 and, in the same year, she was nominated for aGolden Globe award for her performance inBurke's Law.[102][103] She made a guest appearance onThe Dick Cavett Show in the summer of 1970; a guest on the same show asJanis Joplin.[104] She made a notable appearance in a 1966 episode ofThe Beverly Hillbillies, in which she plays herself.[102] In the episode, the Clampetts mistakenly believe Swanson is destitute and decide to finance a comeback movie for her – in a silent film.[105]
After near-retirement from movies, Swanson appeared in many plays throughout her later life, beginning in the 1940s.[106] 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 withTallulah Bankhead as its star.[107] Kennedy wrote the script for the playA Goose for the Gander, which began its road tour in Chicago in August 1944.[108][109][110]
Swanson in her New York City apartment (1972). Photo byAllan Warren.Ce soir ou Jamais, fragrance ad, 1932. The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Swanson was avegetarian and an early health food advocate[115] who was known for bringing her own meals to public functions in a tin box.[101]
She was known for her love of fragrances and was often portrayed among her wide collection of bottles. For the promotion ofTonight or Never in 1931, given that the movie title was inspired by theOffenthal fragrance name, an unprecedented tie-in advertising campaign was conceived to promote both the movie and the fragrance.[116]
She was a pupil of the yoga guruIndra Devi and was photographed performing a series of yoga poses, reportedly looking much younger than her age, for Devi to use in her bookForever Young, Forever Healthy; but the publisherPrentice-Hall decided to use the photographs for Swanson's book, not Devi's. In return, Swanson, who normally didn't do publicity events, helped to launch Devi's book at theWaldorf-Astoria in 1953.[117]
In 1975, Swanson traveled the United States and helped to promote the bookSugar Blues written by her husband,William Dufty.[123] He also ghostwrote Swanson's 1981 autobiographySwanson on Swanson, which became a commercial success.[124][125] The same year, she designed a stamp cachet for theUnited Nations Decade for Women, which was her last creative project.[126]
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.[127][128] 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.[129] Taking medication given to her by Beery, purported to be for morning sickness, she miscarried the fetus and was taken unconscious to the hospital.[130] Soon afterwards, she filed for divorce, which was finalized on December 12, 1918.[131] Under California law in that era, after a divorce was granted, there was a one-year waiting period before it became finalized so that neither of the parties could remarry.[132]
She marriedHerbert K. Somborn on December 20, 1919.[133] He was at that time president of Equity Pictures Corporation and later the owner of theBrown Derby restaurant.[134] Their daughter, Gloria Swanson Somborn, was born on October 7, 1920.[135][136] In 1923, she adopted one-year-old Sonny Smith, whom she renamed Joseph Patrick Swanson after her father.[137] During their divorce proceedings, Somborn accused her of adultery with 13 men, including Cecil B. DeMille andMarshall Neilan.[138] The public sensationalism led to Swanson having a "morals clause" added to her studio contract.[139] Somborn was granted a divorce in Los Angeles, on September 19, 1923.[140]
Swanson and Henri de la Falaise leaving Los Angeles for New York, July 1925
My marriage to Henri gave me the only real peace and happiness I had ever known—or have ever known since. Of my five marriages this one came the nearest to being what I, in my haus-frau heart, have always wanted a marriage to be. He was then and he remains in memory a more delightful companion than any I have known.[141]
Gloria Swanson, 1950
During the production ofMadame Sans-Gêne, Swanson met her third husband,Henri, Marquis de la Falaise (commonly known as Henri de la Falaise),[142] who had been hired to be her translator during the film's production.[143] Though Henri was a Marquis and related to the famousHennessy cognac family, he had no personal wealth.[144] 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.[145] They married on January 28, 1925, after the Somborn divorce was finalized.[142] Following a four-month recuperation from her abortion, they returned to the United States as European nobility. Swanson now held the title of Marquise.[146] She received a huge welcome home with parades in both New York and Los Angeles. He became a film executive representingPathé (USA) in France.[147] This marriage ended in divorce in 1930.[148]
In spite of the divorce they remained close, and Falaise became a partner in herWorld War II efforts to aid potential scientist refugees fleeing from behind Nazi lines.[149] Swanson described herself as a "mental vampire", someone with a searching curiosity about how things worked, and who pursued the possibilities of turning those ideas into reality.[73] In 1939, she created Multiprises, an inventions and patents company; Henri de la Falaise provided a transitional Paris office for the scientists and gave written documentation to authorities guaranteeing jobs for them.[150] Viennese electronics engineer Richard Kobler, chemist Leopold Karniol, metallurgist Anton Kratky, and acoustical engineer Leopold Neumann, were brought to New York and headquartered inRockefeller Center.[151] The group nicknamed her "Big Chief".[152]
While still married to Henri, Swanson had a lengthy affair with the marriedJoseph P. Kennedy Sr., father of future PresidentJohn F. Kennedy.[153] He became her business partner, and their relationship was an open secret in Hollywood. He took over all of her personal and business affairs and was supposed to make her millions.[52] Kennedy left her after the disastrousQueen Kelly.[154]
After the marriage to Henri and her affair with Kennedy was over, Swanson became acquainted with Michael Farmer, the man who would become her fourth husband. They met by chance in Paris when Swanson was being fitted byCoco Chanel for her 1931 filmTonight or Never. Farmer was a man of independent financial means who seemed not to have been employed. Rumors were that he was agigolo. Swanson began spending time with him,[155] during which she discovered a breast lump and also became pregnant, but was not yet divorced from Henri.[156] She was not interested in marrying Farmer, but he did not want to break off the relationship. When Farmer found out she was pregnant, he threatened to go public with the news unless she agreed to marry him, something she did not want to do. Her friends, some of whom openly disliked him, thought she was making a mistake.[157] They married on August 16, 1931, and separated 2 years later.[158][159]
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.[160]
Swanson and Farmer divorced in 1934 after she became involved with married British actorHerbert Marshall. The media reported widely on her affair with Marshall.[161][162][163] After almost three years with the actor, Swanson left him once she became convinced he would never divorce his wifeEdna 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."[164]
Davey was a wealthy investment broker whom Swanson met in October 1944 while she was appearing inA Goose for the Gander. They married January 29, 1945.[165] Swanson had initially thought she was going to be able to retire from acting, but the marriage was troubled from the start by Davey's alcoholism. Erratic behavior and acrimonious recriminations followed. Swanson and her daughter Michelle Farmer visited anAlcoholics Anonymous meeting and gathered AA pamphlets, which they placed around the apartment.[166][167] Davey moved out.[166] 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 theDamon Runyon Cancer Memorial Fund.[168][169]
Swanson's final marriage occurred in 1976 and lasted until her death. Her sixth husbandWilliam Dufty was a writer who worked for many years at theNew York Post, where he was assistant to the editor from 1951 to 1960. He was the co-author (ghostwriter) ofBillie Holiday's autobiographyLady Sings the Blues, the author ofSugar Blues, a 1975 best-selling health book still in print, and the author of the English version ofGeorges Ohsawa'sYou Are All Sanpaku.[170] They met in the mid-1960s and moved in together.[171][172] Swanson shared her husband's enthusiasm formacrobiotic diets, and they traveled widely together to speak about nutrition.[123] Swanson and her husband first got to knowJohn Lennon andYoko Ono because they were fans of Dufty's work.[173] Swanson testified on Lennon's behalf at his immigration hearing in New York City, which led to his becoming a permanent US resident.[174] Besides herFifth 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.[175] After Swanson's death, Dufty returned to his former home inBirmingham, Michigan. He died of cancer in 2002.[170]
After Swanson's death, there was a series of auctions from August to September 1983 atWilliam Doyle Galleries in New York. Collectors bought her furniture and decorations, jewelry, clothing, and memorabilia from her personal life and career.[179]
In 1960, Gloria Swanson was honored with two stars on theHollywood Walk of Fame: one for motion pictures at 6750 Hollywood Boulevard, and another for television at 6301 Hollywood Boulevard.[180] In 1955 and 1957, Swanson was awarded The George Eastman Award, given byGeorge Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film,[181][182] and in 1966, the museum honored her with a career film retrospective, titledA Tribute to Gloria Swanson, which screened several of her movies.[183] In 1974, Swanson was one of the honorees of the first Telluride Film Festival.[184] A parking lot bySims Park in downtown New Port Richey, Florida, is named after the star, who is said to have owned property along the Cotee River.[185]
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 theHarry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Upon her death in 1983, much of the remainder of her holdings was purchased byUT-Austin at an auction held at theDoyle New York gallery. An undisclosed amount of memorabilia was also gifted to the HRC Center between 1983 and 1988.[175]
In 1989, theLibrary of Congress choseSunset Boulevard, along with 24 other films, "to be preserved in the permanent collection of theNational Film Registry of the Library of Congress as culturally, historically, and aesthetically important".[186]
^Davis, 2008 p. 344: Note: Lon Davis included Swanson’s “interests” as “nutrition and sculpting” in complete quote, excised here w/o ellipsis. Also: italics in original quote.
^Lee, Sonia (April 1935)."Scared of Spring".Picture Play Magazine. Vol. 42. p. 70. RetrievedMay 27, 2020.Hollywood is wondering if Gloria Swanson, once free of Michael Farmer, will make Herbert husband Number Five
^Peak, Mayme Ober (January 13, 1935). "To Be Called Sauve Gets on My Nerves".Daily Boston Globe. p. B5.Now the Marshalls are separated by more than an ocean and continent. Since their separation, gossip has romantically linked the names of Gloria Swanson and Herbert Marshall. They are constantly seen together.
^Flint, Peter B. (April 5, 1983)."Gloria Swanson Dies. 20's Film Idol".The New York Times. p. A1. Archived fromthe original on November 2, 2014.Gloria Swanson, a symbol of enduring glamour who was perhaps the most glittering goddess of Hollywood's golden youth in the 1920s, died of a heart ailment yesterday in New York Hospital. The actress entered the hospital two weeks ago after suffering what friends said was a mild heart attack...
^"Gloria Swanson Dies".Herald-Journal. Associated Press. April 5, 1983. RetrievedOctober 10, 2012.Gloria Swanson, the quintessential glamour girl who reigned in Hollywood's golden age died in her sleep at New York Hospital early Monday. ...
^Donnelley, Paul (2003).Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Omnibus. p. 887.ISBN0-7119-9512-5.
Beauchamp, Cari (2009).Joseph P. Kennedy presents : his Hollywood years (First Vintage books ed.). New York.ISBN978-0-307-47522-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Carper, James C. (2009).The Praeger handbook of religion and education in the United States. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers.ISBN978-0-275-99227-9.
Holbrook, Morris (2011).Music, Movies, Meanings, and Markets : Cinemajazzamatazz. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis.ISBN978-0-203-81553-3.
King, Rob (2009).The fun factory : the Keystone Film Company and the emergence of mass culture. Berkeley: University of California Press.ISBN978-0-520-25538-8.
Thomson, David (2014).The New Biographical Dictionary of Film (Sixth ed.). New York.ISBN978-0-375-71184-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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