Mercedes de Acosta
Mercedes de Acosta | |
---|---|
Born | New York City, US | March 1, 1892
Died | New York City, US | May 9, 1968 (aged 76)
Occupation | Poet, novelist, playwright |
Spouse |
Abram Poole
(m. 1920; div. 1935) |
Parents |
|
Relatives | (sisters) |
Mercedes de Acosta (March 1, 1892 – May 9, 1968) was an American poet, playwright, and novelist. Although she failed to achieve artistic and professional distinction, de Acosta is known for her many lesbian affairs with celebrated Broadway and Hollywood personalities including Alla Nazimova, Isadora Duncan, Eva Le Gallienne, and Marlene Dietrich.[1] Her best-known involvement was with Greta Garbo with whom, in 1931, she began a sporadic and volatile romance. Her 1960 memoir, Here Lies the Heart, is considered part of gay history insofar that it hints at the lesbian element in some of her relationships.
Background
She was born in New York City on March 1, 1892.[2][3] Her father, Ricardo de Acosta, was born in Cuba to Spanish parents, and later emigrated to the United States.[4] Her mother, Micaela Hernández de Alba y de Alba, was Spanish and allegedly a descendant of the Spanish Dukes of Alba. De Acosta had five siblings: Aida, Ricardo Jr., Angela, Maria, and Rita. Maria married the socially prominent landscape architect A. Robeson Sargent, son of Harvard botanist Charles Sprague Sargent.[5][6] Rita became a famous beauty known as Rita Lydig. De Acosta attended elementary school at the Convent of the Blessed Sacrament on West 79th Street in Manhattan where Dorothy Parker was a classmate.
De Acosta married painter Abram Poole (January 12, 1882 – May 24, 1961) in 1920.[7] They divorced in 1935.
She was described in 1955 by Garbo biographer, John Bainbridge, as "a woman of courtly manners, impeccable decorative taste and great personal elegance ... a woman with a passionate and intense devotion to the art of living ... and endowed with a high spirit, energy, eclectic curiosity and a varied interest in the arts."[8]
Personal life
De Acosta was involved in numerous lesbian relationships with Broadway's and Hollywood's elite and she did not attempt to hide her sexuality; her uncloseted existence was rare and daring in her generation.[9] In 1916 she began an affair with actress Alla Nazimova and later with dancer Isadora Duncan. Shortly after marrying Abram Poole in 1920, de Acosta became involved in a five-year relationship with actress Eva Le Gallienne.[10] De Acosta wrote two plays for Le Gallienne, Sandro Botticelli and Jehanne de Arc. After the financial failures of both plays they ended their relationship.
Over the next decade, she was involved with several famous actresses and dancers, including
It has often been said that she once stated, "I can get any woman away from any man," but there is no evidence to substantiate this claim.[9]
An ardent liberal, de Acosta was committed to several political causes. Concerned about the Spanish Civil War, which began in 1936, for example, she supported the Republican government that opposed the Nationalist faction.[12] A tireless advocate for women's rights, she wrote in her memoir, "I believed...in every form of independence for women and I was...an enrolled worker for women's suffrage."[12][13]
She also became a vegetarian and, out of respect for animals, refused to wear furs.[14]
Relationship with Greta Garbo
De Acosta's best-known relationship was with Greta Garbo. When Garbo's close friend, author Salka Viertel, introduced them in 1931, they quickly became involved.[15] As their relationship developed, it became erratic and volatile with Garbo always in control.[16] The two were very close sporadically and then apart for lengthy periods when Garbo, annoyed by Mercedes' obsessive behavior, coupled with her own neuroses, ignored her.[17] In any case, they remained friends for thirty years during which time Garbo wrote de Acosta 181 letters, cards, and telegrams.[18][19] About their friendship, Cecil Beaton, who was close to both women, recorded in his 1958 memoir, "Mercedes is [Garbo's] very best friend and for 30 years has stood by her, willing to devote her life to her".[20]
Although it has been argued that an intimate relationship between them cannot be proved, de Acosta states they were lovers. Contrary to legend, she did not do so in her memoir. In 1959, when she was destitute, de Acosta sold her papers to the
Interest in eastern spirituality
In the early 1930s de Acosta developed an interest in Hinduism and was encouraged to seek out Indian mystic
When asked about religion, de Acosta once said that although she had grown up Catholic, she would be, if she had to be anything, a Buddhist.[33]
Later life, controversial autobiography and death
In 1960, when de Acosta was seriously ill with a brain tumor and in need of money, she published her memoir, Here Lies the Heart. The book was well-received by the critics and many close friends praised the book.[34] But its implied homosexuality[35] resulted in the severance of several friendships with women who felt she had betrayed their sexuality. Garbo ended their friendship at this time. Eva Le Gallienne in particular was furious, denouncing de Acosta as a liar and stating that she invented the stories for fame. This characterization is inaccurate since many of her affairs and relationships with women, including that with Le Gallienne, are confirmed in personal correspondence.[36]
An exception to this was Marlene Dietrich, who continued to correspond with her and loved the book.[37] According to critic Patricia White, "If she craved being seen, MdA was more careful about what she said than she is given credit for. She wrote a name-dropping memoir, but for something attacked for exaggeration, it barely alludes to homosexuality".[38] In any case, she gained a reputation that was not appreciated by everyone. But as Alice B. Toklas, lover of Gertrude Stein and de Acosta's long-term friend, wrote to a disapproving critic, "Say what you will about Mercedes, she's had the most important women of the twentieth century".[11]
De Acosta died at age 76 in poverty in New York City. She is buried at Trinity Cemetery in Washington Heights, New York City.[39][40][41]
Legacy
De Acosta has usually been described disparagingly, dismissed as a "notorious lesbian" who was a dishonest nuisance to her lovers and who consistently "stalked" Garbo.[42] Garbo's biographers, for example, assess their relationship from Garbo's perspective in which Garbo is fundamentally blameless in their difficult relationship, a perpetual victim of de Acosta's alleged irksome behavior. But Robert A. Schanke, de Acosta's recent biographer, attempts, on the basis of extensive research, to provide an accurate picture of her.[43] She was, Schanke acknowledges, flawed and imperfect, a complex woman who impaired several of her relationships and failed to achieve her professional and romantic aspirations.[44] But he reveals her to have been an exceptionally lively, intelligent, and dynamic person who had many devoted friends. She was, he argues, a brave lesbian of her times[45] and a person of integrity who remained kind and loyal to most everyone with whom she crossed paths.[9] He suggests that the many denigrating portrayals of her may derive from the deep homophobia of her generation.[46]
She has been accused of fabricating incidents in her memoir and lacing it with half-truths and fantasies.[47] She herself confessed, "I may have made mistakes in some dates or minor incidents but…I feel I have held to the spirit of my statement if not to the letter".[48] Nevertheless, Karen Swenson, a Garbo biographer, and Schanke identified and corrected significant errors in de Acosta's account. While the memoir was initially unsuccessful, it was rediscovered in the late 1960s and widely read in the underground gay community.[49] In spite of its inaccuracies, it is now recognized as an important contribution to gay and lesbian history.[49][50]
Her poetic work consists mainly of three books published during her life: Moods (prose poems) (1919), Archways of Life (1921), and Streets and Shadows (1922). A comprehensive compilation of these three books appeared, for the first time, in Spanish translation under the title Imposeída (46 poemas) (Las Cruces, NM: Eds. La Mirada, 2016,
Composer
See also
- List of Cuban American writers
- List of Famous Cuban-Americans
- List of Lesbian Poets
References
- ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
- ISBN 9780253111692.
- ^ "U.S. Passport Applications". Ancestry. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
- ^ "Women Who Paved the Way: Mercedes De Acosta". March 17, 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ "Miss de Acosta a Bride" (PDF). The New York Times. November 7, 1909. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- ^ "Andrew R. Sargent Dies" (PDF). The New York Times. March 21, 1918. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- ISBN 0-415-15982-2.
- ^ Bainbridge 1955, p. 190.
- ^ a b c d Schanke 2003.
- ^ Schanke 2003, pp. 56–66, 69–77.
- ^ a b c Schanke 2003, p. 2.
- ^ a b Schanke 2003, p. 143.
- ^ Schanke 2003, pp. 35, 106, 113, 117 passim.
- ^ Bainbridge 1955, p. 192.
- ^ Schanke 2003, pp. 103–105.
- ^ Schanke 2003, pp. 100–112 passim.
- ^ Schanke 2003, pp. 113, 128, 130 passim.
- ^ Swenson 1997, pp. 381, 518.
- ^ Paris 1994, p. 264.
- ^ Schanke 2003, p. 164.
- ^ a b Schanke 2003, pp. 169–170.
- ^ Swenson 1997.
- ^ Paris 1994.
- ^ Vickers 1994.
- ^ Vieira 2005.
- ^ Swenson 1997, p. 559.
- ^ Smith, Dinitia (April 18, 2000). "Letters Push Garbo Slightly into View". The New York Times. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
- ^ Schanke 2003, p. 120.
- ^ Schanke 2003, pp. 120, 124–126.
- ^ Schanke 2003, pp. 132–133.
- ^ Schanke 2003, pp. 134–135, passim.
- ^ Schanke 2003, pp. 135–138.
- ^ Schanke 2003, p. 138.
- ^ Schanke 2003, pp. 2, 166.
- S2CID 191171452.
- ^ Schanke 2003, pp. xiii–xiii.
- ^ Andrews, Joseph (21 July 2012). "Marlene Dietrich: The Last Goddess: Thom Nickels' "Daddy, Buy Me That" (Pt. 1)".
- ^ White 2000, p. 240.
- ^ "Person Detail: Mercedes De Acosta". New York State Literary Tree. New York State Council on the Arts. 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
- ^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 11473-11474). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
- ^ "Obituary". New York Daily News. 10 May 1968.
- American Movie Classics. 39.98–40.5 minutes in.
- ^ Schanke 2003, pp. xxi, xiii–xiv.
- ^ Schanke 2003, p. 163.
- ^ Schanke 2003, pp. 4.
- ^ Schanke 2003, pp. xv.
- ^ Schanke 2003, p. xvi.
- ^ Schanke 2003, p. xvii.
- ^ a b Schanke 2003, pp. xviii.
- ^ White 2000, p. 254.
- ^ "No Fooling Around Here". The Rosenbach. 2011-04-01. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
- ^ "The Many Loves of "Raving Beauty" Mercedes de Acosta". EDGE Media Network. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
- ^ "Music takes flight (sans fights) in PIFA rite of spring". Philly.com. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
- ^ "Checking in with Philadelphia's Joseph Hallman". GayCities Blog. 2011-03-02. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
- ^ "Famous Sapphic Socialite Inspires New Music – Philadelphia Magazine". Philadelphia Magazine. 2011-03-29. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
- ^ "The Secret Opera". The Secret Opera. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
Bibliography and further reading
- de Acosta, Mercedes (1960). Here Lies the Heart. New York, Reynal Press.
- de Acosta, Mercedes (2016). Imposeída (46 poemas). Eds. Jesus J. Barquet and Carlota Caulfield. Las Cruces, NM: Eds. La Mirada. ISBN 978-0-9911325-4-6.
- de Acosta, Mercedes (2018). Imposeída. Bilingual edition. Eds. Jesus J. Barquet and Carlota Caulfield. Madrid, Ediciones Torremozas ISBN 978-84-7839-763-1.
- Bainbridge, John (1955). Garbo (1st ed.). Garden City, NY: Doubleday. 256 pages. OCLC 1215789. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
- Paris, Barry (1994). Garbo. New York, Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-8166-4182-X.
- Schanke, Robert (2003). "That Furious Lesbian": The Story of Mercedes de Acosta. Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 0-8093-2511-X.
- Stern, Keith (2009), "de Acosta, Mercedes", Queers in History, BenBella Books, Inc.; Dallas, Texas, ISBN 978-1-933771-87-8
- Swenson, Karen (1997). Greta Garbo: A life Apart. New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-0-684-80725-6.
- Vickers, Hugo (1994). Loving Garbo: The Story of Greta, Cecil Beaton, and Mercedes de Acosta. New York, Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-41301-1.
- Vieira, Mark A. (2005). Greta Garbo: A Cinematic Legacy. New York: Harry A. Abrams. ISBN 978-0-8109-5897-5.