Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Home & Design: STARR LIGHT
Gloria Swanson
2003-06-04

This article shared 2697 times since Wed Jun 4, 2003
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


In her later years, the still-glamorous star, a beautiful relic from the early days of film wrote ' ... all the puritanical hypocrisy of the 1920's even cost me a baby's life, when I had to abort my child by the Marquis in 1925 to avoid scandal and save my career.'

Gloria May Josephine Svensson was born in Chicago March 27, 1899, and grew up on Grace Street. After her parents divorced, Gloria's mother enrolled her in singing lessons, and for a time she attended the Chicago Art Institute. One day in 1914, an aunt took Gloria to visit the Essanay Studios on Argyle Street. While there, she asked if she could be an extra in a scene 'just for the heck of it.' The director thought Gloria was vibrant and pretty, and expanded her role in the short film The End of a Perfect Day. Thus her career began. Later that year, Essanay hired the young girl as a stock player—four days work at $3.25 a week. Her fortune lay ahead.

In the tradition of movie stars, Svensson dubbed herself Swanson, and became what was known as a 'guaranteed player'—someone on call for any role at any time. She appeared in dozens of short films before her first full-length role in 1915, the awkwardly titled The Fable of Elvira and Farina and the Meal Ticket.

In her next film at Essanay, Swedie Goes To College (1915), Gloria met Wallace Beery, a gruff but accomplished actor who first won fame playing a transvestite comedy maid. In 1916 Beery became her first husband, and she travelled with him to California. Wallace brutally raped Gloria on their honeymoon. Later, he gave her a medicine that made her so nauseated and sick that it aborted her child and nearly killed her. They separated within a month.

Beery and Swanson both began working in Mack Sennett comedies. Though she realized later that the split-second timing of these comedies improved many of her skills, she found them degrading and vulgar. Amid her loud complaints, Sennett tore up her contract.

Gloria divorced Wallace, and signed with Triangle Pictures. In 1919, after a year of feeling bogged down in silly love stories, she signed with Paramount. That same year she married her second husband, Herbert Somborn, owner of the famed Brown Derby restaurant, with whom she had a daughter, also named Gloria. Soon, Swanson was rising to fame in Cecil B. Demille epics. Always dressed in spectacular gowns and jewels, millions of fans could not get enough of Gloria Swanson. In Male and Female (1919), fearless Gloria allowed herself to be pawed at by a live lion. In You Can't Believe Everything (1921), the non-swimmer jumped off a pier into deep water to 'save' her co-star. Her willingness to risk life and limb for the movies earned her great respect from directors.

In 1922, the stunning Swanson stated, 'I have gone through a long apprenticeship. I have gone through enough of being a nobody. I have decided that when I am a star, I will be every inch and every moment the star! Everybody from the studio gateman to the highest executive will know it.'

Bored with Herbert, Swanson divorced him in 1923. She titillated her fans with statements like 'I not only believe in divorce, I sometimes think I don't believe in marriage at all.' She moved to New York for a year and worked at the Astoria Studios, where her reputation grew as a good actress ... as well as a clotheshorse.

Gloria married her third husband, the handsome Marqui Henri de la Falaise, and she became 'Madame La Marquise.' However, it was only the name she acquired. The Marqui had no money, and Gloria put him on her payroll. She soon embarked on an affair with Joseph Kennedy, father of the future president. Joseph became her financial partner, producing the successful Sadie Thompson (1928) and a few ill-fated vehicles which included the famed, never finished, severely over-budget Queen Kelly (1928), directed by Erich Stroheim. Probably due to family pressure, Kennedy severed their ties by 1930.

In 1931 Swanson married for the fourth time to Michael Farmer, divorcing him in 1934. She adapted easily to the coming of sound in movies, making her first talkie, The Trespasser, in 1929. Yet her greatest film triumphs were behind her. She made only five films in the 1930s, and it was six years before her 'comeback' in the disastrous 1941 comedy Father Takes A Wife. In 1946, she married her fifth husband, George W. Davey, a union that lasted just 44 days.

In 1950, nine years after her last film, she made a triumphant return to the screen as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, the story of a faded silent movie queen who murders her much younger lover, played by William Holden. Gloria was perfectly cast, still beautiful, and sensational in the part. Her next role in Three For Bedroom C (1952) was a dismal failure. Swanson worked in stage and television throughout the rest of her life. In 1960, the fantastic Eliot Elisofon photo published in Life Magazine of Swanson elegantly gowned and bejeweled, standing dramatically with arms outstretched amid the rubble of the demolished Roxy Theatre in New York, was the inspiration for the story of the 1971 Stephen Sondheim musical Follies. The Roxy had opened in 1928 with the film The Loves of Sunya, which starred Swanson. In 1975, she played herself in Airport 1975.

In 1976 she married for the sixth and final time, to William Duffy.

Gloria never tired of promoting her dietary ideas while traveling with her own pressure cooker and assortment of natural bread, herbs, and teas. In 1980-1981 she embarked on a grueling cross-country promotional tour for her autobiography Swanson On Swanson. Her book received phenomenal reviews—'Sparkling ... . Movie stars' memoirs don't get any better,' and 'the most revealing book ever written by a movie queen.' Swanson said of herself and other Hollywood royalty: 'We lived like kings and queens, and why not?'

Gloria Swanson died in her sleep April 4, 1983. The New York Times honored her with an editorial entitled 'THE GREATEST STAR OF THEM ALL. '

Sources: The Films Of Gloria Swanson by Lawrence J Quirk; The New York Times Directory of the Film; Gloria Swanson Web sites.

Steve Starr is the author of Picture Perfect—Art Deco Photo Frames 1926-1946, published by Rizzoli International Publications.

A designer and an artist, he is the owner of Steve Starr Studios, specializing in original Art Deco photo frames and furnishings and jewelry, and celebrating its 36th anniversary in 2003.

Visit the studio at 2779 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago where adorning the walls is Steve Starr's personal collection of more than 950 gorgeous frames filled with photos of Hollywood's most glamorous stars.

Photo of Steve Starr, July 25, 2002, by Albert Aquilar.


This article shared 2697 times since Wed Jun 4, 2003
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

JP Karliak morphs into non-binary character for Disney+'s X-Men '97 2024-03-22
- series X-Men '97, a revival of the popular X-men: The Animated Series that's both continuing the ongoing mutant storyline and breaking new ground along the way. The character of Morph now looks more like the comic ...


Gay News

WORLD Uganda items, HIV report, Mandela, Liechtenstein, foreign minister weds 2024-03-21
- It turned out that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator Jay Gilliam traveled to Uganda on Feb. 19-27, per The Washington Blade. He visited the capital of Kampala and the nearby city of ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer musicians, Marvel situation, Elliot Page, Nicole Kidman 2024-03-21
- Queer musician Joy Oladokun released the single "I Wished on the Moon," from Jack Antonoff's official soundtrack for the new Apple TV+ series The New Look, per a press release. The soundtrack, ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition' 2024-03-15
- Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Jinkx Monsoon, Xavier Dolan, 'Frida,' Lena Waithe, out singer 2024-03-08
- Two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is headed back to the New York stage, joining off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey beginning April 2, according to Playbill. The casting makes Monsoon the first drag ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer actors, icons duet, Hunter Schafer, Oscars, Elizabeth Taylor 2024-03-01
- Queer actor Kal Penn is set to star in Trust Me, I'm a Doctor—a film that chronicles the final days of actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, whose overdose death in 2007 at age 39 sparked a tabloid ...


Gay News

Dorian Film Awards: 'All of Us Strangers' takes top prizes 2024-02-27
- February 26, 2024 - Los Angeles, Ca. - For its 15th Dorian Film Awards, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics fully embraced All of Us Strangers, writer-director Andrew Haigh's fantastical and tear-inducing tale of two ...


Gay News

SAG Awards honor Streisand, few LGBTQ+ actors 2024-02-25
- Queer entertainers made their mark—although not a major one—at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, held Feb. 24 in Los Angeles. The event was live-streamed on Netflix for the first time. Indigenous and Two-Spirit actor ...


Gay News

WORLD Caribbean ruling, Pussy Riot, Russian raid, Canadian warning, anti-trans bar 2024-02-23
- The top court in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines dismissed a challenge to colonial-era anti-gay laws, Reuters reported. Javin Johnson and Sean Macleish—two gay men who had pushed to decriminalize ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Kristen Stewart, Rock Hudson, Talia Keys, 'True Detective,' Marvel comic 2024-02-23
- At the Berlin Film Festival, Kristen Stewart defended her photo shoot for a Rolling Stone magazine cover that went viral and divided audiences on social-media platforms, per The Hollywood Reporter. "The existence of a female body ...


Gay News

Second Glance Productions hosts LGBTQupid Soiree 2024-02-16
- In celebration of Valentine's Day, Chicago based film and media production company Second Glance hosted The LBGTQupid Soiree. The event, which was focused on spinning attitudes on this particular day, was presented at The iO ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Elton John, Hannah Gadsby, video game, Jennifer Lopez, queer thriller 2024-02-16
Video below - Sir Elton John has sold his Atlanta home and is now auctioning off more than 900 of his personal items that were kept in the 13,500-square-foot condo, The Daily Mail noted. The massive collection includes rare ...


Gay News

GALECA announces nominees for the Dorian Film Awards 2024-02-07
--From a press release - Feb. 5, 2024 - GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, consisting of over 500 entertainment critics, journalists and media icons, today announced the group's democratically chosen nominees for its 15th Dorian Film Awards. All of ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ JoJo Siwa, Tom Holland, Bowen Yang, Pet Shop Boys, Mariah Carey 2024-02-02
- In the wake of Nigel Lythgoe exiting So You Think You Can Dance, queer personality JoJo Siwa is returning to the series, per Deadline. Siwa, who was a judge on season 17 of the Fox show, will replace Lythgoe, who left ...


Gay News

Leather Archives & Museum announces 2024 Fetish Film Forum 2024-01-27
--From a press release - CHICAGO, Illinois—After a wildly successful inaugural year, including a 10-film series at the Leather Archives & Museum and a 5-film series at FACETS, the Leather Archives & Museum is thrilled to announce the continuation of Fetish ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.