History Creator / GretaGarbo

* CelebrityIsOverrated: She is perhaps the best illustration of this trope. Garbo became the most famous female actor of the first half of the 20th century, but refused all publicity and interviews, thus making her more mysterious and glamorous as a result. At the height of her fame, in the 1940s, she quit acting altogether and appeared totally out of public view for the final 40 years of her life. She kept the press at a distance and photographing old age Garbo became something of a challenge for journalists, since hardly anyone knew what she looked like by this point.

* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: It's almost impossible to find an actor of her time that didn't comment on her beauty at some point, even to EvenTheGirlsWantHer moments from some female actors who had met her, not to mention her regular appearances at the top of "most beautiful woman ever/of all time" lists in gossip magazines.

* Garbo made several appearances in WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes cartoons. Commonly, she was drawn with a long, [[PerpetualFrowner miserable]] face and comically-large feet [[note]]There are several theories over the "Garbo had big feet" joke in the cartoons, but it was possibly either a reference to the rumour that Garbo was never filmed below the waist because she had unattractively enormous feet, or because other female actors in Hollywood had very small shoe sizes in comparison (she pointed out that her shoe size was no bigger than average woman in the US)[[/note]] the length of her torso.

* She is the first actor namedropped by Music/{{Madonna}} in the bridge of her song ''Vogue'' from her 1990 ''Film/DickTracy''-inspired ConceptAlbum, ''Music/ImBreathless''.

* She is the first female actor namedropped by Music/{{Madonna}} in the bridge of her song ''Vogue'' from her 1990 ''Film/DickTracy''-inspired ConceptAlbum, ''Music/ImBreathless''.

* CelebrityIsOverrated: She is perhaps the best illustration of this trope. Garbo became the most famous actress of the first half of the 20th century, but refused all publicity and interviews, thus making her more mysterious and glamorous as a result. At the height of her fame, in the 1940s, she quit acting altogether and appeared totally out of public view for the final 40 years of her life. She kept the press at a distance and photographing old age Garbo became something of a challenge for journalists, since hardly anyone knew what she looked like by this point.

* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: It's almost impossible to find an actor of her time that didn't comment on her beauty at some point, even to EvenTheGirlsWantHer moments from some actresses who had met her, not to mention her regular appearances at the top of "most beautiful woman ever/of all time" lists in gossip magazines.

* Garbo made several appearances in WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes cartoons. Commonly, she was drawn with a long, [[PerpetualFrowner miserable]] face and comically-large feet [[note]]There are several theories over the "Garbo had big feet" joke in the cartoons, but it was possibly either a reference to the rumour that Garbo was never filmed below the waist because she had unattractively enormous feet, or because other actresses in Hollywood had very small shoe sizes in comparison (she pointed out that her shoe size was no bigger than average woman in the US)[[/note]] the length of her torso.

* She is the first actress namedropped by Music/{{Madonna}} in the bridge of her song ''Vogue'' from her 1990 ''Film/DickTracy''-inspired ConceptAlbum, ''Music/ImBreathless''.

Garbo spoke no English when she came to Hollywood but in the silent movie era this didn't pose a problem. She became an instant star -- in her second film for MGM she got top billing. Her European sensuality was a revelation to American film audiences. Her career, however, was threatened by talking pictures, which sent several other European actors and actresses back home. MGM delayed her talking debut as long as they could; the last silent picture MGM ever made, ''The Kiss'' (1929), was a Garbo vehicle. Her first talking feature, ''Anna Christie'', was marketed with the tagline "GARBO TALKS!" It was a smash hit, and Garbo continued to be hugely popular throughout TheThirties, playing the same kinds of roles she had in the silent era, as {{femme fatale}}s or tragic lovers. Her PlayingAgainstType romatic comedy role in ''Film/{{Ninotchka}}'' (1939) was another huge success, but she only made one more film. With the attack on Peal Harbor and the American entry into World War II, Garbo officially announced that she was going to go on a indefinite hiatus from Hollywood, at least until the war was over. Various projects were proposed throughout TheForties but nothing came to fruition and Garbo eventually decided to extend her hiatus into entirely retire from acting.

* In ''Literature/{{Reds}}'' she becomes the president of the UASR in an alternative history timeline.

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Greta Garbo, born as Greta Lovisa Gustafsson (September 18, 1905 -- April 15, 1990) was one of Hollywood's most famous sex symbols during the late silent era, UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra and the early years of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/greta_garbo_636.jpg]]

Garbo spoke no English when she came to Hollywood but in the silent movie era this didn't pose a problem. She became an instant star -- in her second film for MGM she got top billing. Her European sensuality was a revelation to American film audiences. Her career, however, was threatened by talking pictures, which sent several other European actors and actresses back home. MGM delayed her talking debut as long as they could; the last silent picture MGM ever made, ''The Kiss'' (1929), was a Garbo vehicle. Her first talking feature, ''Anna Christie'', was marketed with the tagline "GARBO TALKS!" It was a smash hit, and Garbo continued to be hugely popular throughout TheThirties, playing the same kinds of roles she had in the silent era, as {{femme fatale}}s or tragic lovers. Her PlayingAgainstType romatic comedy role in ''Film/{{Ninotchka}}'' (1939) was another huge success, but she only made one more film. Various projects were proposed throughout TheForties but nothing came to fruition and Garbo eventually decided to retire from acting.

* ''Film/TheTorrent'' (1926)

** She also appears in "WesternAnimation/HollywoodStepsOut" as a cigarette girl in the nightclub.

* HeroicDimples: One would understandably barely notice hers since she barely smiled, but they added to her heroic characters, particularly [[https://66.media.tumblr.com/8097d828bfa190d7e70eb95640427ef7/tumblr_oi8qqbz3vA1v904g0o1_400.gif Christina]].

** She appears in ''Mother Goose Goes Hollywood'' sitting on a seesaw with Creator/EdwardGRobinson. She tells him, "I want so much to be left alone," so Edward jumps off his end.
** She also appears in ''WesternAnimation/HollywoodStepsOut'' as a cigarette girl in the nightclub.
** She appears in the WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck cartoon ''The Autograph Hound'', traveling in a limousine that looks like her face.

!! Tropes

* IceQueen: This was her public image in many films: an icy cold, expressionless woman who cannot be humoured, yet very sexy and much in control over her men. It occasionally led to WhenSheSmiles moments onscreen, such as in ''Film/{{Ninotchka}}'' when she laughed on camera for the first time, which was heavily publicized by film producers with the tagline "Garbo laughs".

** She also appears in ''WesternAnimation/HollywoodStepsOut'', as a cigarette girl in the nightclub.

* ''Film/{{Camille|1936}}''

* IceQueen: This was her public image in many films: an icy cold, expressionless woman who cannot be humoured, yet very sexy and much in control over her men. It occasionally led to WhenSheSmiles moments onscreen, such as in ''Film/{{Ninotchka}}'' when she laughed on camera for the first time, which was heavily publicized by film producers with the tag line "Garbo laughs".

** She appears in the WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck cartoon ''The Autograph Hound'', riding on a limousine that looks like her face.

* The Expert's of Justice airship in ''Series/GiantRobo:TheAnimation'' is named after Greta Garbo.

She gained a reputation as a [[ReclusiveArtist recluse]], but in fact she had an active social life and plenty of friends. When she was a huge movie star she had avoided the media, virtually never giving interviews or showing up for award ceremonies, and in retirement she continued to not talk to the press. She died of pneumonia and kidney failure in 1990.

* ''[[Film/TheKiss1929 The Kiss]]'' (1929)