The great Greta Garbo may not have been alone alone, but with a female lover. Letters between her and Mercedes da Acosta will be unsealed for the first time, 10 years after the icon's death

hiladelphia -- Was Greta Garbo really alone, or wasn't she? Her letters to her friend and rumored lover, the writer and socialite Mercedes de Acosta, will be unsealed for the first time on April 15, the 10th anniversary of Garbo's death.

The 55 letters have been in the archives of the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia for the last 40 years.

De Acosta, a feminist and fashion maven who died in 1968, claimed she had trysts with actress Marlene Dietrich, dancer Isadora Duncan and Garbo. But Garbo's family and some of the screen legend's biographers are doubtful.

"There are two camps," says Karen Swenson, author of the 1997 biography Garbo: A Life Apart. "On one side, there is Garbo's family, who think these letters probably don't say anything. And on the other, there are gay activists and historians who think they say everything."

The Garbo letters will be on exhibit at the Rosenbach from April 18 through June 4.

-- Reuters

an Electronic Mail & Guardian publication

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