Norma Desmond
him. When he hears Norma having a phone conversation with Betty, in an attempt to scare her away, he invites Betty to the mansion and confesses the situation, euphemistically “a older woman who’s well-to-do” and a “young man who’s not doing too well.”
After driving away Betty, Gillis tells Norma he’s leaving for good. Desmond snaps and shoots him to death, leaving his body floating in her pool and going into shock. When the police arrive, she thinks they are merely her adoring fans and the production crew for her movie. Elegantly striding toward a news camera, she utters the iconic line, “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.”
Actresses
Norma Desmond was played on screen by Gloria Swanson.
The actresses who were considered for the role of Norma Desmond in the 1950 screen version, but declined, were Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Pola Negri, Mae
