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Gloria Swanson: Chicago Essanay
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Gloria Swanson was born Gloria May Josephine Svensson in Chicago, Illinois, on March 27, 1897. She was destined to be perhaps one of the biggest stars of the silent movie era. Her personality and antics in private definitely made her a favorite with America's moviegoing public. Gloria certainly didn't intend on going into show business. After her formal education in the Chicago school system and elsewhere, she began work in a department store as a salesclerk. In 1915, at the age of 18, she decided to go to a Chicago movie studio with an aunt to see how motion pictures were made.
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In 1915, Gloria Swanson was given a small uncredited part in Charlie Chaplin's very first Essanay film, aptly titled His First Job. After a day of filming, Chaplin, and sometimes Swanson, stopped for a drink at the new, elegant Green Mill Gardens, later the site of the Green Mill Lounge, on Broadway at Lawrence Avenue, with its gorgeous outdoor sunken gardens that hosted cabaret shows during the summer months. Soon, Chaplin became a big star, but he disliked Chicago's winter weather and wanted to return to Hollywood where he was offered an astounding amount of money.
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Actress Gloria Swanson was born Gloria May Josephine Swanson on March 27, 1899, in Chicago, the only child of Joseph Theodore and Adelaide Klanowsky Swanson. Her father's position as a civilian supply officer with the army took the family to Key West, FL and San Juan, Puerto Rico, but the majority of Swanson's childhood was spent in Chicago.
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Gloria Swanson (March 27, 1897 - April 4, 1983) was an American actress. Born Gloria May Josephine Svensson in Chicago, Illinois, she grew up in Chicago, Key West, Florida and Puerto Rico. Her film debut was in 1915, as an extra in The Fable of Elvira and Farina and the Meal Ticket, but she was a star by the next year, in A Dash of Courage. She played many Mack Sennett slapstick comedies, but in 1919 she signed with Cecil B. DeMille, and he turned her into a romantic lead.
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Beery began his film career at Essanay a few years before Gloria started working there. He gained popularity in a series of short films in which he played a Swedish maid (in drag) named Sweedie. Gloria herself appeared as an extra in one of the Sweedie comedies (Sweedie Goes To College). Beery took a liking to Gloria but she was not interested in him and thought that he was old enough to be her father. A few months later Beery left the Chicago Essanay studios and headed for California. It was rumored that he had gotten himself in trouble with a young woman on the set.
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Gloria didn't intend on going into show business but she seemed destined to be one of the biggest stars of the silent movie era. In 1915 while working as a sales clerk at the age of 16, she decided to go to a Chicago movie studio with an aunt to see how motion pictures were made. Because of her beauty, she was picked out of the crowd to be included as a bit player in the film, followed by parts in several other films.
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