Gloria Swanson toured a film studio because a girlhood crush on matinee idol Francis X Bushman. From that visit she got a walk on in a film. From that walk on, Gloria Swanson grew to become one of the biggest stars of the Silent Era.
She worked with Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, Cecil B DeMille, Mack Sennett, Raoul Walsh, Lon Chaney and almost every other big name in the business.
Erich von Stroheim directed her in a production of Queen Kelly which never got made and cost her boyfriend, Joe Kennedy, a ton of money. At the time they were both married to other people.
Her hypnotic eyes and lithe movements made her an early film sex symbol. Her parts moved between elegant rich heartbroken women and dangerous femmes fatales.
With the dawn of talking motion pictures, Swanson’s gigs became less frequent. She had a brash spirit which was not always appreciated by the male-dominant business.
In 1950 William ‘Billy’ Wilder, one of Hollywood’s most forward-thinking directors wanted to get the biggest star of the Silent Era. The part was a bitter, narcissistic former superstar now living in her own fantasies. The star was Mae Murray and was absolutely offended at lowering herself to such a part.
Gloria Swanson had no such reservations. She embodied the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. Which included her buddies Cecil B DeMille as himself, and Erich von Stroheim as an ex-husband turned chauffeur. The film gave us the immortals lines “I am big. The pictures got small;” and the oft-imitated “All right Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.”
She was nominated for the third time for an Academy Award, and it revivified her career as she became a staple on television for years after. Today she is a camp favorite and will always be remembered as the deluded, but sassy Norma Desmond.