Niece of film legend Greta Garbo, who kept her from being alone, dies at 85

Gray Gustafson Reisfield, the sole heiress to her aunt Greta Garbo’s estate and a woman who was a long-time companion to the late Swedish-born actress, has died, a family member said Monday.

Reisfield died Sunday at her home in Marin County, California, following a bout with pneumonia, said her son Derek Reisfield. She was 85.

Reisfield was separated by 27 years from Garbo. But the two bonded over being strong, independent women and enjoyed the lighter side of life together, sitting by the swimming pool, travelling to Caribbean islands and teaching children to do cartwheels in the backyard.

“She viewed [Garbo] as truly remarkable woman,” Derek Reisfield said. “I think my mother really respected her because she had accomplished so much, and she had done it her way. She was very independent when women were not, and I think that was a real lesson for my mother.”

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1932, Reisfield came to the US with her parents and spent her childhood in Southern California. She moved to Sante Fe, New Mexico, in junior high school, where she enjoyed horseback riding and fishing.

She attended Bryn Mawr College, spent a year at Yale University, where she met her future husband, the late Dr Donald Reisfield, and later transferred to Columbia Law School, where she graduated in 1957.