They Said They Loved Garbo
Posted: Thursday, December 08, 2011
by Jack H. Schick
I read in the newspaper that she'd died. At the time, I didn't know much about Greta Garbo. I vaguely knew of her. My mom or dad may have mentioned her name, in passing, once or twice, but I was much too young to remember her myself. I'd heard that she was an aloof, reclusive superstar who hid out in New York City for fifty years because she wanted "to be left alone." I sort of remembered seeing one of her films on late night TV, but I couldn't remember which one, Mata Hari, maybe. Other than that, I had no opinion of her at all.
I became hopelessly enamored. I was struck by the ‘hero-worship' ailment; an affliction that manifests its self in myriad ways. In my case, I got a warm, flushed feeling, had twitching pangs in my belly and occasionally sighed out loud while I watched Garbo films. I hung pictures of her on the walls in my office and talked about her to whoever would listen. When it came to Greta Garbo, I certainly was not unique in my suffering, though. For most of her life, she was the victim of people like me; of people who worshiped her, who thought they loved her--loved her for what they thought she was or for what they wanted her to be. Some of her admirers were benevolent, some were debilitated and harmless, and some responded to their "illness" in ways that were perverse and destructive.
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Greta Garbo despised her celebrity, yet, at the same time reveled in it. She knew how hero-worshipers could be, and usually avoided them. Occasionally she relented, when she felt it was safe. For example, on August 25, 1947, over half a decade since the release of the last Garbo film, a mysterious ‘Miss Hanson' disembarked the Queen Mary at Southampton, England. The large sunglasses that partly hid her face were blatantly inappropriate in the usually overcast, dark skied seaport. Many of the paparazzi were not fooled.
Garbo had traveled to Britain to settle the estate of Edgar Donne, a descendent of poet John Donne. Edgar was an eccentric who had been thrown out by his family, moved to America and had lived as a hermit in a small, crumbling cottage in Dorr, Michigan. He is said to have "slept on an oak table, quoted from the Bible, and dreamed of Greta Garbo." Donne had a substantial estate and significant accounts in English banks.
When he died in October of 1946, he left a will which, in part, said: "I, Edgar H. Donne, bequeath my entire fortune of $75,000, inclusive of securities and jewelry, to Greta Lovisa Gustafson, by profession film star and known under the name Garbo. Should she agree to become my wife, my house and land similarly go to Greta Lovisa Donne." Donne left to Garbo, 160 acres, $700 in war bonds, $180 in U.S. postal savings bonds and "all securities and jewelry in the bank." The estate totaled about $210,000, plus land that was projected to yield $700 a day from oil production.
Garbo said, "I do not know Mr. Donne. I vaguely recall that he once sent me a letter some years ago which was returned to him. I don't recall anything he said in it…I'm told that he once made a trip to Los Angles to see me. I didn't see him, nor did I ever talk to him." Yet, having rejected or ignored millions of dollars in offers and thousands of admirers over the years, she decided to accept Edgar Donne's, no-strings-attached, bequeathal.
Why she decided to accept Edgar Donne's estate is one of the many "Garbo Mysteries." She certainly did not need the money. Did she feel the man was simply foolish, and since it required minimal effort and did not disrupt her travel plans she would go ahead and accept it? What harm could there be? Or, was there a twinge of empathy for a kindred fellow with a troubled spirit and a hermit mentality that led her to fulfill his wishes? Either way, as it was with almost anythng Garbo did, the world knew about it.
After probate in both the United States and Great Britain, most of Edgar Donne's money was consumed by inheritance taxes and fees. The rest of Donne's assets could not legally be taken out of England, so Garbo donated them to an unnamed charity--allegedly the Sister Kenny Foundation. Hers and Mr. Donne's business concluded, she continued on to enjoy her scheduled holiday in Cannes, France.
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Another man who said he'd loved Garbo was Antoni Gronowicz, a Polish-born novelist and "biographer." In 1984, Gronowicz cost his publishers, Richardson and Snyder, a lot of money when his already printed and distributed biography, God's Broker, had to be recalled and shredded. The book was supposedly based on long and intimate conversations between the author and Pope John Paul II. The Pontiff allegedly gave the manuscript his blessing, but when the publication came to light, the Vatican vehemently denounced it. John Paul II called the book "fraudulent" and denied that he had ever even met Gronowicz. Unfortunately, it was not the first questionable "biography" he'd produced.
In the early 1970's, Gronowicz presented to publisher Dodd, Mead a purported "authorized biography" of Greta Garbo, Garbo: Her Story. It was frequently written in the first person and hence, was promoted as being "in her own words." A statement on the dust cover was to read, "This book was written for Garbo at her request…." The author claimed to have had a long-time personal (including sexual), relationship with the actress. Initially accepted and slated for printing, the project was scrapped because the book contained "too much unverifiable information." Gronowicz could not produce convincing evidence that he even knew Garbo.
Thomas Lipscomb, who headed Dodd, Mead at the time, said that Gronowicz was "charming, absolutely fascinating" but was a "conspiratorial character straight out of the baroque and shadowy corners…." Lipscomb said that just before the book went to publication, "Mr. Gronowicz told us he was able to get an introduction to the novel by Greta Garbo." Lipscomb said that a typescript introduction was received and was apparently signed my Miss Garbo, but Dodd, Mead was not able to secure a signed release from her.
When she heard about the book, the reclusive actress issued an 87-word affidavit notarized by New Your attorney, Michael A. Schub. In part, Garbo's statement says: "I have never at any time entertained any type of human relationship whether of friendship, acquaintance or otherwise with Antoni Gronowicz." Later, her attorney, Lillian Poses, issued the statement "Greta Garbo never wrote any introduction for any book by Mr. Gronowicz."
Simon and Schuster picked up the manuscript after Dodd, Mead dropped it, but encountered the same problems. Garbo threatened to ‘come out of seclusion' and expose the book as fantasy, fraud and liable; as Howard Hughs did over the Clifford Irving "biography." The affidavit, along with letters from Garbo's friends and hints of possible legal actions persuaded Seuil, a Paris publishing house, to cancel its $110,000 contract with S & S for the French rights to the book.
Simon and Schuster president, Richard E. Snyder, said that "prior to acquiring publishing rights to this work S & S examined the circumstances surrounding the manuscript and determined to go forward with the publishing agreement." He added that, "Miss Garbo has refused to keep appointments made on her behalf with representatives of S & S." Snyder said that Garbo's friend, Cecile de Rothschild, had called his office twice to discuss the manuscript and had promised to arrange a meeting with Garbo that never took place.
Snyder went on to say the company was considering taking legal action because, "It is currently our impression that there has been a conspiracy of international proportions to censor and prevent publication of this work. If we remain satisfied that the work is what it purports to be, we will prosecute to the limits of the law those figures involved in attempts to suppress this book. If we learn the book is not what its purports to be, we won't publish. But we won't be denied the right to publish a literary work about a public personality because that person wants to be left alone."
In his prologue, Gronowicz says he first met Garbo "in the summer of 1938, in Switzerland where she was staying with the well known pianist and politician, Paderewski." He claimed Paderewski invited him there to "arrange his papers." Gronowicz insisted that Garbo said to him: "Mr. Paderewski is trying to convince me that you should write a book about me." After taking a hand in hand stroll to discuss it, Gronowicz claims that Garbo promptly took him to bed for some "feverish lovemaking."
When investigations uncovered that many of the dates and places of events described in the book could not be confirmed, and in some cases were impossibilities. Simon and Schuster decided to ‘sit on it'…for now. They explained their decision by saying they were waiting "until after Ms Garbo's death, simply out of respect for her privacy." Garbo, through spokes-persons, responded that it was "sanctimonious nonsense. Whatever the reason, the delay seemed to make legal sense for the publisher. With Garbo dead, S & S did not have to worry about defending itself in a libel suit."
Antoni Gronowicz died in 1985. Greta Garbo died on Easter, 1990. Within weeks of her death, the biography was printed. The actress' estate immediately sued and stopped distribution within hours of the first 100,000 copies being sent to bookstores. The estate insisted that the book be promoted as a work of fiction, not as a factual biography. The case was quickly settled out of court. Garbo's estate was said to be "extremely gratified" by the resolution of the fourteen year old ‘problem,' with Simon and Schuster. Details of the settlement were not released.
There was much ado when the "fictional biographical novel" Garbo: Her Story was finally published. Many headlines read: "Hoax Biography," or "Myth Destroyed," or "Garbo Speaks…or Does She?" Investigations into many of the allegations made by Gronowicz began again. But, with an iconic character like Greta Garbo, what is true is often less important than the myth. Does it really matter? After all, history is, what historians tell us it is. Celebrities' lives were, what biographers tell us they were.
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Greta Garbo has been dead for over two decades now. Many film historians, including ones born long after her last performance, still say that, in front of a camera, she was the best there ever was and the best there ever will be. There has never been a film star that dominated her era like Garbo did. She still has an army of admirers. Many continue to be infatuated with her; perhaps not as she was, but as they think she was, or want her to have been. But, she is safe now. What people do and say cannot frighten or hurt her anymore. As years pass and the patina continues to form on the shining idol, many must admit that: they said they loved Garbo.
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