Salka Viertel

Salka Viertel (born  Salomea "Salka" Steuermann on 15 June, 1889, Sambir (Sambor), Ukraine - died 20 October 1978, Klosters, Switzerland) was an actress and screenplay writer.

Career
She co-wrote the scripts for many movies, particularly those starring her close friend Greta Garbo.

Personal life
Much has been discussed of Viertel's relationships and friendships with actresses Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich, as well as writer Mercedes de Acosta. Although many rumours have suggested these relationships as lesbian, the nature of her close ties with both Garbo and Dietrich have never fully been disclosed. She was involved in an affair with writer Mercedes de Acosta, whom she introduced to Garbo at her home in 1931. Garbo and de Acosta shortly thereafter became involved in a long and often stormy relationship that would last for several years.

Viertel was married to Berthold Viertel and they had three sons, one of whom, Peter Viertel, is also an accomplished book and screenplay writer. Salka Viertel wrote a memoir The Kindness of Strangers, which was published in 1969. She died in Klosters, Switzerland, on October 20 1978.

Filmography (writer)

 * Queen Christina (1933)
 * The Painted Veil (1934)
 * Anna Karenina (1935)
 * Conquest (1937)
 * Two-Faced Woman (1941)
 * Deep Valley (1947)
 * L'Amante di Paride (1954)
 * I Battellieri del Volga (1958)

Filmography (actress)

 * Anna Christie (German version) (1931)

Biography

 * Katharina Prager, "Ich bin nicht gone Hollywood!" Salka Viertel - Ein Leben in Theater und Film, ISBN 9783700315926, Braumüller Verlag, Wien 2007.