Garbo was one of those tremendously talented actresses of the period who actually had studied acting professionally, as opposed to many film stars who simply seemed to burst into the profession. She studied in her native Sweden at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, (which is where she would also start to go by the name Greta Garbo.) This is where she would meet the director who would give her the first starring role in her film career, in the silent film Gosta Berlings Saga.

            It was this role which would catch the eye of legendary Hollywood Mogul Louis B. Mayer, one of the biggest star-makers of the period. It was her performance which caught his eye in the film, and from there he would sign her to MGM.

            Could you name any of Garbo’s silent films? This would be a great piece of Greta Garbo trivia and would include films like Flesh and the Devil, Love, and The Mysterious Lady. She survived the transition to the era of talking movies, but she loved the silent films, and even appeared in the last silent film ever made by MGM.

            The transition to talking movies would prove that Garbo was the real thing, and her performances in all those movies which followed would in fact earn her four Acadamy Award nominations. Do you know what pictures those were for? She was nominated for Anna Christie, Romance, Camille, and Ninotchka,

            Greta Garbo essentially was finished acting by the end of World War II. She never appeared in any feature films after that time, although she would always be remembered as one of the greatest of her time. Her honors later in life included an Honorary Academy Award, as well as being listed on the American Film Institutes list of the best actresses of all time.

Of course, Tom Hanks trivia obviously must include his film work, so we’ll start there. Did you know that Tom Hanks has won back to back Oscars? He won the award for Best Actor in both 1993 and 1994 for his roles in Philadelphia and Forest Gump. Another measure of Hanks’ success can be seen if you examine the total worldwide gross income which has been earned by his films – an amount which totals over 3.5 billion dollars – the most of any film star. Hanks has been attached to just under twenty films that have earned over 100 million.

Hanks has been in some of the most well known movies of the last thirty years, including the aforementioned Forest Gump, but also including pictures like Apollo 13, Sleepless in Seattle, Saving Private Ryan, Toy Story, and the Da Vinci Code. This list, which is far from comprehensive, shows definitively that Hanks has experienced significant success across almost every genre in the film industry, having made some of the most memorable performances in comedy, drama, romantic comedy, action, and animation over the course of his career.

As mentioned previously, a good tidbit of information about Hanks would include something regarding his personal life and his kindness as a human being in addition to stories about his excellence as an actor. A recent one of these was associated with his filming of the sequel to the Da Vinci code in Rome. While filming, the crew realized a wedding was trying to make their way to their wedding site. Hanks greeted the bride and asked if he and director could attend the wedding, and later invited both the bride and groom to attend the premier of the film in Rome, a perfect example of his friendly demeanor and generous nature which have become legendary.