Greta Garbo
by Susan Stryker, Director, GLBT Historical Society
Greta Garbo may or may not have had lesbian
relationships -- probably not, if her recently revealed
letters to a reputed lover are any indication of her
amorous inclinations. No matter -- she still fuels the
fires of lesbian fantasy and functions as a mythic figure
in the queer imagination.
In 1996 noted lesbian novelist Mary Wings used Greta
Garbo in a touching tribute to her friend Eric Garber,
who had recently died of an AIDS-related illness.
Garber was a witty, erudite, ruddy-faced leprechaun of
an amateur historian who -- besides his world-class
scholarship on gay aspects of the Harlem Renaissance
and editing of several anthologies on queer science
fiction and fantasy literature -- knew more dish about
Hollywood homos than anybody this side of Hedda
Hopper.
Wings' essay on the role Garbo played in her
friendship with Garber was initially presented at the
OUTWRITE literary conference in Boston on February 23,
1996, and later published in a special issue of OUR
STORIES: The Newsletter of the Gay and Lesbian
Historical Society (11:1, Summer 1996), devoted to
Garber's life and legacy. Wings writes:
"The footage of Garbo, the way she pulled on her boots in Queen
Christina, was our
focal point. And surely it was the focal point of
lesbian viewers in the 40s! Plots which featured
ill-fated romances and hidden trysts also would have
appealed. But most important was the beautifully
blank face of Garbo herself, framed in a wardrobe by
Adrian, and the slow deep voice -- and the mystery, the
mystery, the mystery. ...
Eric pulled aside Garbo's veil with book research and
phone calls to distant friends. What we found in the
late 1980s was not pleasant. Behind the carefully
plucked, lit, and directed mask was an unpleasant,
depressive character who didn't care much for other
human beings. She left as her legacy not only some
great films, but a bitter taste in many mouths.
An exceedingly wealthy woman for most of her life,
Garbo surrounded herself with the quietly rich from
around the globe. And Greta Garbo was not so picky
about where her friends got their money. Whether
cruising with Aristotle Onassis or taking her
20-mile antique-shopping walks, Garbo dropped
anyone who broke the curtain of silence around her.
Eric had heard a news story about Garbo -- how an old
friend called her up, apologizing profusely for having
given a Garbo quote to a journalist in error.
"Greta," the friend had pleaded, "is there anything I
can do to get you to forgive me?" There was barely a
pause before Garbo said simply, "Yes. Hang up." ...
What became a legend in the 40s? A good agent.
Adrian's wardrobe. A closeted population that needed
a blank face to project upon. Greta Garbo today? On
Prozac, on-line, at your local lesbian and gay film
festival. Who's she sleeping with now?"
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