Hollywood should learn
from Garbo

Originally published: Wednesday, April 18, 1990
Web-posted: Wednesday, April 16, 1997

hen I was a kid, and it's been awhile, Greta Garbo was already a legend. Her famous line, "I vant to be alone," was part of the language.

In fact, that was all I knew about her, since I had not seen even one of the movies she made before retiring from the screen in 1941. She appeared in romantic stories, and my tastes ran more toward sword-fighting pirates, gun- slinging cowboys, the Wolfman, Dracula, and Abbott and Costello.

But there was something intriguing about someone who would walk away from so much fame and just drop out.

The ladies in the neighborhood talked about it and swapped theories. I remember some of them.

"She got fat . . . somebody broke her heart . . . she got fat as a cow . . . she was a German spy . . . she had an illegitimate baby . . . she got fatter than me . . . she turned into a drunk . . . she's so fat she can't stand up. . . . "

You must understand that this was before People Magazine, the National Enquirer, Oprah, Geraldo and "Entertainment Tonight," so the ladies in my neighborhood didn't have much material to work with.

As the years passed, you might have expected Garbo to be forgotten. But she wasn't. If anything, the legend grew. And not because her movies were shown that frequently on TV. They weren't. In the early days of TV, the Cisco Kid got far more air time. And as the years passed, old movies that featured aging, living stars had priority. If you wanted to see Greta Garbo, you had to go to an old film revival or wait up until 2 a.m.

Her legend grew because she did something that is unthinkable in modern times. When she said she wanted to be left alone, she wasn't being coy. She actually meant that she wanted to be left alone.

She refused to be interviewed, ducked photographers, traveled with the secrecy of a KGB agent, and when she came out of her New York apartment to stroll or shop, she wore big floppy hats to shield her face from gawkers or camera pests.

If her name made it into the gossip columns, I didn't notice it. Apparently her friends were loyal enough not to call with tidbits about where they had lunch, or to disclose that Greta made a quip. Garbo may be the most famous person in show business to have never been quoted as quipping in a restaurant.

But every few months, there would be a picture of her, on the street or ducking in or out of her building. The photos were usually fuzzy and her face barely visible because she was so good at evading the photographers, even the pepperonis, or whatever they call those European camera fleas.

That's really what built her legend, even more so than her old movies. She was the great star who walked away, dropped out and stayed out for almost 50 years. Even her funeral was private. And through all those years, the question was why?

One story contained a hint of an answer. One of her friends said she was basically a self-centered, selfish person who, when off-camera, really didn't have much to say or offer.

If that's true, I consider her a heroic figure. She should be held forth as a role model for others who manage to become specks in the public's eye.

Think of what a wonderful society we would have if every well-known person who had nothing to say would realize they had nothing to say and would not say it.

No more: "Uh, see, Johnny, one day I woke up and saw all those empty vodka bottles on my bed and it was 1990, and I didn't remember anything since 1979, and I asked my agent how my latest record was doing, and my agent turned out to be a lamp, so I thought I'd better cool it, see, and that's when I became a follower of the Raja Daja, and I meditate, and now I'm performing on a 50-city tour, and . . . "

Or: "Bubba, congratulations on your new $10 million contract. You must be very happy."

"Are you kidding? That was two days ago. If they don't renegotiate, I'm gone."

How much gentler and kinder a society we would have if we could read this exchange:

"Donald, there are reports circulating that you are involved romantically with a Miss Moolah and your wife is seeking half your fortune. Would you comment?"

"Of course I won't comment on my private life. And if you don't leave my doorstep I will set the hounds on you."

"Ivana, would you tell us what your feelings are about Donald?"

"My feelings are none of your damned business, you prying floozy."

Let's see, Madonna is sleeping with Warren Beatty. You knew that, didn't you? Of course you did. It's been widely babbled.

But who did Garbo sleep with? Nobody knows if she even napped with her cat.

Elizabeth Taylor has been hospitalized with a nasal infection. You knew that, too, didn't you? If that woman gets even a zit, it is widely babbled.

But if Garbo's nose fell off, we wouldn't have known.

With tens of thousands of publicity addicts crawling over each other for their TV bite or column squib, Garbo is one of that rare handful who said, in effect, who needs it? Fred Astaire was another. In sports, I can think of only Ben Hogan. Joe DiMaggio dropped off my list when he started selling coffee.

In honor of Ms. Garbo, Hollywood should announce that it is going to hold a big tribute to her on TV. And all the great stars should come.

Then they should just sit there and not say a word.

© 1997 Chicago Tribune