GRETA GARBO born (d: 1990) Regarded as one of the greatest and most inscrutable movie stars ever produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and the Hollywood studio system, Garbo received a 1955 Honorary Oscar “for her unforgettable screen performances” and was ranked as the fifth greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute.

Garbo’s biographer Barry Paris notes that she was “technically bisexual, predominantly lesbian, and increasingly asexual as the years went by.” It has been indicated that Garbo struggled greatly with her sexuality, only becoming involved with other women in affairs that she could control.

Some also suggest that Garbo remained single in the United States because of an unrequited love for her drama school sweetheart, the Swedish actress Mimi Pollak. Garbo’s personal letters recently released to the public indicate that she remained in love with Pollak for the rest of her life. When Pollak announced she was pregnant, Garbo wrote: “We cannot help our nature, as God has created it. But I have always thought you and I belonged together.”

Famously connected to Mercedes de Acosta, one of the more Sapphic companions of the day, de Acosta wrote of their affair in her book Here Lies the Heart. Upon her death in 1990, Garbo left her entire, substantial estate to her niece, Gray Reisfeld, and nothing to the elderly female companion with whom she lived for many years, Claire.

Only a cad would suggest that you dig up a copy of the now long forgotten Here Lies the Heart by Mercedes de Acosta and read the silly section on Garbo. Dig up a copy of the now long forgotten Here Lies the Heart by Mercedes de Acosta and read the silly section on Garbo.