She has seen the medium flourish from its beginnings on the East Coast, it’s transition to Los Angeles, been part of the studio system, got exploited by it, broke free, had immense successes and failures and a fulminant comeback at the age of 51. She was nominated at the first Academy Awards, she was nominated for her first talkie, she was nominated for her comeback role as Norma Desmond. But that - it seems - is not even half the story of this woman’s extraordinary life.

Gloria Swanson's film "Male and Female" directed Cecil B Demille on Youtube.

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