Greta Gynt (born Margrethe Woxholt; 15 November 1916 – 2 April 2000) was a Norwegian dancer and actress. She is remembered for her starring roles in the British classic films '' The Dark Eyes of London'', ''

Mr. Emmanuel ''Mr Emmanuel'' is a 1944 British drama film directed by Harold French and starring Felix Aylmer, Greta Gynt and Walter Rilla. The film was made by Two Cities at Teddington Studios. It is based on a 1938 novel of the same title by Louis Goldin ...

'', ''

Take My Life ''Take My Life'' is a 1947 British crime film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Hugh Williams, Greta Gynt and Marius Goring. It was adapted from Winston Graham's 1947 novel of the same name. It was shot at Pinewood Studios and on location ...

'', ''

Dear Murderer ''Dear Murderer'' is a 1947 British film noir crime, drama, thriller, directed by Arthur Crabtree for Gainsborough Pictures, and starring Eric Portman and Greta Gynt. The film has come to be regarded as one of the best movies made under the su ...

'' and '' The Ringer''. She played lead roles in minor British films in the 1930s and early 40s, and by the late 40s she appeared in major films. The

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribu ...

tried to market her as the British

Jean Harlow Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the ...

. She also attempted a career in the US, starring in MGM's ''

Soldiers Three ''Soldiers Three'' is a collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling. The three soldiers of the title are Learoyd, Mulvaney and Ortheris, who had also appeared previously in the collection '' Plain Tales from the Hills''. The current version, ...

'' (1951) before returning to Britain. Her most famous films are the 1939

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...

film '' The Dark Eyes of London'' as the tough heroine, heroic as an underground leader in '' Tomorrow We Live'' (1943), touching as Jewish Elsie Silver in ''

'' (1944), forceful as loyal wife proving her husband's innocence in the thriller ''

'', a promiscuous murderess in ''

'', both in 1947, and as a

nightclub singer A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may ...

singing "The Shady Lady Spiv" in ''

Easy Money A get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to obtain high rates of return for a small investment. The term "get rich quick" has been used to describe shady investments since at least the early 20th century. Most schemes create an impression that partic ...

'' (1948).

Biography

Early life

Greta Gynt was born Margrethe Woxholt in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway. As a child, she moved with her parents to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and started dancing lessons at the age of 5. Eventually, they moved back to Norway. At age 12, she started as a dancer at the

Chat Noir Chat Noir (French for 'black cat') is a cabaret and revue theatre in Oslo, Norway. It was established in 1912 by Bokken Lasson. The current director is Tom Sterri. Establishment Chat Noir was established as a cabaret in 1912 by singer Bokken Las ...

shows in Oslo. After the Swedish film ''

The Song to Her ''The Song to Her'' (Swedish: ''Sången till henne'') is a 1934 Swedish comedy film directed by Ivar Johansson and starring Martin Öhman, Sickan Carlsson and Åke Jensen.Qvist & Von Bagh p.92 It marked the film debut of Kristina Söderbaum, w ...

'' (1934), her mother, costume designer Kirsten Woxholt, felt Gynt would have better luck in Britain. She got a letter of recommendation from

Fox Film The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film C ...

and moved back to the UK.

Move to the UK

Gynt had a minor role in '' It Happened in Paris'' (1935) and a larger one in '' Boys Will Be Girls'' (1937) and ''

The Last Curtain ''The Last Curtain'' is a 1937 British crime film directed by David MacDonald and starring Campbell Gullan, Kenne Duncan and Greta Gynt. The film blends drama and comedy and its plot follows an insurance investigator who examines a series of ro ...

'' (1938). She was in ''

Second Best Bed ''Second Best Bed'' is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Tom Walls and starring Walls, Jane Baxter and Veronica Rose. The screenplay is by Ben Travers, based on an earlier story of his. Walls and Travers had worked together on the Aldwyc ...

'' (1938), a

Tom Walls Thomas Kirby Walls (18 February 1883 – 27 November 1949) was an English stage and film actor, producer and director, best known for presenting and co-starring in the Aldwych farces in the 1920s and for starring in and directing the film adapt ...

farce; ''

The Last Barricade ''The Last Barricade'' is a 1938 British drama film directed by Alex Bryce and starring Frank Fox, Greta Gynt and Meinhart Maur. It was produced by the British subsidiary of 20th Century Fox at the company's Wembley Studios in London for release ...

'' (1938); ''

Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror ''Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror'' is a 1938 British crime film directed by George King and starring George Curzon, Tod Slaughter and Greta Gynt. It was George Curzon's third and final outing as the fictional detective Sexton Blake. Plot ...

'' (1938) with

Tod Slaughter Norman Carter Slaughter (19 March 1885 – 19 February 1956), also known as Tod Slaughter, was an English actor, best known for playing over-the-top maniacs in macabre film adaptations of Victorian melodramas. Early life Slaughter was born o ...

; '' Too Dangerous to Live'' (1939); and '' She Couldn't Say No'' (1939). Gynt had the female lead in ''

The Arsenal Stadium Mystery ''The Arsenal Stadium Mystery'' is a 1939 British mystery film and one of the first feature films wherein football is a central element in the plot. The film was directed by Thorold Dickinson, and shot at Denham Film Studios and on location ...

'' (1939); '' The Dark Eyes of London'' (1939) with

; ''

Bulldog Sees It Through ''Bulldog Sees it Through'' is a 1940 British, black-and-white, mystery war film directed by Harold Huth and starring Jack Buchanan, Greta Gynt, Googie Withers, Ronald Shiner as Pug and Sebastian Shaw. Plot This is not a Bulldog Drummond ...

'' (1940) and '' The Middle Watch'' (1940) with

Jack Buchanan Walter John Buchanan (2 April 1891 – 20 October 1957) was a Scottish theatre and film actor, singer, dancer, producer and director. He was known for three decades as the embodiment of the debonair man-about-town in the tradition of George G ...

; ''

Two for Danger ''Two for Danger'' is a 1940 British crime film directed by George King and starring Barry K. Barnes, Greta Gynt and Ian McLean. It was made at Teddington Studios as a second feature by Warner Brothers.Chibnall & McFarlane p.3 Cast * Barry K ...

'' (1940) with Barry K. Barnes; '' Room for Two'' (1940) with

Vic Oliver Victor Oliver von Samek (8 July 1898 – 15 August 1964) was an Austrian-born British actor and radio comedian. Early life He was born in Vienna into a Jewish family, the son of Baron Viktor von Samek. He studied medicine at Vienna University but ...

; and ''

Crook's Tour ''Crook's Tour'' is a 1941 black and white British film directed by John Baxter featuring Charters and Caldicott. It is adapted from a BBC radio serial of the same name. Plot Charters and Caldicott are touring the Middle East (Saudi Arabia) wi ...

'' (1940) with

Basil Radford Arthur Basil RadfordAdam Greaves, "Radford, (Arthur) Basil (1897–1952)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, May 201available online Retrieved 3 August 2020. (25 June 189720 October 1952) was an English charac ...

and

Naunton Wayne Naunton Wayne (born Henry Wayne Davies, 22 June 1901 – 17 November 1970), was a Welsh character actor, born in Pontypridd, Glamorgan, Wales. He was educated at Clifton College. His name was changed by deed poll in 1933. Stage actor His fir ...

. She continued with leading roles in ''

The Common Touch ''The Common Touch'' is a 1941 British drama film directed by John Baxter and starring Geoffrey Hibbert, Harry Welchman, Greta Gynt, and Joyce Howard. The film is a remake by the director of his 1933 film ''Doss House''. Pianist Mark Hambourg ...

'' (1941); '' Tomorrow We Live'' (1943); ''

It's That Man Again ''It's That Man Again'' (commonly contracted to ''ITMA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme which ran for twelve series from 1939 to 1949. The shows featured Tommy Handley in the central role, a fast-talking figure, around whom the other cha ...

'' (1944) with

Tommy Handley Thomas Reginald Handley (17 January 1892 – 9 January 1949) was an English comedian, best known for the BBC radio programme ''It's That Man Again'' ("''ITMA''") which ran between 1939 and 1949. Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, Handley went o ...

; and ''

'' (1944) with

Felix Aylmer Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones, OBE (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television. Aylmer made appearances in films with comedians such as Will Hay and George Formby. Early ...

. Gynt supported Sid Field in '' London Town'' (1946), a notorious big budget flop.

Stardom

Gynt was given star parts in the crime films ''

'' (1947), and ''

'' (1947). She was top billed in the comedy ''

'' (1948), and in the drama '' The Calendar'' (1948). For a time she was under personal contract to

Robert Siodmak Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German film director who also worked in the United States. He is best remembered as a thriller specialist and for a series of films noirs he made in the 1940s, such as ''The Killers'' (19 ...

. Gynt was also in ''

Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill ''Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill'' is a 1948 British drama film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring Marius Goring, David Farrar, Greta Gynt, Edward Chapman and Raymond Huntley. It is based on the 1911 novel of the same title by Hugh Walpole ...

'' (1949) and '' Shadow of the Eagle'' (1950); she later successfully sued the makers of the latter for money owed. She supported

George Raft George Raft (born George Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is ...

in ''

I'll Get You for This ''I'll Get You for This'' (released in the US as ''Lucky Nick Cain'') is a 1951 British thriller film by Joseph M. Newman starring George Raft, Coleen Gray, and Enzo Staiola. It was made from an adaptation by George Callahan and William Ro ...

'' (1951), partly shot in Italy. Her British films started to be regularly played on American television. This led to her receiving an offer from MGM to star in ''

'' (1951). Back in Britain, Gynt returned to "B" movies: ''

Whispering Smith Hits London ''Whispering Smith Hits London'' is a 1952 British mystery film directed by Francis Searle and starring Richard Carlson, Greta Gynt and Herbert Lom. It was made at Bray Studios with some location shooting in London. It was released in the Un ...

'' (1952), '' The Ringer'' (1952), ''

I'm a Stranger ''I'm a Stranger'' is a 1952 British comedy film directed by Brock Williams and starring Greta Gynt, James Hayter and Hector Ross. In the film, various different parties search for a missing will which leaves a fortune to a stranger from Calcutt ...

'' (1953), ''

Three Steps in the Dark ''Three Steps in the Dark'' is a 1953 British mystery film directed by Daniel Birt and starring Greta Gynt, Hugh Sinclair and Sarah Lawson. It was produced as a second feature and shot at the Kensington Studios in London. The film's sets wer ...

'' (1954), ''

Forbidden Cargo Forbidden Cargo may refer to: * Forbidden Cargo (1925 film), ''Forbidden Cargo'' (1925 film), an American film starring Boris Karloff: rum-running from Bahamas to United States * Forbidden Cargo (1954 film), ''Forbidden Cargo'' (1954 film), a Brit ...

'' (1954), ''

Devil's Point The Devil's Point (Scottish Gaelic: Bod an Deamhain) is a mountain in the Cairngorms of Scotland, lying to the west of the Lairig Ghru pass. The Gaelic name means "Penis of the Demon". The English name is a result of a visit to the area by Queen ...

'' (1954), '' See How They Run'' (1955), '' The Blue Peter'' (1955) and '' My Wife's Family'' (1956). She also appeared as a glamorous Saxon aristocrat in the 1956 episode "The Friar's Pilgrimage" of the British TV series ''

The Adventures of Robin Hood ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a 1938 American Technicolor swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de H ...

''. In 1957, Gynt had a support part in ''

Fortune Is a Woman ''Fortune Is a Woman'' is a 1957 black and white British-American film noir crime film directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring Jack Hawkins and Arlene Dahl. Its plot concerns an attempted insurance fraud that goes badly wrong. In the United Stat ...

'' and took the lead in '' Morning Call''. She starred in episode "Shadow on the Screen" of the 1958 TV series ''

The Invisible Man ''The Invisible Man'' is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells. Originally serialized in ''Pearson's Weekly'' in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a scientist who has devote ...

''. In 1959, she took the lead in ''

The Crowning Touch ''The Crowning Touch'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed by David Eady and starring Ted Ray, Irene Handl and Greta Gynt. Plot The "Crowning Touch" of the title is a fancy ladies hat. It has been ordered and specially set aside at a posh Br ...

'' and had a support role in '' Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons''. In 1963, her last film was ''The Runaway'' (released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

in 1966), in which she played the lead.

Personal life

Reportedly, she adopted the name Gynt after she heard a pianist playing

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

's ''

Peer Gynt Suite ''Peer Gynt'', Op. 23, is the incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play of the same name, written by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg in 1875. It premiered along with the play on 24 February 1876 in Christiania (now Oslo). Grieg ...

'' in a hotel in London in the late 1930s. In her 1938 radio interview with NRK she states her husband exclaimed "What's this?" and her name was born. Gynt was married four times. Her last husband was Frederick Moore, a plastic surgeon, who died in 1983. She semi-retired after marrying him and was out of the public spotlight by the mid-1960s. She was the sister of second unit photographer Egil "Gil" Woxholt (1926–1991), who photographed scenes in the 1965 film ''

The Heroes of Telemark ''The Heroes of Telemark'' is a 1965 British war film directed by Anthony Mann based on the true story of the Norwegian heavy water sabotage during the Second World War from ''Skis Against the Atom'', the memoirs of Norwegian resistance soldi ...

'', '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service'', ''

A View to a Kill ''A View to a Kill'' is a 1985 spy film and the fourteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and is the seventh and final appearance of Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted ...

'', and many others.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1934) (as Greta Woxholt) * '' It Happened in Paris'' (1935) * '' Boys Will Be Girls'' (1937) * ''

'' (1937) * ''

'' (1938) * ''

'' (1938) * '' Too Dangerous to Live'' (1939) * '' She Couldn't Say No'' (1939) * ''

'' (1939) * '' The Dark Eyes of London'' (1939) * ''

'' (1939) * '' The Middle Watch'' (1940) * ''

'' (1940) * '' Room for Two'' (1940) * ''

'' (1941) * ''

'' (1941) * '' Tomorrow We Live'' (1943) * ''

'' (1943) * ''

'' (1944) * '' London Town'' (1946) * ''

'' (1947) * ''

'' (1948) * '' The Calendar'' (1948) * ''

'' (1948) * '' Shadow of the Eagle'' (1950) * ''

'' (1951) * ''

The Rival of the Empress ''The Rival of the Empress'' (Italian: ''La rivale dell'imperatrice'') is a 1951 Italian historical adventure film directed by Jacopo Comin and Sidney Salkow and starring Richard Greene, Valentina Cortese and Isa Pola. A separate English-langu ...

'' (1951) * ''

'' (1952) * '' The Ringer'' (1952) * ''

'' (1952) * ''

'' (1953) * '' Destination Milan'' (1954) * ''

'' (1954) * ''

'' (1954) * '' Born for Trouble'' (1955) * '' See How They Run'' (1955) * '' The Blue Peter'' (1955) * '' My Wife's Family'' (1956) * ''

'' (1957) * '' Morning Call'' (1957) * ''

'' (1959) * '' The Witness'' (1959) * '' Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons'' (1960) * '' The Runaway'' (1963)

References

* http://www.encyclopedia.com/women/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/gynt-greta-1916-2000

External links

Obituary
in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gynt, Greta 1916 births 2000 deaths Norwegian film actresses Norwegian female dancers Musicians from Oslo Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom 20th-century Norwegian actresses 20th-century Norwegian women singers