Greta Garbo Quotes (1905-1990)

Actress, Actor
Greta Garbo

About Greta Garbo

Greta Garbo (18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990), born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish born actress and Hollywood icon.

Greta Garbo Quotes

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Explore our curated collection of the most famous and impactful Greta Garbo quotes.

β€œI never said, "I want to be alone." I only said, "I want to be let alone! There is all the difference.”
Greta Garbo
β€œI am bewildered by the thousands of strange people who write me letters. They do not know me. Why do they do that?”

Quotes About Greta Garbo

Gain deeper perspective through quotes about Greta Garbo from others.

Tallulah Bankhead on Greta Garbo

β€œThe mystery surrounding Garbo was as thick as a London fog.”
Greta Garbo

Roland Barthes on Greta Garbo

β€œGarbo still belongs to that moment in cinema when capturing the human face still plunged audiences into the deepest ecstasy, when one literally lost oneself in a human image as one would in a philtre, when the face represented a kind of absolute state of the flesh, which could be neither reached nor renounced.”
Greta Garbo

Cecil Beaton on Greta Garbo

β€œToday this young woman β€”The Garbo as she is known β€” is the most glamorous figure in the whole world; there is no one with a more magnetic, romantic or exotic personality, there never has been a film star with so wide an appeal... Greta Garbo is Queen of Hollywood, her salary is fabulous, her word law. She has pointed features in a round face, her mouth is wide and knife-like. Her teeth are large and square and like evenly matched pearls; her eyes are pale, with lashes so long that when she lowers her lids they strike her cheeks; her complexion is of an unearthly whiteness and so delicate that she looks to have one layer of skin less than other people, and the suspicion of a frown is sooner perceptible.”

Alistair Cooke on Greta Garbo

β€œEvery man's harmless fantasy mistress. By being worshiped by the entire world she gave you the feeling that if your imagination had to sin, it can at least congratulate itself on its impeccable taste.”
Greta Garbo

Bette Davis on Greta Garbo

β€œHer instinct, her mastery over the machine, was pure witchcraft. I cannot analyze this woman's acting. I only know that no one else so effectively worked in front of a camera.”
Greta Garbo

Misattributed Quotes

Quotes mistakenly credited to Greta Garbo

β€œI t'ank I go home.”

About Greta Garbo

Greta Garbo (18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990), born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish born actress and Hollywood icon.