An old rumor that writer Norman Zierold (Garbo, 1969) started in 1969, came up again in 2012 when writer David Bret brought it back to ‘life’. Writer Bret quoted Zierold of course and wrote in his 2012 released book (Greta Garbo: Divine Star) that he also believed this ‘child’ story.
So what did Zierold say?
He said that an (unnamed) author friend told stated that he worked for years with Garbo on her autobiography. He claimed that GG told him that Stiller was the obsession of her life and that there was a child which died at the age of five.
At the time of Stiller’s departure for home, he reportedly begged Greta to come with him. She asked permission of MGM to break her contract but was told no. She stayed and Stiller went, leaving her only with sad memories and guilt.
In 1964, when this autobiography was finally completed, Garbo withdrew permission to have it published. There were too many frank revelations, she felt, and now was not the time to air them.
What did David Bret say?
Bret asked himself if she could have been pregnant during her infamous MGM (October 1926 to June 1927) ‘strike’ and ‘break’? Was a child the reason for her 6 month MGM absence? He then quoted Zierold and had further thoughts and analyses about it which we don’t really want to repeat here.
Source
Norman Zierold: Garbo (1969)
David Bret: Divine Star (2012)
