Greta Nissen was born Grethe Rüzt-Nissen in Oslo, Norway, Nissen was originally a dancer. She debuted as a solo ballerina on the National Theatre in 1922. She toured in Norway and participated in several Danish films. Nissen made her Broadway debut as a ballerina in 1924. She had studied ballet with Mikhail Fokine. In early 1924, she came as a member of a Danish ballet troupe to New York, where she was soon hired to do a larger dance numbers for George S. Kaufman in the musical Beggar on Horseback. Greta was discovered by film producer Jesse L. Lasky of Paramount Pictures, and would appear in more than twenty films. She appeared in The Wanderer (1925, director Raoul Walsh). Among her other films were A Wife, The King on Main Street, The Love Thief, Ambassador Bill, The Lucky Lady, and Honours Easy. In 1932, she played in The Silent Witness with Weldon Heyburn, who became her first husband. They married March 30, 1932, in Tijuana, Mexico. On October 19, 1935, Nissen went to court to have the marriage annulled, “charging their marriage … was illegal and violated legal witness and residence requirements.” The annulment was granted April 30, 1936. In 1933, she moved to England. Her film career ended in the mid-1930s after she had appeared in a few British films. In 1937 she retired from movie acting altogether.

Greta Nissen was the original choice for leading lady in Hell’s Angels (1930), an epic film made by Howard Hughes. She lost the part due to her strong Norwegian accent when the movie was remade to include sound. In the autumn of 1941, she married industrialist Stuart D. Eckert (1907– 1993). Greta Nissen died at home in Montecito, California of Parkinson’s disease on May 15, 1988. Greta was 82. Her husband said she still received fan letters. Greta had one son, Tor Bruce Nissen Eckert, who in 2005 gave his large collection of Greta Nissen Memorabilia to the Norwegian Emigrant Museum (Norsk Utvandrermuseum) which is located in Ottestad, county of Hedmark, Norway.