Greta Garbo born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson ( 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish film actress and an international star and icon during the twenties and thirties. Garbo was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress and received an honorary one in 1954 for her "luminous and unforgettable screen performances." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Garbo fifth on their list of the greatest female stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema, after Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn, and Ingrid Bergman.