Mercedes de Acosta, Here Lies the Heart
Acosta, Mercedes de. Here Lies the Heart, A Tale of My Life. First American Edition. 1960. Book and dust jacket are both in very good condition—jacket shows minor wear. Jacket photo by Marlene Dietrich.
Mercedes de Acosta, the kid sister of New York socialite Rita Lydig, was a deeply passionate, highly fatalistic romantic. In other words, she was way too intense for her story to end happily. Though a gifted writer, her name endures as Hollywood’s notorious lesbian consort. Only MGM rivaled her in terms of stable of actresses. Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Eva Le Gallienne, Alla Nazimova, Tallulah Bankhead, and Isadora Duncan were among her conquests. This memoir was one of Hollywood’s first tell-alls, and it is also one of its best.
“Greta [Garbo] had a bright idea. She said she would like to play Dorian Grey [sic] and have me write the scenario. I said, ‘You go tell Irving [Thalberg] that idea and have him throw you out the window—not me!’ But she was right. At that time, she could have played this role brilliantly.”
--Mercedes de Acosta