Greta Nissen

Biography

Greta Ruzt-Nissen was born in Oslo, Norway, on January 30, 1905. As a young girl she studied dance and had intended to make a career out of it. For a while she did, but when she was 19 she appeared in her first big-screen production, The Wanderer (1925). Afterwards she made several more films, but she was one of those who lost much work due to the advent of sound films. One setback for her was when she was chosen for the lead in Hell's Angels (1930) by Howard Hughes but then replaced by Jean Harlow because of her heavy Norwegian accent. The film shot Harlow to stardom. Throughout the 1930s Greta stayed fairly busy. Obviously some roles were better than others, but she never got the breakout role she wanted so badly. After Danger in Paris (1937), Greta left the screen forever. On May 17, 1988, she died of Parkinson's disease. She was 83 years old.