Splash News
Cora Sue Collins, who had been one of the last living actors with extensive credits in 1930s films — and who famously worked twice with icon Greta Garbo — has died at 98, just days after her birthday.
On Monday, friends, including music historian and pianist Adam Swanson, began eulogizing Collins, who died over the weekend.
Collins had begged off a planned appearance at the TCM Classic Film Festival on Thursday evening. Her official Facebook page announced she wouldn’t be going, posting an image of the enduringly glamorous actress blowing a kiss, with the caption, “Cora Sue truly wanted to be with her TCM Classic Film Festival fans this year and sends her love.”
It was a sudden end to a remarkable life, which included receiving a puppy from Will Rogers; attending a party with Jean Harlow; and working with such Old Hollywood names as Fredric March, Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, Colleen Moore, Sylvia Sidney, Fay Wray and Claudette Colbert.
Born April 19, 1927, in Beckley, West Virginia, she moved to L.A. with her mom and sister, making her movie debut in “The Unexpected Father.”
It was the first of 47 films before her retirement in 1945.
Most importantly, she was personally chosen by screen legend Greta Garbo — then the world’s no. 1 movie star — to play the young version of her character in the 1933 classic “Queen Christina.”
The two got along well, leading to Garbo using her again in the 1935 film “Anna Karenina.”
Following their working relationship, Collins and Garbo remained friends right up until the latter’s death in 1990. “Oh, yes, we lived on the same street in Paris!” she said in 2011.
Among her many film accomplishments, Collins played Amy in the 1938 color version of “The Adventure of Tom Sawyer,” and was the lead in “Youth on Trial” in 1945.
As a teen, she married a rich rancher and retired completely from acting.
Collins married a few more times, spending her later years granting interviews about her nearly unique experience making movies 90 years ago. She was also a popular guest at autograph shows and at film festivals.
She is survived by her daughter, artist Susie McKay Krieser.
