Anna Q. Nilsson
Anna Quirentia Nilsson was a Swedish-American actress who achieved success in American silent movies.
Early life
Nilsson was born in Ystad, Sweden, in 1888. Her middle name Quirentia is derived from her date of birth, March 30, Saint Quirinius' Day. When she was 8 years old her father, Per Nilsson, got a job at the local sugar factory in Hasslarp, a small community outside Helsingborg in Sweden, where she spent most of her school years. She did very well in school, graduating with highest marks. Due to her good grades, she was hired as a sales clerk in Halmstad on the Swedish west coast, unusual for a young woman from a worker's family at the time, but she had set her mind on going to the United States.
In 1905, she emigrated to the United States through Ellis Island. In the U.S., she started working as a nursemaid and learned English quickly.
Career
Silent films
In 1907, Nilsson was named "Most beautiful woman in America". The cover artist Penrhyn Stanlaws chose her as one of his models, which led to her feature role in the Kalem Motion Picture Company's 1911 film Molly Pitcher.
She stayed at the Kalem studio for several years, ranked behind its top star Alice Joyce, before branching out to other production companies. Films of special note are Regeneration ''Seven Keys to Baldpate, Soldiers of Fortune, The Toll Gate and The Luck of the Irish, and The Lotus Eater. In 1921, while on a rare vacation return to Sweden, she was asked to film Värmlänningarna, her only Swedish movie.
In the 1920s, she freelanced successfully for Paramount, First National and many other studios and reached a peak of popularity just before the advent of talkies. In 1923, she was severely burned while filming a scene in which she drove a locomotive through a forest fire for Hearts Aflame; she required a week to recuperate, but that did not impede her career. That year, she made nine movies, including portraying "Cherry Malotte" in the second movie based upon Rex Beach's The Spoilers, a role that would be played in later versions by Betty Compson, Marlene Dietrich, and Anne Baxter. In 1926, she was named Hollywood's most popular woman. She welcomed royalty when the Swedish Crown Prince Gustav Adolf and his wife Louise Mountbatten visited Hollywood. In 1928, she set a record for fan mail, some 30,000 letters per month, and in that year Joseph P. Kennedy brought her to his newly formed film company RKO Radio Pictures. The following year, as she was horse riding, she fell off the horse, was thrown against a stone wall and broke her hip. After a year of hard training, she was on her feet again. In 1928, Anna Nilsson made her last film of the silent era, Blockade''.
Sound films
With the introduction of sound films, Nilsson's career went into a sharp decline, although she continued to play small, often uncredited parts in films into the 1950s. Between 1930 and 1950, she participated in 39 sound films in smaller roles. She played the role of the Swedish immigrant mother of Loretta Young in The Farmer's Daughter. Her best known performance in a sound film is arguably her turn as herself, referred to as one of Swanson's "waxworks" in Sunset Boulevard, where she has one line.
Nilsson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6150 Hollywood Boulevard for her contribution to motion pictures. She was the first Swedish-born actress to receive such an honor.
Personal life
Nilsson was married to actor Guy Coombs from 1916 until 1917 and to Norwegian-American shoe merchant John Marshall Gunnerson from 1922 until 1925. She died in Sun City, California, on February 11, 1974, of heart failure.
Nilsson was a Lutheran.
Selected filmography
The Express Envelope as HazelMolly Pitcher as Molly PitcherThe Flash in the Night as KateThe Darling of the C.S.A. The Drummer Girl of Vicksburg as Rose BeecherThe Confederate Ironclad as Elinor Adams - a Union SpyWolfe; Or, The Conquest of Quebec as Mignon MarsThe Hazards of Helen as Helen 'The Night Operator at Buxton'Regeneration as Marie DeeringBarbara Frietchie as Sue NeglyThe Scarlet Road as Betty BelgraveThe Supreme Sacrifice as Helen ChambersHer Surrender as Rhoda CortlandtInfidelity as Elaine BernardThe Moral Code as Jean HylandThe Inevitable as Florence GreyThe Silent Master as Minor RoleSeven Keys to Baldpate as Mary NortonOver There as Bettie AdamsHeart of the Sunset as Alaire AustinThe Trail to Yesterday as Sheila LangfordNo Man's Land as Katherine GreshamIn Judgement Of as Mary MannersThe Vanity Pool as Carol HarperRavished Armenia as Edith GrahamVenus in the East as Mrs. Pat DyvenotCheating Cheaters as Grace PalmerThe Way of the Strong as Audrie Hendrie / Monica NortonA Very Good Young Man as Viva BacchusThe Love Burglar as Joan GrayA Sporting Chance as Pamela BrentHer Kingdom of Dreams as Carlotta StanmoreSoldiers of Fortune as Alice LanghamThe Luck of the Irish as Ruth WarrenThe Thirteenth Commandment as Leila KipThe Toll Gate as Mary BrownThe Figurehead as Mary ForbesOne Hour Before Dawn as Ellen AldrichThe Fighting Chance as Sylvia LandisIn the Heart of a Fool as Margaret MullerThe Brute Master as Madeline GreyWhat Women Will Do as Lily GibbsWithout Limit as Ember EdwardsThe Oath as Irene LansingWhy Girls Leave Home as Anna HedderVärmlänningarna as AnnaThe Lotus Eater as Madge VanceTen Nights in a Bar Room Three Live Ghosts as IvisThe Man from Home as Genevieve Granger-SimpsonPink Gods as Lady Margot CorkHearts Aflame as Helen ForakerThe Isle of Lost Ships as Dorothy FairfaxThe Rustle of Silk as Lady FeoThe Spoilers as Cherry MalotteHollywood as Anna Q. NilssonAdam's Rib as Mrs. Michael RamsayPonjola as Lady Flavia DesmondThundering Dawn as Mary RogersInnocence as Fay LeslieEnemies of Children Half-A-Dollar-Bill as The Stranger - Mrs. WebberPainted People as Leslie CarterFlowing Gold as Allegheny BriskowBetween Friends as Jessica DreneBroadway After Dark as Helen TremaineThe Side Show of Life as Lady Auriol DayneThe Fire Patrol as Mary FergusonThe Breath of Scandal Vanity's Price as Vaana Du MaurierInez from Hollywood as Inez LaranettaHello, 'Frisco as herselfIf I Marry Again as Alicia WingateThe Top of the World as Sylvia IngletonOne Way Street as Lady Sylvia HuttonThe Talker as Kate LennoxWinds of Chance as Countess CourteauThe Splendid Road as Sandra De HaultToo Much Money as Annabel BroadleyHer Second Chance as Mrs. Constance Lee / Caroline LoganThe Greater Glory as FannyMiss Nobody as Barbara BrownMidnight Lovers as Diana FothergillThe Masked Woman as Diane DelatourEasy Pickings as Mary RyanBabe Comes Home as VernieLonesome Ladies as Polly FosdickThe Thirteenth Juror as Helen MarsdenSorrell and Son as Dora SorrellThe Whip as Iris d'AquilaBlockade as BessThe World Changes as Mrs. PetersonSchool for Girls as Dr. Anne GalvinThe Little Minister as Villager Wanderer of the Wasteland as Mrs. VireyParadise for Three as First Bridge Player Prison Farm as Matron AmesThe Trial of Mary Dugan as Juror The People vs. Dr. Kildare as Juror Next to Foreman They Died with Their Boots On as Mrs. Taipe Girls' Town as Mother LorraineThe Great Man's Lady as Paula Wales I Live on Danger as Mrs. ShermanCrossroads as Madame Deval Headin' for God's Country as Mrs. NilssonCry 'Havoc' as Nurse The Valley of Decision as Mrs. Scott's Nurse The Sailor Takes a Wife as Switchboard Operator The Secret Heart as Dr. Rossiger's Secretary The Farmer's Daughter as Mrs. HolstromCynthia as Miss BradyIt Had to Be You as Saleslady Fighting Father Dunne as Mrs. Olaf KnudsonThe Boy with Green Hair as Townswoman Every Girl Should Be Married as SalesladyIn the Good Old Summertime as Woman with Harp Adam's Rib as Mrs. Poynter Malaya as Secretary The Big Hangover as Helen Lang Sunset Boulevard as herselfGrounds for Marriage as Dowager at Friday Club Show Boat as Seamstress The Law and the Lady as Mrs. Scholmm An American in Paris as Kay Jansen The Unknown Man as Cocktail Party Guest Fearless Fagan as Abby's Maid The Great Diamond Robbery as Nurse Seven Brides for Seven Brothers as Mrs. Elcott