Film magnate Sam Goldwyn reportedly took credit for discovering her, promoting his discovery as "the Norwegian Garbo" and billed her as "the siren of the fjords".

[6][4] When the press discovered Gurie's birth in Flatbush, Goldwyn then claimed "the greatest hoax in movie history.

The movie was based principally on the book Skis Against the Atom which was written by her brother,[10] Knut Haukelid, a noted saboteur and member of the Norwegian resistance against German occupation in World War II.

From 1961 to 1969 she lived in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where she continued painting, and was also designing jewelry for Royal Copenhagen in Denmark.

She entered the hospital in Mexico City on an emergency basis for a recurring kidney problem, then developed a blood clot that passed through her lungs, which led to her death.