Profile of the Day: Gloria Swanson

Do you remember watching Sunset Boulevard? On this day in 1899, legendary actress Gloria Swanson was born.

Image: Gloria Swanson / Library of Congress

Swanson was born on March 27, 1899 to Joseph Theodore Swanson and Adelaide Klanowski in a small house in Chicago, Illinois. Since her father was a soldier in the army, she moved frequently. She spent part of her childhood in Puerto Rico, where she learned Spanish and saw her first films.

She began her career as an extra in silent films and soon became one of Hollywood’s most prominent silent film stars and fashion icons. Although she successfully transitioned to “talkies” with the film, The Trespasser, for which she received her second Oscar nomination, the film would prove to be one of her only two hit talkies. The other was Sunset Boulevard, which she made over 20 years later. She received her third Academy Award nomination for the iconic role.

Swanson died on April 4, 1983 at the age of 84.