Greta Nissen

Norwegian-American Greta Nissen (1906–1988) was a blonde bombshell who appeared in more than 30 films in Denmark, the United States and England. Unfortunately, she is now most famous for a role which was re-shot with another actress.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 878. Photo: Paramount-Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3071/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Paramount / FaNaMet.


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 283. Photo: Paramount. Greta Nissen in The Wanderer (Raoul Walsh, 1925).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3081/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Max Munn Autrey / Fox.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3173/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Max Munn Autrey / Fox.


Dutch Postcard, no. 458. Photo: Hal Payfe / Fox Film.


British postcard. Photo: British International Pictures (BIP).

Pat & Patachon

Grethe Rüzt-Nissen was born in Oslo, Norway, in 1906 (some sources say 1905). She was the daughter of Carl Andreas Frantz Nissen and Agnes Magdalene Larsen. After her parents divorced, her mother took her to Copenhagen, Denmark,

In 1911, her mother managed to get Grethe as a student at the Det Kongelige Teater's (Royal Theatre) student school, after having 'made' her a year older. Grethe made her stage début as a member of the corps de ballet at the Royal Theatre. Some years later, when the famous choreographer and dancer Mikhail Fokin (or Michel Fokine) came to Denmark after the Russian Revolution, he invited her to come to Paris, and she studied with him from 1918 to 1919. In 1922, she performed a series of acclaimed Fokine evenings in Norway.

Grethe made her screen début in the Danish comedies Daarskab, Dyd og Driverter / Folly, Virtue and Idler (Lau Lauritzen, 1924), followed by Lille Lise let-paa-taa / The Little Dancer (Lau Lauritzen, 1924), two vehicles for the comedy team of Fy og Bi, aka Pat & Patachon. These two comedies would be her only films in Scandinavia.

In 1924, she went to New York with a Danish ballet troupe, and there the blonde looker received an offer to appear on Broadway in George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly's lavish revue 'Beggar on Horseback'. She changed her name to Greta Nissen. Later, she worked for the famed Flo Ziegfield in the 1926 production of 'No Foolin'.

Only 19 years old, she was discovered by Jesse L. Lasky of Paramount Pictures, who signed her to a contract. Making her American screen debut as Greta Nissen in In the Name of Love (Howard Higgin, 1925) with Ricardo Cortez and Wallace Beery, Nissen was singled out by critic Mordaunt Hall of the New York Times, who found her 'an appealing and clever actress with a striking personality'.


Swedish postcard by Eneret Mittet & Co, no. 13. Collection: Didier Hanson.


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 283. Photo: Paramount. Greta Nissen in The Wanderer (Raoul Walsh, 1925).


French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 328. Greta Nissen in Blind Alleys (Frank Tuttle, 1927).


French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 382. Greta Nissen in In the Name of Love (Howard Higgin, 1925).


Italian postcard, no. 452. Photo: Films Paramount. Publicity still for Lost: A Wife (William C. de Mille, 1925).


Italian postcard, no. 736. Photo: SAI Films Paramount, Roma, Greta Nissen perhaps as the seductive high priest Tisha in The Wanderer (Raoul Walsh, 1925).


Italian postcard by Casa Editrice Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze (Florence), no. 458. Photo: SAI Filmo Paramount, Roma. Publicity still for The Wanderer (Raoul Walsh, 1925) with William Collier. Collection: Didier Hanson.


Italian postcard by Casa Editrice Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze (Florence), no. 740. Photo: SAI Filmo Paramount, Roma. Publicity still for The Wanderer (Raoul Walsh, 1925).


Italian postcard by Casa Ed. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 2525. Photo: Paramount. Greta Nissen in The Lucky Lady (Raoul Walsh, 1926).


Italian postcard by Cinema-Illustrazione, Milano, Series 1, no. 22. Photo: Fox Film. Cinema Illustrazione was an Italian popular film journal that existed between 1926 and 1939.

Hell's Angels

Greta Nissen played in several sophisticated comedies with Adolphe Menjou, like The Wanderer( Raoul Walsh, 1925), also with William Collier and Blonde or Brunette (Richard Rosson, 1927).

She became an exotic seductress in such costume extravaganzas as The Lady of the Harem (Raoul Walsh, 1926) and Fazil (Howard Hawks, 1928) opposite Charles Farrell.

MGM, meanwhile, borrowed her for The Love Thief (John McDermott, 1926), to replace Greta Garbo. Among her other successful potboilers were Lost: A Wife (William C. de Mille, 1925), The Lucky Lady (Raoul Walsh, 1926) and The Popular Sin (Malcolm St. Clair, 1926).

In 1927, Nissen was the original choice as the leading lady of Hell's Angels (1930), Howard Hughes' stunt-flying extravaganza set during World War I. This epic film could have made her a major contender.

Filming was well underway when it was decided that the film would be remade with sound. Unfortunately, Greta was replaced because of her heavy Norwegian accent. Nissen had made $2500 a week when filming Hell's Angels, and her replacement, Jean Harlow, worked for only $250. The film shot Harlow to stardom, and Nissen lost much work due to the advent of sound films.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1760/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Parufamet.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1829/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Parufamet.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 2029/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Parufamet. Greta Nissen in The Popular Sin (Malcolm St. Clair, 1926).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3575/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Fox.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3575/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Autrey / Fox.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3837/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Fox.


British postcard by Ross Verlag Foreign, no. 3917/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Fox. Publicity still for Fazil (Howard Hawks, 1928) with Charles Farrell.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5824/2, 1930-1931. Photo: Fox.

B-films and quota quickies

Rebounding somewhat with a contract from Fox, Greta Nissen eventually proved that her accent could easily have been turned into an asset, but the fallout from the Hell's Angels debacle followed her for the remainder of her film career.

She starred or co-starred in a series of B-films which included the lame Women of All Nations (Raoul Walsh, 1931), the Will Rogers comedy Ambassador Bill (Sam Taylor, 1931), the mystery drama The Circus Queen Murder (Roy William Neill, 1933) again opposite Adolphe Menjou, and the George O'Brien Western Life in the Raw (Louis King, 1933).

In 1933, she moved to England, where she appeared in a few ‘quota quickies’, including On Secret Service (Arthur B. Woods, 1933) and Honours Easy (Herbert Brenon, 1935) with Margaret Lockwood.

In 1934, she also appeared at the Palace Theatre in London in the original version of Agnes de Mille's ballet Three Virgins and a Devil, performed in the revue 'Why Not Tonight?' After the Spy film Cafe Colette (Paul L. Stein, 1937), she retired and returned to the US.

Divorced from former Fox contract star Weldon Heyburn, Nissen married in 1941 industrialist Stuart Eckert, and she lived quietly in California. Greta Nissen died at home in Montecito, California, of Parkinson's disease in 1988. She was 82. Her husband said she still received fan letters. Greta had one son, Tor Bruce Nissen Eckert, who in 2005 gave his large collection of Greta Nissen Memorabilia to the Norwegian Emigrant Museum in Ottestad, Norway.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 358/1. Photo: Paramount-Film.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 358/3. Photo: Paramount Film. Greta Nissen in The Wanderer (Raoul Walsh, 1925).


Spanish postcard in the Estrellas del cine series by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 137. Photo: Fox.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5035. Photo: Autrey / Fox.


Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 5037. Photo: Autrey / Fox.


British postcard in the Colourgraph Series, London, no. C 184. Photo: Fox.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 264.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 264b.


British postcard by Film Weekly. Photo: Radio / RKO. Phil Harris, Chick Chandler and probably Greta Nissen in Melody Cruise (Mark Sandrich, 1933). Melody Cruise is a pre-Code romantic musical comedy about a bachelor millionaire, Alan Chandler (Phil Harris), hunted by women aboard a cruise liner. Charles Ruggles plays his best friend and womaniser, Pete. Greta Nissen plays Elsa von Rader (Alan's mundane friend). Chick Chandler plays the steward Hickey, whom Pete has bribed to prevent Alan from marrying. Helen Mack is Laurie Marlowe (Alan's new friend). Melody Cruise was Sandrich's breakthrough as a feature filmmaker.


British card in the Keepin Series by Radio Hair Grips. Photo: BIP (British International Pictures Limited). Greta Nissen and Ivan Samson in Honours Easy (Herbert Brenon, 1935). Caption: Radio Hair Grips for long or short waves.


Italian postcard in the series 'Sport e Spettacolo - I divi più amati' by Instituto Geografico de Agostini S.p.A., Novara, 1996. Reprint of an Italian postcard by Casa Ed. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 2526. Photo: Films Paramount. Greta Nissen in The Lucky Lady (Raoul Walsh, 1926), released in Italy as La principessa bionda (The Blonde Princess).

Sources: Hans Otto Christian Arent (Store Norske Lexikon - Norwegian), Hans J. Wollstein (AllMovie - Page now defunct), Denny Jackson (IMDb), Allure, Pat M. Ryan (Dance Chronicle), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Madeleine Renaud

Madeleine Renaud (1900-1994) was an acclaimed French stage actress who also had a film career. One of her best-known films was La Maternelle (1933) about a Montmartre kindergarten. With her second husband, actor Jean-Louis Barrault, she formed the celebrated Compagnie Renaud-Barrault theatrical troupe in 1948.


French postcard by EC, no. 75. Photo: J. Manuel, Paris.


French postcard by Ajax, Paris, no. 809. Photo: Studio G.L. Manuel. Caption: Madeleine Renaud of the Comédie-Française.


Vintage postcard, no. 75.


French postcard by CE (Cinémagazine-Édition), Paris, no. 1085. Photo: Paramount.


French postcard by EC, no. 75. Photo: Pathé Natan.


German postcard by Ross Verlag / Das Programm von Heute für Film und Theater. Photo: d'Ora. Paris.

Allure and liveliness

Lucie Madeleine Renaud was born in 1900 as the daughter of a university professor, in the elegant 17th arrondissement of Paris. She attended the Conservatoire Nationale d'Art Dramatique, having previously studied at the Lycée Racine, where she won first prize for comedy and obtained her baccalaureate.

At age 21, she entered the prestigious Comédie-Française as a junior actress, shedding her bourgeois background and starting an independent career. She remained there under contract until 1947. In his obituary for The Independent, John Calder wrote: "Madeleine Renaud was the last of the great school of French classical actresses. She was trained just after the First World War and had the flexibility to perform the established French repertoire grandly, from Racine to Giraudoux, while still being totally convincing in the different schools of international theatre that have emerged since 1950.

Her early career overlapped with the last years of Sarah Bernhardt's, and she was already a star in the 1920s - before Edwige Feuillère, Maria Casares, Suzanne Flon and Arletty dominated the boards in Paris. By the time her juniors by a decade, Michèle Morgan and Simone Signoret emerged, Renaud had established herself as one of the finest French actresses."

She incidentally played parts in silent films, such as the female leads in the films Vent debout / Midship (René Leprince, 1923) with Léon Mathot, and La terre qui meurt / The Land That Dies (Jean Choux, 1926), but her film performances intensified when sound cinema came along. She became an active and popular film actress of the 1930s. Her first sound film was Jean de la Lune / Moon-Struck Jean (Jean Choux, 1930). This was an adaptation of a stage play by Marcel Achard, in which Renaud played with René Lefèvre and Michel Simon. During the 1930s, Renaud played in some twenty films, often adaptations of novels and stage plays, contributing with her allure and liveliness.

One of her best-known parts was the lead in the endearing film La Maternelle / Children of Montmartre (Jean-Benoit Lévy, Marie Epstein, 1933), a good example of French social realism of the 1930s. Renaud played Rose, a girl who becomes world-wise when her father goes bankrupt and dies, and her lover dumps her. Rose becomes the caring maid in a Montmartre kindergarten and is soon the darling of the children, especially a prostitute’s daughter named Marie (Paulette Elambert), whose mother has dumped her as well. Marie, though, becomes jealous of other people caring about Rose.


French postcard by Comédie-Française. Photo: Collections de la Comédie-Française. Marie Bell and Madeleine Renaud as Ninette and Ninon in 'A quoi rêves les Jeunes Filles' (What do young girls dream of, 1926) based on the 1832 play by Alfred de Musset.


French postcard by Bibliothèque nationale de France, no. PHO 02824. Michel Simon, Madeleine Renaud and René Lefèvre in Jean de la Lune / Moon-Struck Jean (Jean Choux, Michel Simon, 1931).


French postcard by CE (Cinémagazine-Sélection), Paris, no. 984. Photo: Paramount.


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 1066. Photo: Paramount.


French postcard by Erres, no. 1. Photo: Paramount.


French postcard by Editions La Malibran, Paris, no. CF 21. Jean Gabin and Madeleine Renaud in La belle marinière (Harry Lachman, 1932). Photo: Rudy (Rudolph) Maté.


Dutch postcard by M.B.&Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen). Photo: Muntfilm, Amsterdam. Publicity still for La Maternelle / Children of Montmartre (1933). The cards bear the stamp of the Dutch National Board of Film Censors.

Fighting elements and suitors

Other memorable film titles of the 1930s in which Madeleine Renaud played leads were Le tunnel / The Tunnel (Curtis Bernhardt, 1933) with Jean Gabin working on a tunnel between the US and Europe (!); Maria Chapdelaine (Julien Duvivier, 1934) with Renaud as a young woman fighting both the elements and suitors in Canada.

She starred in the French-Italian comedy La marche nuptiale / The Wedding march (Mario Bonnard, 1935) after Henry Bataille’s play. Renaud played the role performed earlier by silent stars like Lyda Borelli, and the multilingual Cœur de gueux / Cuore di vagabondo/A Beggar's Heart (Jean Epstein, 1936) with Italian stage veteran Ermete Zacconi.

From the late 1930s on, Renaud played less in film and almost exclusively under the direction of Jean Grémillon. She was the understanding wife of Raimu in L’étrange Monsieur Victor / The Odd Mr. Victor (Jean Grémillon, 1938), the abandoned wife of Jean Gabin in Remorques / Stormy Waters (Jean Grémillon, 1941), the perverse companion in Lumière d’été / Summer Light (Jean Grémillon, 1943), and the aviation-struck petite bourgeoise in Le ciel est à vous / The Woman Who Dared (Jean Grémillon, 1944).

After the war, she concentrated on theatre, though she occasionally returned for roles as the savoury Mme Tellier in Le plaisir / House of Pleasure (Max Ophüls, 1952) based on three stories by Guy de Maupassant, and the malicious noblewoman in Le diable par la queue / The Devil by the Tail (Philippe de Broca, 1969) opposite Yves Montand.

Along with several other noted French actors, Madeleine Renaud appeared in a cameo role in the mammoth, all-star re-creation of the D-Day invasion, The Longest Day (Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki, 1962), playing a fearless Mother Superior. One of her final film roles was the possessive mother of Jean-Pierre Aumont in Des journées entières dans les arbres / Entire Days Among the Trees (Marguerite Duras, 1976).


Dutch postcard by M.B.&Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen). Photo: Muntfilm, Amsterdam. Madeleine Renaud and Paulette Élambert in La Maternelle / Children of Montmartre (1933).


Dutch postcard by M.B.&Z. (M. Bonnist & Zonen). Photo: Muntfilm, Amsterdam. Publicity still for La Maternelle / Children of Montmartre (1933).


Dutch postcard by M.B.&Z., no. 75. Photo: Muntfilm, Amsterdam. Madeleine Renaud and Paulette Élambert in La Maternelle / Children of Montmartre (Jean Benoît-Lévy, Marie Epstein, 1933).


French postcard by Editions PC, Paris, no. 77. Photo: Rosekardos.


French postcard by Editions E.C., Paris, no. 62. Photo: Film Discina.


French postcard by SERP, Paris, no. 15. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


French postcard by Ed. Chantal, Paris, no. 75. Photo: Darlo.

Jean-Louis Barrault

In 1936, Madeleine Renaud had met her future husband, actor and director Jean-Louis Barrault, a brilliant young actor from a working-class background, full of new theatrical ideas and aflame with ambition. In 1940, he joined the Comédie-Francaise and in a very short time, he was playing major roles and directing productions. They fell in love and married the same year.

In 1943, the couple worked together in raising the play 'Soulier de satin' (Satin Shoe) by Paul Claudel, directed by Barrault. After having played 127 parts at the Comédie-Française, Renaud left the company in 1946 to form her own company with Barrault, which was based at the Théâtre Marigny. There she created the part of Winnie in 'Oh! Les beaux jours' (Happy Days) by Samuel Beckett in 1963; it was a part she would continue to perform until the end of her career. Renaud also played in plays by Jean Genet, Marguerite Duras, and Eugène Ionesco.

In the meantime, her husband Barrault rose to the position of managing director of the Théâtre de l'Odéon-Théâtre de France. After the student revolt of 1968, Barrault, having shown sympathy for the students, was evicted from the Odéon by President de Gaulle. The company rented an old skating rink and continued to perform there, mainly in the round, improvising and making virtues out of necessity. The public supported the new theatre massively. For a while, Madeleine Renaud went away from the company to play next to Claude Régy in 'L'Amante anglaise' (The English Lover) by Marguerite Duras. Afterwards, she played Maud in 'Harold et Maud' (Harold and Maude), written by Colin Higgins, a role to which she stuck for a long time, also when the company moved to the Musée d'Orsay, and afterwards to the Théâtre du Rond-Point.

Incidentally, their plays were filmed for TV. In 1978, Jean-Paul Carrère directed his own script for a TV version of Harold et Maud / Harold and Maude, and a TV film was also made of Oh! Les beaux jours/Happy Days (Alexandre Tarta, 1990) starring Renaud and Barrault in their acclaimed roles of Winnie and Willy. It was her last 'film' role.

Madeleine Renaud died in Paris in 1994, seven months after the death of her husband. She was married three times, to director Charles Gribouval (Charles Grandval), secondly to actor Pierre Bertin (some sources say she was only 'romantically involved' with him), and thirdly to Jean-Louis Barrault. She had a son, Jean-Pierre Granval (1923-1998), by her first marriage, and she was the aunt of actress Marie-Christine Barrault. Renaud received many honours, was a Commander of the Legion of Honour, a Grand Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters and was awarded the Medal of the City of Paris and the Grand Prix du Theatre.


French postcard by S.E.R.P., Paris, no. 80. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, offered by Les Carbones Korès Carboplane, no. 123. Photo: Charles Vandamme / Les Mirages.


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 444. Photo: C.P.C.S. Maria Schell, Madeleine Renaud and Marthe Keller in Le diable par la queue / The Devil by the Tail (Philippe de Broca, 1969).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 447. Photo: C.P.C.S. Clotilde Joano, Madeleine Renaud, Yves Montand, Maria Schell, and Marthe Keller in Le diable par la queue / The Devil by the Tail (Philippe de Broca, 1969).


Long scene from La Maternelle / Children of Montmartre (1933). Source: Lost Classic Films (YouTube).


Trailer of The Longest Day (1962). Source: Humanoidity (YouTube).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie - Page now defunct), John Calder (The Independent), Ciné-Ressources (French), Wikipedia (French), and IMDb.