GARBO'S SECRET.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 156, 3 July 1937, Page 5 (Supplement)

GARBO'S SECRET.

IT WAS INSOMNIA. SWEDISH KING "SITUS RED." NEVER ANSWERS ' FAN" LETTERS, j Greta Garbo*s secret is out at last. ' Her craving for solitude, her so-called : ■studied indifference to public attention,! and her aloofness, which has often antagonized people, are not the outcome I of a desire for publicity or a wish to | avoid her fellow creatures. Garbo has been a martyr to insomnia for more than 12 years. Insomnia has - so preyed upon the Swedish star's nerves that she has rigorously shunned contact with her fellow beings whenever possible. j This revelation was made to the • Stockholm correspondent of the London "Daily Sketch" by Mrs. Victor Sea- ; strom. wife of the famous Swedteh film j director. | Anger caused in Sweden by Gerbo's i refusal to see Sweden's Consul in San I Francisco, who had journeyed specially to Hollywood to present her with King Gustav's Royal decoration for art and • science, k» the reason for Mrs. Sea- j strom's revelation. "When mv husbard, myself, and the i late Swedis 1 director, Mauritx Stiller, | were in Hollywood in 10i5, Greta was! like a scared bird." said Mrs. Seastrom. , '"She used to come to our house early ; in the morning and tell us that she had not been able to sleep. At other times she would get up at dawn and spend the morniny wandering restlessly around her house and garden. She w-'ould tell us that she had been unable to sleep a wink all night, and that in desperation she had risen at four o'clock rather than lie sleepless in bed." Admirers of CJreta Garbo may write to tell her so. but must not expect a reply. She never answers fan letters. Presents are nearly always returned. Garbo never accepts gifts except in very j special circumstances. j Here are a few of the things Garbo I does not do: She never sees her leading man in ft new film until they meet on the set: never views the dailv "rushes" of her films. She has never driven a car. or used a bus, street car, or aeroplane in America. And. despite rumours to the contrary, sha has never signed an autograph.