Mauritz Stiller - biography
Mauritz Stiller (July 17, 1883 - November 18, 1928), born Moshe Stiller in Helsinki, Finland, was a famed and influential silent film director, a screenwriter and an actor, active in Hollywood from 1926 until 1928.
Stiller was also the mentor of Greta Garbo, and the founder of her stage name, and he directed the young Garbo in her breakthrough film The Atonement of Gösta Berling (1924).
In 1925, Stiller imported Greta Garbo to USA, where he had arranged Garbo her first American film acting role.
At age four, Stiller's mother had committed suicide, and he was raised in by family friends. From early on, Stiller was interested about acting. His talents did not go unnoticed, and soon Stiller was offered the opportunity to practice and display his acting skills in the theaters of Helsinki and Turku in Finland.
Drafted into the Russian army of Czar Nicholas II (Finland was at the time an autonomic Grand Duchy of Russia), instead of reporting for duty, he fled the country for exile, settling in Sweden.
By 1912, Stiller had become involved with Sweden's rapidly developing silent film industry. He began by writing scripts, plus acting and directing in short films.
Within a few years, however, Stiller gave up on acting, to devote his time to writing and directing. He was soon directing feature-length productions, and his 1918 effort Thomas Graals bästa barn (Thomas Graal's First Child) - with Victor Sjöström in the leading role -, received much acclaim.
By 1920, having already directed more than thirty-five films, Stiller was now a leading figure in Swedish filmmaking.
At the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm Stiller met a young actress named Greta Gustafsson, whom he cast in an important but secondary role in his film, Gösta Berlings saga (The Atonement of Gosta Berling), giving her the stage name Greta Garbo.
For Stiller, the screen presence of the eighteen-year-old actress led to him bringing her to the United States, after he had accepted an offer from the studio boss Louis B. Mayer to direct for MGM.
In Hollywood, Mauritz Stiller was assigned to direct the 1926 film The Temptress. He could not deal with the studio structure, however, and after repeated arguments with the MGM executives, Stiller was replaced on the film by Fred Niblo. Stiller's contract with the studio terminated.
Nevertheless, Stiller was immediately hired by the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, where he were to make three successful movies.
While directing his fourth film for the studio, Stiller was let go a second time, due to his continuing disagreements with the studio bosses.
Mauritz Stiller returned to Sweden in 1927, and he died the following year from pleurisy, at the age of forty-five. He was interred in the Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm.
Stiller's important contribution to the motion picture industry has since been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1713 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
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