Peckerwood Manor

  Gloria Swanson was born Gloria May Josephine Svensson on March 27, 1899, in Chicago, Illinois. She became one of the most prominent stars of her time and was well-known for her glamorous presence on and off the screen. Swanson was the only child of Joseph Theodore Swanson and Adelaide Klanowsky. Due to her father's job as a civilian supply officer with the U.S. Army, the family moved frequently, living in Key West, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, before eventually settling back in Chicago. Swanson showed a strong interest in the arts from a young age, particularly in theater and film, which initially puzzled her family because it wasn't a world they were familiar with or understood. Her passion was without question during her school years when she participated in various plays and operettas showcasing her budding talent. Gloria's initial entry into the film industry was coincidental. When she was 15, she visited Essanay Studios in Chicago, where she was offered a smal...

Bow down, bitches. Miss Norma Desmond, the famed star of stage and screen, has decided to bless the Manor with her presence today. Or rather, La Burnett, who first played Norma on her variety show in 1976, and continued  the role in a delightful series of sketches which parodied Gloria Swanson's silent movie queen from the 1950 film-noir, "Sunset Boulevard."  But it wasn't just Gloria who fueled Norma. As Carol revealed years later, another inspiration for her performance was Mabel Normand, a popular silent movie comic - she was the first actor to get a pie thrown in the face - and one of the very first female screenwriters. Tragically, she was also the last person known to have seen director William Desmond Taylor alive before he was shotgunned to death in a famed Hollywood murder which remains unsolved to this day, and which haunted Mabel's career thereafter. She died at age 36 from tuberculosis.  Reportedly, Gloria got a good chuckle out of Carol's performa...