Glamourous, blonde, Norwegian actress who added a sparkle to British movies. Greta Gynt usually played a leading part, and remained at the top of the British cinema from the late 1930s through to the 40s. An opportunity for Greta to experience a Hollywood career came in the early 1950s, but it was too late. She had sadly lost most of the sparkle which kept her at the top in Britain. In Hollywood, her name was often found towards the bottom of a cast list in supporting roles. She returned to Britain making films until 1964. After retiring from the screen she lived in a luxury Kensington property known simply as 'Mrs Moore' and her career was sadly forgotten when she died in 2000. No television news show covered her passing nor was she honoured at the BAFTA Film awards during the annual tribute to film stars passed away, which was a shame for someone so famous during the 1940s and 50s.
Sister of the famed underwater photographer Gil Woxholt.
Greta Gynt took her last name Gynt during the late 1930s while she was listening to a piano player doing the Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg at the Chiltern Hotel in London. Unfortunately her real name, Woxholt, made people think of a car or bridge.
She put her arms around Bernard L. Montgomery at the 8th Army Alamein reunion at the Royal Albert Hall, and gave him a big kiss; the photograph went round the world.
She was very popular in Argentina, where minor British films, considered exotic, had become something of a cult.
For the last decade of her life, she lived in a beautifully furnished London Mayfair flat as "Mrs Moore."
Came to Britain at the age of three with her engineer father, who worked for Vickers Armstrong.
Her picture was widely seen when she turned up to meet the Queen, at the Royal Film Performance, wearing a silver lam strapless gown, with silver hair, silver osprey feathers and a silver fox coat.
J. Arthur Rank put her under contract, vainly hoping to make her into a British Jean Harlow.
Cast list in The Road Back has Norwegian actress Greta Gynt listed in the role as Maria. Even the title card poster has Greta Gynt included as a cast member. She is not seen in the movie. Border art on lobby cards and one of the poster has an illustration of another Norwegian actress, Sigrid Gurie. Greta Gynt was not in California at this time, but making her career in British films. Sigrid Gurie almost landed a contract with Universal Studioes upon her arrival to Los Angeles in 1936/37. (years later she did become a contract player at Universal) Was an appearance in The Road Back an early screen test for Gurie at Universal Studioes? And why is Greta Gynt listed in the credits and not Gurie? The answer could be that Samuel Goldwyn gave Sigrid Gurie a film contract and a huge publicity stunt as his new discovery from the Norwegian fjords, a new Greta Garbo. Gurie was then given the lead in The Adventures of Marco Polo with Gary Cooper as her lover. Could it be that Goldwyn asked Universal to cover up her small appearance in The Road Back so he could make Gurie his discovery? Publicity stills from The Road Back do exist with Sigrid Gurie. Greta Gynt is not to be seen in film or any publicity material. A mystery to solve !!!.
