Gloria Swanson still remains a recognizable name and face today. Her spectacular comeback performance in Sunset Boulevard (1950) introduced her to new generations of viewers who never saw a silent film. She was the most self-consciously glamorous of Hollywood stars, but was no Norma Desmond. Despite the flamboyant personality and her famously bizarre fashions, she was a clear-eyed, realistic woman in real life. This common touch was a frequent feature of her screen characters as well. She usually played a wealthy woman, often in love with a lower class man, or a poor woman crashing high society, and there is a strong element of farce in many of her films.

There is a wealth of material available on Swanson, much more than I can list here. The materials below can get you started and point you to other sources:

©2001, by Greta de Groat. All Rights Reserved

Last revised November 11, 2013