Greta Granstedt (born Irene Louise Granstedt; July 13, 1907 – October 7, 1987) was an American film and television actress.

Early life

Irene "Greta" Granstedt was the second child of Theodore and Emma Granstedt, born in Scandia, Kansas. The Granstedt family was one of the five pioneer families from Sweden who settled in this north central Kansas community in 1867-68. The families left Sweden in response to the terrible conditions in the three years of misery in Sweden.

Shooting of Harold Galloway

Granstedt first gained notoriety and widespread media attention in April 1922 after she shot her 17-year-old boyfriend, Harold Galloway, with a pistol she borrowed from a friend. Granstedt, then only 14 years old, claimed in interviews that the shooting was accidental, a claim that coincided with Galloway's own story of the incident.

That night I walked out to Busters house - it's a mile and a half out in the country. I took the gun with me because I guess I felt afraid to walk out there and back alone. (. . .) I started home and I met a boy friend who offered to give me a lift. He was going to the party at the parish house and when we got to the corner I said I'd get out and walk the rest of the way. I started home and after he'd told Harold and Buster where I was, they started after me. (. . .) When I saw Harold coming - I wanted to make up - and I didn't want to make up. I guess I didn't know what I wanted to do. I hid behind a tree but my foot caught in my cape and I stumbled and he saw me. Harold came up to me and said: 'Oh, what's the use of fighting! Let's make up and have things as they were before. Let's start all over again!' But something inside of me wouldn't let me make up. I didn't feel as if things could ever be all right again. And I said: 'No - if I'm not good enough to speak to at school, I'm not good enough to make up with!' (. . .)Harold took a step towards me and I told him to stay where he was - not to touch me. And I took the gun out of the holster and thought I'd scare him. Harold said 'Shoot - I'm not yellow!' and then he grabbed the gun and it went off.

Although newspapers originally printed this version of things, they soon switched to a more tantalizing view, claiming Granstedt hid in the shadows with the gun, waiting to shoot Galloway as revenge for him attending the Parish dance with another girl. This version of the story would continue to be printed, even decades later. Galloway's father and aunt leaned towards this story saying Granstedt was jealous and possessive, and that she procured the gun and sought out Galloway in order to scare him. The aunt believed Granstedt shot Galloway to keep him from entering into the navy and thus leaving her. Granstedt was not charged by the victim or his parents. It was originally believed Galloway would die when

peritonitis Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and cover of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One part o ...

developed in the wound, however his condition greatly improved within days. Granstedt was brought to trial in juvenile court on June 30, 1922 where she was sentenced to time in a reform school and was banished from Mountain View.Bellville, Kansas, ''Telescope'', September 12, 1929

Pre-career

Greta left Mountain View as a young woman and spent the next several years in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

. Among other ways of making a living, she modeled at San Francisco Art Association in the summer of 1926. In 1927 she and a companion travelled from San Francisco to Los Angeles. There is some confusion about who the companion was, or the way the pair got to Hollywood. She and Bessie Hyde reportedly took a steamer from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Bessie met Glen Hyde on that trip, falling in love and sealing her fate as a lost river runner. Greta, it is said, disembarked from the trip with the desire to become a movie star and the choice of a new name. She boarded as Eraine, a name she'd adopted in San Francisco, and departed as Greta. She boarded as a Kansas born Californian, disembarked as a Swedish born starlet in waiting. Another source maintains that Greta, barely surviving the hardships of living on her own in San Francisco, hitch-hiked from northern to southern California in the company of Geraldine Andrews By 1929 Greta had reconciled with her parents. They embarked from San Francisco aboard the aging passenger steamer, the ''

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

''. On September 2 the ''San Juan'' collided with oil tanker S. C. T. ''Dodd'' off Pigeon Point, California, near the location of the

Pigeon Point lighthouse Pigeon Point Light Station or Pigeon Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse built in 1871 to guide ships on the Pacific coast of California. It is the tallest lighthouse (tied with Point Arena Light) on the West Coast of the United States. It is sti ...

. Her father survived, but her mother was among the 77 drowned in the incident. The tragedy played out for several months in Los Angeles, with the crew being found negligent.

Career

By the mid-1920s, Greta had appeared opposite

Joseph Schildkraut Joseph Schildkraut (22 March 1896 – 21 January 1964) was an Austrian-American actor. He won an Oscar for his performance as Captain Alfred Dreyfus in the film ''The Life of Emile Zola'' (1937); later, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for ...

in a Los Angeles production of ''From Hell Came a Lady''. One of her early film appearances was in a small role in ''Buck Privates'' (1928), with Hungarian film actress Lya de Putti, and made her sound debut in '' The Last Performance'' (1929). She continued to play mainly bit parts some of which were memorable. She appeared as

Beulah Bondi Beulah Bondi (born Beulah Bondy; May 3, 1889 – January 11, 1981)According to the State of California. ''California Death Index, 1940–1997''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At ...

's daughter in the crime drama '' Street Scene'' (1931) and as Margo's friend in ''

Crime Without Passion ''Crime Without Passion'' is a 1934 American drama film directed by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur and starring Claude Rains. It is the first of four pictures written, produced and directed by Hecht and MacArthur for Paramount Pictures. Sixty to ...

'' (1934). While in New York City, Greta appeared in three Broadway plays, the short-lived ''Tomorrow's Harvest'' (four performances, opened December 4, 1934 at the 49th St. Theatre), and the longer-running ''If a Body'' (45 performances, opening April 30, 1935 at the Biltmore Theatre). In the 1936-37 season, she was in the drama ''Thirsty Soil'' at the 48th St. Theatre (opening February 3, 1937, 13 performances). She returned to Hollywood for perhaps her best-remembered role, that of Anna Wahl, playing opposite Alan Ladd as the only female in an underground resistance cell in '' Hitler, Beast of Berlin'' (1939). She plays the flirtatious wife looking to stray in her brief appearance in ''Telephone Operator'' (1937). She appeared in the comedy '' There Goes My Heart'' as Thulda, the Swedish maid who comes to New York to visit her uncle Björn Björnsson. Her 1940s roles were minor. She appeared as Mrs. Lars Faraassen in ''

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes ''Our Vines Have Tender Grapes'' is a 1945 American drama film directed by Roy Rowland and starring Edward G. Robinson and Margaret O'Brien. Background The film is based on the 1940 novel of the same name by George Victor Martin about the Norw ...

'' (1945), appearing in the Christmas party and barn-burning scenes. In 1958, she played a California housewife welcoming

Francis Lederer Francis Lederer (November 6, 1899 Prague – May 25, 2000) was an Austro-Hungarian Empire-born American film and stage actor with a successful career, first in Europe, then in the United States. His original name was Franz (Czech František) Le ...

's Count Dracula into her suburban home in ''

The Return of Dracula ''The Return of Dracula'' is a 1958 American horror film directed by Paul Landres, and starring Francis Lederer, Norma Eberhardt, and Ray Stricklyn. It follows Dracula, who murders an artist aboard a train in Central Europe, and proceeds to i ...

''. During the 1960s, she appeared in television shows, including '' Perry Mason'', ''

Peter Gunn ''Peter Gunn'' is an American private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend, Edie Hart. The series aired on NBC from September 22, 1958, to 1960 and on ABC in 1960–1961. The seri ...

'', '' The Millionaire'', ''

Lassie Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a full-length novel called '' Lassie Come-Home''. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with another ...

'' and '' Dragnet''.

Personal life

Granstedt was married eight times, four of which were

annulled Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost ...

. Her first marriage, in 1923, to Robert Blieber, was annulled because Greta was a minor. Her second marriage, to Robert Lowenthal, a California artist, in 1926, was also annulled. Her third marriage, to Ramon Ramos, in 1933, was celebrated by the one year, one term Mayor of New York,

John P. O'Brien John Patrick O'Brien (February 1, 1873September 22, 1951) was an Irish-American politician who served as the 98th Mayor of New York City from January 1 to December 31, 1933. Life and career O'Brien was born on February 1, 1873, to Mary and Patri ...

. The marriage lasted only eighteen months. Ramos was a Latin band leader, and tango dancer. Granstedt joined him at the Miami Biltmore in the fall of 1933 In 1935 Granstedt married French World War I veteran, designer and photographer Marcel Olis, in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast, Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and othe ...

. It is unclear how long this marriage lasted, but it also ended in divorce. Her fifth husband was Max de Vega, a matte painter Matte painting is a motion picture special effects technique involving the painting of movie backgrounds on glass. Married in Mexico, she was considering divorce when she discovered that de Vega was still married to a previous wife, and thus she sought annulment rather than divorce. It was with de Vega that Granstedt had a house designed for her by the California Architect Harwell Harris. The Hollywood home is still extant, and Greta lived in the house through the 1950s. In 1944 Granstedt wed for a sixth time, this time to Major Lawrence Wright. The marriage was annulled, when Wright, like de Vega proved to still be married to another woman. In 1947 she married for a seventh time. Because four of the previous marriages had been annulled, newspaper reports of the time described this as "her second wedding, his first." She and husband Arthur G. Forbes (1947–1951) adopted a son from Tennessee in 1948. In 1951 Greta was awarded custody of the child she and Forbes had adopted three years earlier. They named the child Christopher Michael.''Los Angeles Times'', October 5, 1951 Her final marriage, in 1965, was to Howard Thomas. By this time Greta had been treated for

throat cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

and recovered. She and Thomas purchased ranch land in British Columbia.

Selected filmography

*''The Girl from Everywhere'' (1927) - Minor Role (uncredited) *''

Buck Privates ''Buck Privates'' is a 1941 musical film, musical military comedy film that turned Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into bona fide movie stars. It was the first service comedy based on the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, peacetime draft o ...

'' (1928) - Minor Role (uncredited) *'' Excess Baggage'' (1928) - Betty Ford *'' Close Harmony'' (1929) - Eva Larue *''

College Love ''College Love'' is a 1929 American comedy film directed by Nat Ross and written by John B. Clymer, Pierre Couderc, Leonard Fields and Albert DeMond. The film stars George J. Lewis, Eddie Phillips, Dorothy Gulliver, Churchill Ross, Hayden St ...

'' (1929) - (uncredited) *'' The Last Performance'' (1929) - Sister Avt (uncredited) *'' Mexicali Rose'' (1929) - Marie's Blonde Friend (uncredited) *'' Embarrassing Moments'' (1930) - Betty Black *'' Caught Short'' (1930) - Fanny Lee *''

Sunny Skies ''Sunny Skies'' is a New Zealand comedy television show that aired on TV3 in the summer of 2013. The show stars Tammy Davis and Oliver Driver as two brothers who unwittingly inherit a local campground. Plot ''Sunny Skies'' is a New Zealand co ...

'' (1930) - College Widow *'' What a Man!'' (1930) - Hanna, the Maid *'' The Lightning Express'' (1930, Serial) - Kate *'' Hot Curves'' (1930) - Girlfriend *'' Street Scene'' (1931) - Mae Jones *'' The Deceiver'' (1931) - Celia Adams *'' The Secret Witness'' (1931) - Moll (uncredited) *'' Manhattan Parade'' (1931) - Charlotte Evans *'' After Tomorrow'' (1932) - Betty *'' They Never Come Back'' (1932) - Mary Nolan *'' Night World'' (1932) - Blonde (uncredited) *'' McKenna of the Mounted'' (1932) - Shirley Kennedy *''

The Night Club Lady ''The Night Club Lady'' is a 1932 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Irving Cummings and starring Adolphe Menjou, Mayo Methot and Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher.Backer p.187 It was followed by a sequel '' The Circus Queen Murder'' in 1933 w ...

'' (1932) - Eunice Tahon *''

Hat Check Girl ''Hat Check Girl'' is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Sidney Lanfield and written by Barry Conners and Philip Klein. The film stars Sally Eilers, Ben Lyon, Ginger Rogers and Monroe Owsley. The film was released on October 8, ...

'' (1932) - A Party Guest (uncredited) *'' The Devil Horse'' (1932) - Linda Weston *''

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...

'' (1932) - Blonde (uncredited) *''Deception'' (1932) *''

'' (1934) - Della (uncredited) *'' Telephone Operator'' (1937) - Sylvia Sommers *'' The Adventures of Marco Polo'' (1938) - Kaidu Maid (uncredited) *'' You and Me'' (1938) - Sales Clerk (uncredited) * ''

Reformatory A reformatory or reformatory school is a youth detention center or an adult correctional facility popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Western countries. In the United Kingdom and United States, they came out of social concern ...

'' (1938) - Millie *''

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

'' (1938) - Woman in Gaming House (uncredited) *''

The Last Express ''The Last Express'' is an adventure video game designed by Jordan Mechner and published by Broderbund in 1997 for PC. Players take on the role of an American who accepts an invite by a friend to join them on the Orient Express, days before the ...

'' (1938) - Gladys Hewitt *'' There Goes My Heart'' (1938) - Thelda - Joan's Swedish Maid (uncredited) *'' When Tomorrow Comes'' (1939) - Waitress (uncredited) *'' Hitler, Beast of Berlin'' (1939) - Anna Wahl *'' Road to Singapore'' (1940) - Babe (uncredited) *'' Women Without Names'' (1940) - Inmate (uncredited) *''

Stranger on the Third Floor ''Stranger on the Third Floor'' is a 1940 American film noir directed by Boris Ingster and starring Peter Lorre, John McGuire, and Margaret Tallichet, and featuring Elisha Cook Jr. It was written by Frank Partos. Modern research has shown tha ...

'' (1940) - Housekeeper (uncredited) *'' Third Finger, Left Hand'' (1940) - Selma (uncredited) *'' A Man Betrayed'' (1941) - Information Booth Clerk (uncredited) *''

Dangerous Lady ''Dangerous Lady'' was a four-part British mini-series TV drama, which aired on ITV and was based on Martina Cole's 1992 novel of the same name. The series premièred in 1995 and starred Sheila Hancock, Jason Isaacs, Susan Lynch and Owen Teale. ...

'' (1941) - Leila Bostwick *''

Sing Another Chorus ''Sing Another Chorus'' is a 1941 American film starring Jane Frazee. Plot Andy Peyton comes home from college, wanting not to work for his father's failing garment business but to be involved in stage shows and entertainment. A former burlesqu ...

'' (1941) - Soubrette (uncredited) *''

Lady Bodyguard ''Lady Bodyguard'' is a 1943 American comedy film directed by William Clemens. The film stars Eddie Albert, Anne Shirley', Raymond Walburn, Roger Pryor', Edward Brophy, Maude Eburne, Clem Bevans and Mary Treen. The film was released on Januar ...

'' (1943) - Gertie (uncredited) *''

I Escaped from the Gestapo ''I Escaped from the Gestapo'' is a 1943 film from King Brothers Productions, directed from Harold Young about a forger forced to work for Nazi spies. It stars Dean Jagger, Mary Brian and John Carradine. The film was also known as ''No Escape ...

'' (1943) - Hilda (uncredited) *''

First Comes Courage ''First Comes Courage'' is a 1943 American war film, the final film directed by Dorothy Arzner, one of the few female directors in Hollywood at the time. The film was based on the 1943 novel ''Commandos'' by Elliott Arnold, adapted by George Skl ...

'' (1943) - Girl Assistant (uncredited) *''

The Story of Dr. Wassell ''The Story of Dr. Wassell'' is a 1944 American World War II film set in the Dutch East Indies, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and starring Gary Cooper, Laraine Day, Signe Hasso and Dennis O'Keefe. The film was based on a book of the same name by ...

'' (1944) - Dutch Nurse (uncredited) *'' Here Come the Waves'' (1944) - Operator at Control Tower (uncredited) *''

Roughly Speaking ''Roughly Speaking'' is the sixteenth studio album by the Canadian rock band April Wine, released in November 2006. The album was recorded without computerized modern digital recording techniques. Instead, the group employed the same type of a ...

'' (1945) - Anna's Maid (uncredited) *'' Twice Blessed'' (1945) - Mary's Maid (uncredited) *''

'' (1945) - Mrs. Faraassen *'' Nocturne'' (1946) - Clara (uncredited) *''

The Razor's Edge ''The Razor's Edge'' is a 1944 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It tells the story of Larry Darrell, an American pilot traumatized by his experiences in World War I, who sets off in search of some transcendent meaning in his life. The story b ...

'' (1946) - Hospital Telephone Operator (uncredited) *''

Unconquered Unconquered or The Unconquered may refer to: Films * ''Unconquered'' (1917 film), a drama film by Frank Reicher * ''Unconquered'' (1947 film), an adventure film by Cecil B. DeMille * ''The Unconquered'' (documentary) or ''Helen Keller in Her Sto ...

'' (1947) - Woman (uncredited) *''

Cass Timberlane ''Cass Timberlane'' is a 1947 romantic drama film starring Spencer Tracy, Lana Turner and Zachary Scott and directed by George Sidney. It was based on the 1945 novel ''Cass Timberlane: A Novel of Husbands and Wives'' by Sinclair Lewis, which was ...

'' (1947) - Dagmar (uncredited) *'' The Gangster'' (1947) - Minor Role (uncredited) *'' On Our Merry Way'' (1948) - Mr. Sadd's Secretary (uncredited) *''

Hazard A hazard is a potential source of harm. Substances, events, or circumstances can constitute hazards when their nature would allow them, even just theoretically, to cause damage to health, life, property, or any other interest of value. The probab ...

'' (1948) - Woman in Evening Gown in Tank (uncredited) *''

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

'' (1948) - Townswoman (uncredited) *''

Blondie's Secret ''Blondie's Secret'' is a 1948 American comedy film directed by Edward Bernds and starring Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Simms, and Marjorie Ann Mutchie. It is the twenty-fourth of the 28 Blondie films. Plot Cast * Penny Singleton as ...

'' (1948) - Mona the Moll *''

The Crooked Way ''The Crooked Way'' is a 1949 American film noir crime film directed by Robert Florey and starring John Payne, Sonny Tufts and Ellen Drew. The film, with a similar plot (a war hero loses his memory stateside) to another film noir '' Somewhere in ...

'' (1949) - Hazel Downs *'' Red, Hot and Blue'' (1949) - Movie Patron in Trailer (uncredited) *'' Johnny Holiday'' (1949) - Mrs. Holiday *'' Samson and Delilah'' (1949) - Temple Spectator (uncredited) *'' Dark City'' (1950) - Margie (uncredited) *'' The Enforcer'' (1951) - Mrs. Lazich (uncredited) *'' Cause for Alarm!'' (1951) - Mom (uncredited) *'' The Greatest Show on Earth'' (1952) - Spectator (uncredited) *'' The Atomic City'' (1952) - F.B.I. Agent (uncredited) *'' The Juggler'' (1953) - Carah (uncredited) *'' Here Come the Girls'' (1953) - Washwoman (uncredited) *''

Hot News ''Hot News'' is a 1928 American silent comedy film produced and distributed by Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation, an amalgamation of Famous Players-Lasky and Paramount Pictures. Clarence Badger directed and Bebe Daniels starred. Cast * Bebe ...

'' (1953) - Maid (uncredited) *'' The Eddie Cantor Story'' (1953) - Rachel Tobias *''

The Birds and the Bees The talk about sex, often colloquially referred to as "the birds and the bees" or "the facts of life", is generally the occasion in most children's lives when their parents explain what sex is and how to do it. According to tradition, "the bird ...

'' (1956) - Guest (uncredited) *''

The Iron Sheriff ''The Iron Sheriff'' is a 1957 American Western film starring Sterling Hayden. Plot A stagecoach is robbed in South Dakota and its driver is killed. A dying man, Gene Walden, tells the sheriff, Sam Galt, that Sam's son Benjie shot the driver. ...

'' (1957) - Ellie - Leveret's Sister (uncredited) *''

Desire Under the Elms ''Desire Under the Elms'' is a 1924 play written by Eugene O'Neill. Like ''Mourning Becomes Electra'', ''Desire Under the Elms'' signifies an attempt by O'Neill to adapt plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy to a rural New England setting. ...

'' (1958) - Men (uncredited) *''

'' (1958) - Cora Mayberry *'' The Party Crashers'' (1958) - Phyllis (uncredited)

References

External links

* *
Granstedt with co-stars Josephine Dunn and Kathleen Clifford in ''Excess Baggage'' 1928
{{DEFAULTSORT:Granstedt, Greta 1907 births 1987 deaths People from Republic County, Kansas People from Mountain View, California American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American people of Norwegian descent American people of Swedish descent Actresses from Kansas Actresses from California 20th-century American actresses