LA SWANSON

Gloria Swanson is the very definition of nonpareil. There has been no one, in the unbelievable 95-years since her film debut, to approach, even by a nautical mile, the shining facets of her peculiar gifts. She possessed an inherent singularity which, when coupled with a steely-nature, was hell-bent on carving not just a niche for herself but inventing a new species, of which she was to be the sole exemplar. And she was.

Her film career proper started in comedies. She was a teenager when she found herself doing the slapstick game in movies for Mack Sennett and, later, for Triangle Pictures. She had a transformation at the hands of Cecil B. DeMille. Now known for his extravagant epics, he also turned out sophisticated fare, which Gloria found herself the centerpiece of for several years. She became a true worldwide phenomena during that time.

She was tiny--not quite 5 feet tall--but broke the delicate-woman-as-china-doll mold by being a bona fide, elegant fashion plate. She was never coy or child-like; drollery and repartee were more her thing. This attitude extended to her attire: there was always something slightly odd--what we would call fashion-forward or edgy today--about her appearance. She was the most stylish star of silent cinema yet her look, like the lady herself, was beyond the reach of anyone who desired to copy her.

Her features were not pretty in any accepted sense: she was sharp-angled with large eyes. Yet her looks,falling short of the ideal, somehow transcended convention to become beautiful. Film loved her. She is always luminous on screen, and in photographs, at eighteen or eighty.

In many ways, her life, career and genuinely unconventional attitude seem, on the surface, to be of text-book quality. If that is so, it is only because she authored the text-book to which the public, and later stars, have spent their lives studying.

Married multiple (in her case, 6) times? Check.Married to a movie star AND minor royalty? Check. Acted the diva? Check. Earned huge salaries? Check. Was mobbed wherever she went? Check. Never appeared in public looking less than perfect (for SEVENTY YEARS of stardom)?Check. Lived through scandals and thrived? Check.

Yet, all it takes is a minor excursion into the interior to find that, not only was she a true pioneer in the cult of personality,but a deeply-dyed believer in holding true to your own character, however unconventional. She had three children--two to whom she gave birth--and flaunted them in a profession, and at a time, when to do so could be career suicide.She equally embraced her many grandchildren. She was a health food fanatic decades ahead of the curve.

She gamely joined the medium of television in its live heyday, even hosting her own show: other movie stars soon followed. She remained stylish until the end but became, from the 'fifties onward, more accessible to real women. She designed fashionable clothes for plus-sized women at a time when they had few options. She helped develop a natural cosmetics line fifty years before that became the rage. In 2009, while pure cosmetics are widely available, they have yet to become the norm.She was also an accomplished artist and able singer.

She was a star of the brightest light who never ceased working long hours. If she became famous and wealthy, it was largely through her own physical,mental and artistic toil. She never tired of putting in an extraordinary effort to achieve, and then maintain,her special status. During her many years of inactivity in film, she found other ways to feed her muse, and herself. When she got it all back again--thanks to a legendary performance in 'Sunset Boulevard' (1950) opposite William Holden--she held onto it permanently, with an attitude and ethic as keen as ever.

Gloria Swanson's life was dramatic, long and varied. She lived to tell the tale on herself in her autobiography "Swanson on Swanson". As with all such projects, it should be taken with a grain of salt but it still remains a must-read for any true fan of cinema when it was silent. Its brush-strokes are expertly applied, not a bristle is askew. It paints Ms. Swanson exactly as she wished to be remembered: hard-working, sincere, witty, independent, smart, pioneering, loving,imperfect,modern, strong-willed, talented, accomplished and entirely unique. How many of those qualities were held by the real woman can be attested by the accounts of her contemporaries but that is hardly the point.

She took the raw material of her being and shaped it into exactly the version of herself that she desired. As someone I know loves to say, "Your perception is your reality." Gloria Swanson's perception was her reality and, by her careful filtering, it has become ours as well:she remains modern, relevant, stylish and highly watchable.

Photo: Gloria Swanson in 'Don't Change Your Husband' (1919).